Spaced Season 2 Episode 1

Coming off of some good episodes from the season before, and compared to the really cool tightly developed first episode, this one is kind of blah. It starts with a very quick overview of the characters, for those who have not seen the show before, and also clues us into what has been happening, mostly with Daisy, as this episode really revolves around her character. So if I say nothing happened, this can't be exactly true, right? So what did happen?





Daisy came back after a vacation to Asia. However, from the time she steps out of the taxi, there is a strong sense of apathy for her return, at least where she was hoping to find warmth and elation. She returns to find that her position in Tim's life has been filled by Mike, since Mike has moved in with them. The two guys are spending time hanging out together, watching 'Daisy and Tim's' skate video together, and wrestling, while she just looks on. Turning her attention from place to place, she finds that Brian is most happy to see her, and only because she is responsible for his relationship with Twist. Even the dog is apathetic to her return, and as soon as she puts him down, he scurries out of the room.





This does touch on an area of fairly global proportions, at least socially. Not just vacations, but almost anything that one experiences cannot be placed onto another as their own experience. What I mean is, if Person A does something or has something happen to him/her, Person B cannot have a similar emotional reaction. Yet Daisy, Person A, is saddened by the continuation of life without her, and only perks up when she hears Tim say that he has missed her, and things haven't been the same without her. I think this is a universal feeling on Daisy's part, and it's done very well.





The other part of the story is a take on The Matrix. Personally, I think parodying something that has already been parodied to death is not so funny, and that's certainly true for this episode. I remember one Phoenix Nights episode, they referenced Tenko, and I laughed so hard, perhaps only because I was so surprised to hear something relatively obscure referenced. Yet, as soon as I saw the Mr. Smith style men, everything that happens is easy to foresee. I just thank God they didn't go so far as to do the flying kick, like so many others have done! This apparent lack of creativity was a bit of a let down.