SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
I didn’t like Will and Alice in this episode. I really, really didn’t. Alice more so than Will just because of a couple of the things she said after Anne had come to London, which were very revealing of her character and not in a positive way. Will too said things that made him look like an a-hole, but he sort of made up for it by the end. Although, I don’t think that it will stick.
Will and Alice came off as obsessively “in love” with each other in this episode. I never bought their romance and I never understood why it was that they were attracted to each other beyond the physical. Here it felt like they had an almost unhinged desperation for each other and they were really selfish.
This episode did make me see what Will sees in Alice, at least compared to Anne. Alice believes in and actively supports his dream of being a playwright. That’s the thing that he wants most in the world – besides her – and she’s on board. Anne, however, is decidedly practical and not particularly supportive of his dream since she is more concerned with their unmet financial needs.
Will was trying so hard to get rid of Anne and their children for the first half of this episode. It took me a while to realise why. I thought the he wanted them out of the way ASAP so that he could get back to Alice, but as he hurried them out of the theatre I realised that it was because of guilt. He couldn’t face them.
I thought that Alice felt guilty as well. When Will followed her out of the theatre and she said that she didn’t know it would hurt so much, I assumed that she meant the guilt now that she’d come face to face with his wife and children. What she really meant was the fear of being dumped by Will for his wife. Couple that will her calling him a coward later on in the episode because he decided to stay with his family and Alice comes off as cold, callous, selfish, uncaring and unscrupulous. In other word, this most insidious of human beings.
Even though she knew he was married with children, even though she knew that Anne knew, she could not have cared less about the pain she was inflicting on the woman or the damage she – both of them – would do to his family had he turned his back on them. They were right there in front of her face and she didn’t even have an ounce of care or sympathy to spare for them. Even if she didn’t care one bit about Anne…what about his children? It was absolutely maddening.
Will said some frustrating things himself. Case in point, that he’d never been happy until Alice (I guess his children mean nothing to him), that he didn’t have enough room in his apartment for Anne and their children (limited space wouldn’t matter if he really loved and cared about them; he’d want them there) and that Alice was more real to him that life itself and that they were his children and Anne was their mother (like that’s supposed to mean they mean nothing to him beyond his obligation to them in those capacities). He was deplorable.
I found it ironic that he was chastising Southwell for destroying a family when he was destroying his own. I guess the irony wasn’t lost on him, because immediately after that he resolved to stay with Anne and broke up with Alice. Which won’t last. Despite her finally agreeing to marry her fiance and Will inviting Anne and their children to stay with him in London, we all know that he and Alice will end up sleeping together again.
Topcliffe’s family was in London as well and he had a bit of difficulty with this eldest son. He’s seemingly lost all respect and admiration for his father since he witnessed him brutally beating the man who was sheltering Southwell. He must have felt some measure of responsibility for it, Topcliffe’s son, since he was the one who cracked the code and led his father right to the man’s front door.
I’m disappointed in Presto for running away from the theatre. Working with the theatre would have been good for him. He wants a better life for himself and his sister and that was precisely the way he could have earned such. Never mind Will being a Catholic. A golden opportunity had just fallen into his lap. Will could have taught him how to read even.
This will be my last recap of Will. I don’t hate the show or think it’s bad or anything, but I’m not particularly invested in it or its characters or its story. It doesn’t help that the first time I had any strong feelings about the leads – who I had not cared about up until this point – I despised them or that this central romance does not work for me at all. I gave it a few episodes to see if it would grow on me and it just hasn’t. I hoped it would replace Reign for me. That has not been the case.
Random thoughts:
- I could sympathise with Will if he’d ever, truly struggled with his attraction to Alice in light of his marriage. But he never did.
- Alice: “We’ve heard so much about you.” I’m sure you did.
- I knew Presto would blackmail Will.
- Alice’s mother does know.
- So Will’s whole plan to escape Topcliffe was to pretend he’s not a good writer? Really? And it worked?
Will airs Mondays at 9 PM on TNT.
