It’s all about Poor Tom this week as his snitty, self-regarding parents finally turn their attention to the broken mess they are making of their blameless son. But only briefly before drawing new battle lines that see him switching sides back to the woman who promises him unconditional loyalty, no matter what he’s done.
Simon’s pivot from selfishly wanting his family under one roof to casting Tom out into the night is jaw-dropping and a clear sign that his interest in his son was political and not at all heartfelt. What a bastard. Simon sinks lower every episode until the point where it’s just his head sticking out of the ground.
Diagnosis
“You told him something and now he won’t even look at me,” Gemma tells Simon at their tense cafe summit after Poor Tom’s suspension from school. Simon waggles his eyebrows in an infuriating gesture of “wouldn’t you like to know”.
Despite his promises to work WITH Gemma rather than against her on this, the unrepentant shit is still looking after number one, of that there is no doubt.
Back at home, neighbour Anna is contemplating 5pm wine as Neil packs his possessions into a transit and prepares to begin his single life. Before Gemma has even taken off her shoes, she is straight to the cupboard where she keeps the XL wine glasses and pouring a Pinot which she downs in one.
Doctor Foster is brought to you by Jacob’s Creek.
Poor Tom, now a ticking time bomb of rage, shame and abandonment, sits at Gemma’s kitchen counter, looking to her for refuge now he has quarrelled with his dad. Of course, Simon isn’t far behind him, still at this point keen to claim his son back because …
“I don’t want to hurt him, just you,” he sneers at Gemma when he arrives.
Gemma’s dinner invitation is a curve ball and Simon looks suitably flummoxed. “Is this a trick?” he asks, quite wisely. Of course she has a plan to seduce him and film it, merely to score a point against bitchy Kate, the virtual child who stole her husband.
When Simon spots the camera with those ever beadier eyes, her plan is thwarted – which makes what happens next another shocker, but not entirely unexpected. Having sexual power over Simon still makes Gemma feel in control. They both use sex to taunt each other and are as bad as each other, frankly. It’s only later that Anna tells Gemma about Poor Tom overhearing their hate-sex through the paper-thin walls.
“Gemma, I hate you,” says Simon, eyes burning with lust. She agrees that she loathes him too and they retire to the lounge to press themselves up against the glass doors. What follows is a sex scene that will long be talked about.
It’s a carnival of face-shoving, finger-biting, wall-grabbing and at times, all-out wrestling. I love that shot of them at the end, together, apart, nude, at opposite sides of the dining room. Pure theatre.
“I hate women sometimes,” says Anna, bitter that Gemma went back to her faithless bastard ex. She heard them through the front door. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole cul-de-sac caught an earful. When Anna announces that she’s moving to Edinburgh for a fresh start, Gemma replies with the astonishingly egocentric, “He broke up your marriage to isolate me”.
Swallowing down her fury, Anna rightly points out, “Every time it happens you are breaking your son a little bit more. Totally destroying him.” Poor Tom is not a chess piece. When will they both see this?
The fallout from Tom’s meltdown in the cafe at his dad’s new office development is most telling of all. Gemma is distraught and gets to the bottom of Poor Tom’s latest problem by speaking to Isabel. Her reaction to her son’s behaviour at the wedding party, which amounts to sexual assault, is dismay but also understanding.
Simon’s reaction is immediate embarrassment that his son has so publicly lost his cool and in his workplace too. The self-preservation impulse in this man overrides everything else. One word from Kate and Poor Tom is yesterday’s news.
Gemma’s attempts to speak to Poor Tom ultimately end in him storming off, but not before he’s informed James, the world’s most patient teacher, that his new girlfriend (sort of) has already cheated on him with her ex.
“They had sex again. Don’t trust her,” he hurls over his shoulder as James just stands there, gutted.
Prognosis
As son breaks with father and mother reunites with son, the episode ends with all parties back in their respective corners. Simon’s reaction to Gemma’s farewell message is muted.
“You win. We’re gone,” it says, simply. But with two episodes to come, this is most certainly not the end of the story.
Notes
• Simon lies on the phone to Kate about where he is when “dining” with Gemma. And don’t forget, Kate still has Gemma’s mystery present, unbeknown to Simon.
• Loved Gemma’s use of the water glass to take Simon back to their old family life. Her emotional digs are way more subtle and effective than his.
• How long does it take to pack a transit, Neil? He seems to be there all day, loitering outside his marital home. Perhaps he’s doing several loads? Why not just book a bigger van?
• I now realise I should have started a wine bottle count at the outset of episode one. The recycling budget on this series alone must be most of the license fee.
• Poor Ros was very good about Gemma ditching her hen night. But then, Ros is the world’s least loyal friend so she had it coming.
