Life has been very busy recently therefore this post has taken longer than usual to write. But I have finally managed to set aside a few hours to get some serious blogging done, so let's get down to it.
Doctor Foster returned with a bang. Yes! Dr Gemma Foster (Suranne Jones) served up a fierce meal throughout this entire season that included the perfect balance of sass, drama, and emotion to pull on your heart-strings. If you haven't seen it yet but plan to then I strongly suggest you stop reading now because there will be spoilers. However, if you have seen it then settle down, it's a biggun'.
In the last season of Doctor Foster, we saw Gemma get her heart battered and her life turned upside down when she uncovered her husband's affair with someone almost half his age. The nation tutted in unison at his infidelity and my heart certainly sided with Gemma. But when Simon (Bertie Carvel) moved away with his new partner, Gemma and their son, Tom (Tom Taylor), thought they could finally move on.
The season began with Gemma and Tom seemingly rebuilding their lives and all was serene...for about two minutes. A clever way to reacquaint the viewers with the characters was to have them all receive a mysterious red envelope. I was puzzled at first, especially seeing as Gemma didn't get one, but all became clear when we found out they were from Simon and Kate (Jodie Comer) inviting everyone to their wedding party, which happened to be just down the road.
Understandably, this was the catalyst for destruction yet again in Gemma and Tom's lives. But this time, Gemma was going to take her revenge and make Simon pay; break him the way he broke her, if you will. Even more so than the last season, season two was a story of heartbreak and our hearts broke all the way through.
Simon was now living in a glitzy, modern house with his shiny new wife and daughter. He had landed on his feet and we all hated him for it. The smarminess was turned up to maximum and he became this insufferable person who really was vile. However, I've seen on social media that there's been a Team Gemma and Team Simon thing going on, so take your pick. I think you know what team I'm on. An extremely manipulative character, Simon had somehow convinced Tom to practically disown Gemma and just pretend that she doesn't exist. Nothing has ever sat quite right within that family. Maybe that's the point, maybe the uneasiness and idiosyncratic behaviours within Gemma, Simon and Tom have been there all along, it was just waiting to all spill out.
Thankfully, Gemma managed to get back onto Tom's good side but that's not before a whole lot of stuff happened. They don't call it a Drama for nothing, do they? Gemma began a kind of relationship with Tom's teacher at school. I say kind of because I'm still not entirely sure if they even really liked each other, I think perhaps he liked her more than she liked him. Even so, that's not a great recipe for a relationship. Anyway, this didn't really help with the whole Tom situation, who wants their mum dating their teacher?
And Tom certainly wasn't helping himself. He'd attacked his best friend and assaulted a girl he had a crush on. This was serious and resulted in Kate refusing to even let Tom inside the house with their daughter there. Obviously being kicked out of your home by your dad isn't going to go down well and thus Tom ends up living back with Gemma.
The circumstances are not ideal at this point as Tom has also been excluded from school. But he was adamant that he never wanted to see Simon again and so yet again the mother and son found themselves trying to move on. Well, that's what Tom thought. Gemma was quietly (sort of) stewing, plotting a way to get rid of Simon once and for all. And that's when she pounced. It was all very bizarre when Gemma invited Simon to stay for dinner. Bizarre and awkward. However, her intentions became crystal clear when she set up her phone to record and continued to flirt with Simon in a way that was a little cringey. As the saying goes, "once a cheater, always a cheater". It really didn't take much persuasion before Simon fell for Gemma's charm. Even after he realised she was filming, he stopped the recording and carried on. I mean, he doesn't deserve to have a wife, does he? Quite rightly, Kate was furious when she eventually opened her eyes and saw Simon for what he really is. She was quick to pack up her things and take herself and her daughter far, far away from Simon.
No house, no wife, no life. This time, it was Simon who had lost everything. Revenge is bittersweet and Gemma was there to witness it all, sitting in her car, observing as Simon battered her car door with his foot. Ouch.
I thought the episodes leading up to the explosive finale were intense, but compared to the climax of Doctor Foster, boy was I wrong. That last episode is one of the best finales of any television programme I have ever watched. Honestly. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through, not having a clue what was going on but enjoying it nonetheless. The ending was superb. Just superb. After a teeth-clenching, hair-raising scene by the side of a motorway, Simon was completely broken. Yes, I know I've been slagging him off in this post but I had to feel sorry for him. How could you not? He'd secretly arranged with Gemma to commit suicide and once she'd laid out syringes for him in the hotel room, he said his goodbyes to Tom. Deep down, Tom knew what was going to happen. As Gemma drove him away, he knew exactly what his dad was doing and it was pretty heartbreaking. The ambient music in the background drew you in as a viewer even more. Close-ups of Simon holding a syringe to his arm, trying to convince himself to do it was a harrowing sight. The cinematography really made you feel like you were in the room with him, begging him not to do it. Alas just at the right time, like Wonder Woman herself, Gemma barged into the room, desperate to say her piece before Simon did anything. She managed to convince him not to take his own life and I blew a sigh of relief, relieved that Gemma did still possess some humanity.
The last five minutes filled me with emotions I didn't even know I had, Suranne Jones made you feel Gemma's pain yourself as she realised Tom had done a runner. That moment of Gemma running through the trees, my stomach was in a tight knot as I thought what probably everyone else thought. And then came the heartbreaking moment that she found out Tom was gone. Every mother's worst nightmare, I imagine. Despite it being seemingly confirmed that there will be no season three, I don't know how there can not be one. They can't leave it like that, surely?? The next series could be about the search for Tom, or Tom returning a few years later. We could find out that Simon has stuck around because of Tom's disappearance but he's made a new life for himself, interfering with Gemma as little as possible. We could see Gemma remarry maybe, while on the desperate lookout for her son.
I *really* hope this isn't the end of Doctor Foster. It's brilliant entertainment that speaks volumes and resonates with the nation. Suranne Jones is flawless, as well as Bertie Carvel. Both make it seem like you're watching their real lives rather than a TV Drama.
Sophie Williams
Twitter: sophie_jw26
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