SPOILER ALERT: This weekly blog is for those who are watching Peep Show series six. Don't read on if you haven't seen episode five.
Thanks to a party setting, this week was heavy with internal monologues – and it's those thinking-out-loud moments which really add just the right amount of revulsion to the comedy. Imagine an episode of The Good Life where you could actually hear what Margot or Tom were thinking. Someone should write that.
Mark was in his most hated of social situations – any social situation, full stop. Needless to say, he enjoyed the party for about three minutes then spent the rest of the time trying to weed out a literal party pooper, Poirot-style. And making sure no one danced "on the creamy elephant". (He's referring to his expensive sofa for those who missed that introduction.)
By the end of the party, Mark had almost come full circle, finding himself once again faced with the prospect of entering into a loveless marriage with Sophie in exchange for a free house and a lucrative job. If he could just make the Sunday Times last into the following Saturday. It was a bit far-fetched to have Sophie's dad effectively selling his daughter to the man who jilted her at the altar. (OK, he went through with the wedding, but you know what I mean.) I think we've seen enough of Mark and Sophie tolerating each other as an actual couple. I much prefer their relationship now they're forced to find some common ground as future parents.
Also excellent to see Dobby back after last week's absence. Isy Suttie is a kind of Victoria Wood for the noughties (if that's your sort of thing, she does a very funny stand-up routine). But she really brings something lovely to Peep Show. The men of my acquaintance tell me she is just what the doctor ordered visually and I think she's the only Peep Show girl whose motives are good and true. She's not after a baby daddy or a rich bloke or an affair. Just a nice man to rub up against in a broom cupboard.
Just when the Mark/Sophie union was running out of steam, along came possibly the only other woman on earth who would consider Mark as a potential mate. And this week, to Mark's utter ignominy, she still chose to leave the party with an intubated man rather than stay and make eyes at the host. Brilliant.
With only one episode of the series left (why, god, why?) we've got the wedding of Gail and Elena to look forward to. But we all know what happens when a Peep Show series ends with a wedding. I'll put a tenner on it finishing with disappointment, despair and the ultimate defeat of all Mark and Jeremy's hopes and ambitions. Or there'd be no point in coming back for series seven. I think my money will be safe.
Favourite moments this week
• Jeremy describing Mark as a "fusty, sweater-wearing no-fly zone with a 10 foot carrot up your arse."
• Mark exclaiming, when the party gets going: "Oh my god, it's actually going well. I'm an It girl!" then getting carried away by his newfound hosting skills and roaring, "Good will to all men."
• Super Hans arriving at the party with a rented snake around his neck. He rented a snake!
• Mark musing, when Jeff owns up to doing an enormous poo in the toilet, "Of course, the butler did it."
