Derek Episode 4 Review
Derek: Episode 4
The first eight minutes of Derek are a pleasant mixture of occasionally funny yet somewhat random sketches. At which point the baddie-of-the-week turns up to let us know that Hannah is wonderful and selfless and other people are cartoonish villains who feel the need to say any tactless comment that comes to mind, despite being in the company of complete strangers and a documentary crew.
That's quickly followed by the lyrically-literal music montages, pictures of Hannah as a girl, while Coldplay sing "When she was just a girl. She expected the world." "Life goes on, it gets so heavy." Hannah cleans toilets and is nice to the lovely old people. "And dreams of Para-para-paradise!" and we're at the beach! It's almost tempting to believe this is a deliberately cheesy parody of heavy-handed documentaries, but unlike this brilliant comic relief video from Ricky, from several years ago, there's no sense it's tongue in cheek, just in your face.
After the appearance of "Steal My Sunshine" by Len, probably second only to Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves in terms of go-to summer soundtracks, and a funny bit on the beach involving crabs and a marker pen, they return to the home, the baddie gets her just deserts, and the old people are nice to each other.
A lot of fans of the series explain their fondness by talking about how 'nice' or 'kind' the characters are, but when the characters and situations are so contrived and conspicuous, any feelings, good or otherwise, they convey are meaningless. When Tim urged Dawn to not give up her dream via his Christmas gift, it was heartfelt, as it was when Andy stood up to Ben Stiller and cost himself a speaking part in a film to defend Maggie and when Bruce reconciled with his dad in Cemetery Junction.
I like characters who show empathy or kindness, I like people who are under-appreciated to have their moment in the sun, I just don't like to be strong cuddled and have my head farted on. That's what Derek does every week.
Scott Hanson.