Hi everyone!

Just wondered if anyone else thought it was odd that Lynley's hair was so much longer at the beginning of IL3 than it was at the end of IL2. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that IL3 starts with Havers being reprimanded for her actions at the end of IL2, so either the police are very slow in doling out punishment, or Lynley's hair grows REALLY fast.

I'm sure it all had to do with NP's filming of Haunted Mansion in between, but it sure seemed funny!

MZ

Yeah! And then Havers would magically make an "ugly-duckling-to-swan" transformation, a la Shrek, except becoming a princess instead of an ogre, entrancing Lynley with her beauty... OK, maybe not. Would be awkward to go to work together the next day, wouldn't it! How about this (mentioned this to a friend before) -- maybe Havers would need a kidney, and couldn't get one from her mom, and Lynley somehow was a match? Maybe doing something for someone else would be the impetus for Lynley to reevaluate his life? I'm sure there are plenty of nurses around who'd be willing to take care of him as he recovered. Hmmm.... Maybe I need to be doing this in the other forum!

MZ

Spoiler alert! Don't read if you haven't seen IL3! Maybe even IL2?

How about this one:

Havers is OK, but needs alot of recovery time. Since she has no family who can help her, and since Lynley's new place reminds him of losing Helen and the baby, he decides to move in to her small apartment to take care of her. Both have grown accustomed to living alone, so they are having a hard time adjusting. Plus, Havers is used to being the caregiver (for her mother), not the receiver, and Lynley is not good about being there for someone else (leaving home when his dad died, that whole mess with Helen), so neither one is comfortable with the situation.

Most of the things in Havers' apartment are old and have a little "trick" to them, like having to pull the door up to make the lock work, and having to remember to pop up the toast in the toaster because it won't pop up on its own. Lynley can't remember any of this stuff. After burning the toast three days in a row, Lynley has had it. He can't get anything right!

All throughout her recovery, Havers is appreciative, saying brief "Thank yous", but she has not been able to really open up and tell Lynley how grateful she is that he has taken care of her. She can't find the right time. Just when she thinks she can open up and tell him, something will come up, like the toast burning, or a call from work which sends him somewhere else.

Lynley is still trying to keep on working, but he is having to spend alot of time at Havers' place. She is doing her best to help with the case, but is frustrated that she cannot leave to help Lynley. He has alot on his mind, so he's not able to think clearly, but Havers has alot of time on her hands, so she figures all of it out. Lynley is frustrated that he cannot seem to get anything right -- work, his marriage, all the little everyday tasks that are giving him trouble. He finds Havers' liquor cabinet, which is just a couple bottles in a kitchen cabinet, and he eyes them over, contemplating whether to drown his sorrows, when Havers calls to him. He pauses, closes the cabinet door, and goes to help her. Havers sees that he is having trouble, and tries to lead him toward the solution to the case which she has already solved.

All along, they fight constantly over what to watch on the TV -- she wants the gossipy entertainment channel, he wants cricket. One night the movie "Grease" comes on, and Havers is like a schoolgirl over John Travolta. Lynley is softened and just a little charmed by this and agrees to watch it with her, but he finds himself watching her enjoy the show instead of watching the movie. Exhausted from taking care of her, he falls asleep in the chair. After the movie Havers turns and sees him in the same light as he has just seen her, and although her wound is still very painful, gets up to put a blanket on him. The next morning, Havers finally breaks down crying, thanking Lynley and telling him that she has never really allowed someone to care for her or to take care of her the way he has. He breaks down just a little too, telling her that he has never allowed himself to care for and take care of anyone like this before.

The Pakistani neighbor reappears (where exactly did he go, anyway?) and notices that Lynley is living with Havers. He is upset, because he's afraid of the influence that arrangement might have on his daughter, plus he's a little jealous, so he comes to give Havers a piece of his mind. Then he finds out everything that has happened, and why Lynley is living there, and realizes what a hero Havers has been, again. His daughter is also upset that she is hurt, and her dad sees that she is beginning to see Havers as a mother figure. Havers' recovery is coming along, and it's getting to the point where she no longer needs someone staying in the apartment there with her. The Pakistani neighbor offers to come check on her so Lynley can move back out, and now Lynley is the one getting jealous!

Lynley's brother Peter shows up stoned at Lynley's office, which forces Lynley to move out and back into his and Helen's place with Peter. Lynley remembers the temptation he felt to start drinking, and he finally understands how Peter was able to start doing drugs. After his experience with Havers, he feels like he can finally be the brother that Peter needs him to be. Lynley resolves to help his brother get off drugs, no matter what. Unfortunately, there is someone after Peter, and not only is Lynley trying to keep him clean, he is also now trying to keep him safe from a mysterious stranger.

Lynley tries to keep all this hidden from Havers because he is afraid she will try to help out and will overexert herself. She gets a bad case of cabin fever and goes in to work, and finds out about what's going on with Lynley. Against her supervisor's orders, she begins her own investigation into Peter's past. Unfortunately someone from the drug underworld finds out, learns where Havers lives, and plans an attack. Havers' Pakistani friend (the daughter) notices a strange man near Havers' apartment, and tells her father. As an immigrant, he knows the local police will not respond if he calls them, so he realizes he will have to do something himself. Just then, Havers' car pulls up, so he must get to the thug before he gets to Havers. He attacks the thug from behind, but the thug is much bigger, and he has a knife. Just when things get really ugly, Havers reaches the men, and the two of them are able to subdue the thug. A neighbor calls the police, and Havers discovers that her neighbor has been stabbed! She commandeers a police car and drives him to the emergency room, sending another officer to get his daughter. His wound is not life-threatening, but now he needs someone to care for him and his daughter at home. Meanwhile, Havers realizes that she has indeed overexerted herself, and needs to take some more time off before she is ready for full-time work. She becomes the neighbor's caregiver, which is even more awkward than it was with Lynley, but the daughter is a good catalyst for their budding relationship.

Meanwhile Lynley feels terrible about the trouble Havers got because of Peter's case, but also realizes she made a significant breakthrough. Now they have one of the drug ringleaders in custody, and because of her investigation he can find all the guys who supplied his brother with drugs. He would like to be the one to take care of her again, but because of his brother still needing his help, and because he sees that her arrangement with her neighbor might lead to something romantic, he reluctantly steps back.

What do you think?

Post edited by: acorns7, at: 2004/05/14 17:15

Oops! Got too involved in my own little Lynley world and didn't reply to your last message, Jessy!

You're right -- requited love between the main characters almost always ruins a show. I think that's why EG made Havers and Lynley so different, not just because it creates tension, but also because it makes it almost impossible for them to get together, prolonging the life of the series.

As far as fairy tale endings go, I think they are a fun and tidy way to end something, but too many of them is a problem. Watching too many of them can give you a really warped sense of reality! I guess watching too much of anything can do that, but I do think that it's a real problem here in America. Everyone expects a happy ending to everything here, and it just doesn't happen that way in real life! You hardly see a real tragedy, in the classic sense, on TV or in the movies. There are plenty of tragic things shown, but they still somehow end up with everything being OK, at least for the good guys, anyway. Hmmm, sounds like a good excuse to watch Hamlet or Othello to me, or maybe both.....