Episode 2 and an effort to introduce a bit of realism into the rural idyll.
First things first though: Jack falls into the perfect job, by way of his attendance at a local banger race (another slightly jarring aspect introduced into the fairytale!) The local classic car garage owner hears him being knowledgeable about cars & is a Jack Boult fan anyway, so offers Jack a much-needed job. Later in the episode, a herd of cows make Jack late for work & the new boss's reaction is markedly different from the previous Japanese one!
Meanwhile, Hilly is teaching Freddy to ride, & they're trying to attract a badger to the cottage. This brings the topic of badger baiting into the plot, a truly disgusting - and illegal - thing. Hilly takes Jack to see one, after a dead badger falls out of a passing van & shocks Freddy into an asthma attack (she was doing fine before, despite the horse riding) to prove that local man Reg (a banger driver) is involved.
That leads Jack to drive in the next banger race and show Reg up in fine style; not sure this is a completely satisfactory alternative to getting his collar felt over the baiting, but better than nothing.
In the middle, Hilly takes Freddy to Lady Broughall when she has the asthma attack, which is where Forever Green's most fairytale aspect comes in: radionics, and "natural" healing. Given that Freddy is explicitly said to not be on ANY medication at that time, trying Lady B's woo probably can't do any harm (& *spoiler* it will of course do the world of good in FG land) I would object far more if there was any implication that she was stopping her regular medication in favour of the aristocratic healing hands, but they don't go there. And Lady B is such a fab character, I can't find it in me to dislike this aspect, no matter how fanciful. It's not that big a step on from their main trope of "the countryside will make you feel better" anyway.
Lastly, I also noted that despite the (non-graphic) depiction of a badger baiting incident, the programme does not include a "no animals were harmed...." disclaimer. Maybe they think their viewers are bright enough to realise that it's a drama and they're making it all up? What a thought!
First things first though: Jack falls into the perfect job, by way of his attendance at a local banger race (another slightly jarring aspect introduced into the fairytale!) The local classic car garage owner hears him being knowledgeable about cars & is a Jack Boult fan anyway, so offers Jack a much-needed job. Later in the episode, a herd of cows make Jack late for work & the new boss's reaction is markedly different from the previous Japanese one!
Meanwhile, Hilly is teaching Freddy to ride, & they're trying to attract a badger to the cottage. This brings the topic of badger baiting into the plot, a truly disgusting - and illegal - thing. Hilly takes Jack to see one, after a dead badger falls out of a passing van & shocks Freddy into an asthma attack (she was doing fine before, despite the horse riding) to prove that local man Reg (a banger driver) is involved.
That leads Jack to drive in the next banger race and show Reg up in fine style; not sure this is a completely satisfactory alternative to getting his collar felt over the baiting, but better than nothing.
In the middle, Hilly takes Freddy to Lady Broughall when she has the asthma attack, which is where Forever Green's most fairytale aspect comes in: radionics, and "natural" healing. Given that Freddy is explicitly said to not be on ANY medication at that time, trying Lady B's woo probably can't do any harm (& *spoiler* it will of course do the world of good in FG land) I would object far more if there was any implication that she was stopping her regular medication in favour of the aristocratic healing hands, but they don't go there. And Lady B is such a fab character, I can't find it in me to dislike this aspect, no matter how fanciful. It's not that big a step on from their main trope of "the countryside will make you feel better" anyway.
Lastly, I also noted that despite the (non-graphic) depiction of a badger baiting incident, the programme does not include a "no animals were harmed...." disclaimer. Maybe they think their viewers are bright enough to realise that it's a drama and they're making it all up? What a thought!
