Monday, April 27, 2009

So, Who? Huh?

For those of you who watched "Little Dorrit" and understood the ending--bless your hearts. I love Dickens and faithfully watched this series because, I hate to admit, I'd never heard of it. Now, I was fine episodes 1-4. Up to speed, on track and already knew Amy and Arthur would pair up because--it's a Dickens novel. The question of course was "What is the Secret?"
About halfway through the 5th episode, the horizontal on my TV died and all I could see were characters lips or lower. This has been an ongoing problem and doesn't happen every day. I got through a 4 hour RedSox game with no problems but it was not to be for Little Dorrit. I fear this is the end of my non digital talking head box. But I digress.
I continued to knit and pretend I was listening to the radio and using my rather vivid imagination and what was left of the viewing screen to understand "the secret".
I don't think a full screen with captioning would have helped. I couldn't understand where Arthur fit in and that Amy was the heir, or was she?
I spent some time on the internet trying to find out. Here's what I got--and I'm sorry I don't know the originator of the next line:
"someone leaves money to his nephew's lover's guardian's brother's youngest daughter".
I must have missed the part that noted Mr. Clennam's lover was being guardianed by Fred Dorrit. So when Mr. Clennam's uncle found out, he felt bad and rewrote or added to the will to give the kit and kaboodle to Fred Dorrit's youngest daughter, and if Fred didn't have one it went to his brother's youngest daughter who just happened to be Amy. Arthur is the result of Mr. Clennam and a dancer. Fred Dorrit was playing guardian to the dancer. Mrs. Clennam took baby Arthur and paid off the dancer to raise as her own in order to save Victorian face. The watch with the cryptic initials D.N.F. (do not forget) was Mrs. Clennom's cue to fess up and tell Arthur she wasn't his mum and all the rest. She didn't of course. Instead she jumped out of her wheelchair, found Amy, spilled her guts and after her house fell down in front of her, she dropped dead. I'm guessing Dickens couldn't think of anything to do with her when rapping things up.
As a side note, I noticed when I had a half screen that the Clennam house seemed to be tilting more this episode but dismissed it as a feature of my dying TV . When it fell down, (the house, not my TV) I said,"hum, that was real."
I guess I'll have to go shopping after work.
The knitting I was working on during all this....
Stripes. Cotton. Not needed in this freaky 90 degree weather we're having.

No comments: