Review: GHTTB: Ashes To Ashes 1.7

Gil Hollis did lots for charity - too much.

Ashes To Ashes - Series One, Episode Seven

In the 80s, TV had a much bigger role in people's lives, both for charitable aims and uncharitable ones. If I'm honest, 1.7 feels like a breather despite its serious ending, and that's very much in the court of this week's guest star, Matthew McFadyen, who happened to be Keeley Hawes' husband. Ultimately, 1.7 is a tragic tale of how selflessness can morph into bitterness.
     Well-known charity mascot Gil Hollis (Matthew McFadyen) claims to have had his charity money robbed by two thugs, and this is reported on a TV Appeal in a funny reconstruction. While watching this on TV, Alex gets a hallucination where The Clown, now a symbol of Death, tells her that one of her team is going to die. The next morning, and Gene asks Alex out for a meal. Alex thinks she can advance the investigation by taking Hollis back to the crime-scene and releasing locked memories. Hollis isn't productive, and at the scene he is mocked by some yobs. Getting nowhere, Alex chats further with Gil, and later suggests to Gene that they do a personal appeal. It goes ahead, and of course Gene cocks it up, and is quite bitter.
     Having an epiphany, he realises that the yobs must be witnesses and takes them all in. Discovering that their story differs, Hollis is brought back in. Gene believes that Hollis is telling a tale, and Alex is convinced otherwise. His story makes no sense; he claimed to have had a wee near the scene and yet the ground is undisturbed. When he attempted to pick out the robber in a line-up, he chooses Shaz. Gene goes way OTT, and locks up Hollis. Alex goes to her godfather Evan, a lawyer. Following his advice, Hunt is reported to the Powers That Be - Hollis is released, and Gene is put on leave. For this betrayal, the entire team stonefaces her. She turns to Evan for comfort, and remembers that it was he who saved her from the explosion that killed her parents.

Investigations aren't productive.

     Gene pops back in and points out a new piece of evidence, which is then passed onto Alex. She traces the gun back to a chemical toilet at the crime scene. Accepting that Gene was right, they go to Luigis and explain Gil's entire plan to him - Gil drove to the scene, shot himself in the arm and then replaced the incriminating Garfield plushtoy on his window. Gil arrives at Luigis and begins to fire upon them. He explains to Alex and Gene that he became bitter about his charity work that seperated him from his family. Hollis escapes, but Shaz runs after him. After a tumble, Shaz is accidentally stabbed. Shaz sees Death, but she lives to fight another day.
     Hollis is quite funny, really. Once one knows the truth, his entire persona throughout the episode is completely and utterly paper-thin. But through it, you can see the motivations for his crime - the loneliness, the anger. His thick Brummie accent transforms from being a quirky aspect of the character into a deranged slur that represents Gil's descent from the light. You could tell that both McFadyen and Hawes had real fun, espcecially in their solo scenes where Gil's memories of his family stir Alex's issues. 
     The final scene, in which Shaz dies and is revived by Alex, is still incredibly powerful for me because it's another example of what the series can do at its best. It came at the end of a plot that felt rather bloated and stuffy. Had this been the typical differential from the start, with Gene refusing to believe anything that Hollis said, and it probably would have made a more focussed drama. However, Gil Hollis is an excellently written character and his tragic story makes the episode.

The Clown is a symbol of Death - as we'll see in blinding detail next week.

     Episode 1.7 was another great from the series before the big finale, and it featured some more powerful moments. These past two episodes really have been highs for Ashes To Ashes, and Episode 1.7 had the nerve to back that up. It was a little stuffy in the middle, but where it mattered it delivered, and spectacularly.

Thanks.

NEXT TIME: The Finalé.