Sunshine and moonlight
Dec. 14th, 2024 07:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessHotel Portofino - 2.3 Comings Together
Previously on HP, Italian terrorists/anti-fascist freedom fighters were useless.
For a while, this felt like a very thin episode, all scenes of black-shirts wandering the picturesque streets or drone shots of beautiful buildings, or gorgeous shots of the coast.
The awful Cecil was inconsiderate of Bella’s guests throughout, and accompanied Danioni to meet a representative of the Mob at the Casino. Wearing the most lurid period suit wardrobe could find, the mobster insisted Cecil increase the number of bottles any which way. Cecil jabbered about it being a cottage industry. Danioni had to spell out to him that these were serious people and he couldn’t ‘but I’m an English gentleman’ his way out of it, suggesting that he use the hotel to launder the money and just force Bella into accepting the situation.
Bella was sending a telegram to still offscreen Henry, arranging when she’d call him. (1920s means of communications, kids!) The hot architect said outright he was attending church just to spend time with her. Albinesi tried to warn Bella that people would talk, she breezily said people would talk anyway, but did seem to be warming to the idea of letting Cecil fund the extension (on her terms).
Betty may be going through the menopause. Wacky miscommunications with the older builder (working class Italian manhood being as disdainful of working class English womanhood as the reverse) who turned out to be a dab hand at cooking aubergines. Paola laughed more than I did. The paparazzi of the day were gathered at the hotel gates for Claudine, who had little to do this episode.
Nish was smuggled into Portofino via cart (in one of those scenes with the blackshirts.) Billy saw his boyfriend’s sketch (although he called it a photograph!?) in the newspaper, and got Constance to translate the story. She turned to Lucian for confirmation. Lucian asked Billy to ask around, which he did, and when he learned Nish was holed up nearby, the three of them set off to visit, Constance insisting she went to render first aid. They discovered Nish in a bit of a state, the worst thing being his probably gangrenous leg.
Lucian wanted to know why his pacifist friend had got involved in a terrorist attack. Nish told him it was love, and basically came out to Lucian. Lucian, who MUST have gone to an all-boys English public school, was a bit surprised. Though he made the excellent point that he loved Nish as a friend and would never put him in danger as Gian-Luca had put his lover.
Bella saw the three of them returning and quite rightly told Billy off for skiving (it had been Constance’s day off.) Danioni and the police had a warrant to search the hotel, which Bella carried off admirably, although that’s not a great look for hotel guests, and what with that and the bribe he wanted to approve the extension, you’d think she’d just cut her losses with this whole venture. Constance overheard that the police were planning to keep an eye on Billy, and Bella insisted that she go that night with Lucian to see Nish, and nobody else.
So off they go, with a totally visible lamp undercutting Bella’s hooded cloak. Constance couldn’t sleep and followed them, also wearing a similar cloak (do they have them lying around the hotel, like towels, for midnight assignations?) The moon was unnaturally large in all the outdoor scenes. (If it was natural, the production must have been high-fiving because it would look so good on screen.) Good thing Constance did choose to do this, because she spotted that a police officer had found the hiding place and warned them. Quick-thinking Bella made Lucian and Constance pretend to be having a tryst, while she and Nish hid, hoping that would baffle Danioni. They got away with it, Danioni thinking Lucian was a sly dog (Danioni’s poor maids!) The women returned home, with Bella being none the wiser (even though Constance wasn’t subtle) that Constance and Lucian had been faking what they’d really like to do.
Where Nish could be kept safe and safely treated was left undecided, but both Constance and Bella showed the most gumption in that scenario.
Oh yeah, the lame poet had decided to apologise for his rudeness to Lucian, they’d drunk together, bonded over being two veterans tied to their mother’s apron strings, and Lucian, possibly reeling over the fact that his hors de combat BFF was gay, suggested they go fishing some time.
But back to chronology, Lucian returned to the hotel, but went to Constance’s door, and was allowed in, with her going in for the first kiss. Soon they were getting undressed in between enthusiastic kisses (although if Danioni had stopped to think, when they live in a hotel with many beds, why would they go out to the middle of nowhere to have a tryst in an abandoned house?) There was a moment where Constance was very accepting of Lucian’s scars, which turned him on even more. Yes, they’re clearly into each other, but he is married, she’s from the lower class, and has already got a child from a man taking advantage of her, so I remain of the view that Lucian is too much of his father’s son. And while he hasn’t encourage Constance to engage in violence that will bring the authorities on top of them, he's being pretty inconsiderate.)
Big reveal for Bella and us at the end of the episode, Alice was back early, with a French fiancée in tow! (Definitely younger than Albinesi, but she can’t have known him more than two seconds.)
Previously on HP, Italian terrorists/anti-fascist freedom fighters were useless.
For a while, this felt like a very thin episode, all scenes of black-shirts wandering the picturesque streets or drone shots of beautiful buildings, or gorgeous shots of the coast.
The awful Cecil was inconsiderate of Bella’s guests throughout, and accompanied Danioni to meet a representative of the Mob at the Casino. Wearing the most lurid period suit wardrobe could find, the mobster insisted Cecil increase the number of bottles any which way. Cecil jabbered about it being a cottage industry. Danioni had to spell out to him that these were serious people and he couldn’t ‘but I’m an English gentleman’ his way out of it, suggesting that he use the hotel to launder the money and just force Bella into accepting the situation.
Bella was sending a telegram to still offscreen Henry, arranging when she’d call him. (1920s means of communications, kids!) The hot architect said outright he was attending church just to spend time with her. Albinesi tried to warn Bella that people would talk, she breezily said people would talk anyway, but did seem to be warming to the idea of letting Cecil fund the extension (on her terms).
Betty may be going through the menopause. Wacky miscommunications with the older builder (working class Italian manhood being as disdainful of working class English womanhood as the reverse) who turned out to be a dab hand at cooking aubergines. Paola laughed more than I did. The paparazzi of the day were gathered at the hotel gates for Claudine, who had little to do this episode.
Nish was smuggled into Portofino via cart (in one of those scenes with the blackshirts.) Billy saw his boyfriend’s sketch (although he called it a photograph!?) in the newspaper, and got Constance to translate the story. She turned to Lucian for confirmation. Lucian asked Billy to ask around, which he did, and when he learned Nish was holed up nearby, the three of them set off to visit, Constance insisting she went to render first aid. They discovered Nish in a bit of a state, the worst thing being his probably gangrenous leg.
Lucian wanted to know why his pacifist friend had got involved in a terrorist attack. Nish told him it was love, and basically came out to Lucian. Lucian, who MUST have gone to an all-boys English public school, was a bit surprised. Though he made the excellent point that he loved Nish as a friend and would never put him in danger as Gian-Luca had put his lover.
Bella saw the three of them returning and quite rightly told Billy off for skiving (it had been Constance’s day off.) Danioni and the police had a warrant to search the hotel, which Bella carried off admirably, although that’s not a great look for hotel guests, and what with that and the bribe he wanted to approve the extension, you’d think she’d just cut her losses with this whole venture. Constance overheard that the police were planning to keep an eye on Billy, and Bella insisted that she go that night with Lucian to see Nish, and nobody else.
So off they go, with a totally visible lamp undercutting Bella’s hooded cloak. Constance couldn’t sleep and followed them, also wearing a similar cloak (do they have them lying around the hotel, like towels, for midnight assignations?) The moon was unnaturally large in all the outdoor scenes. (If it was natural, the production must have been high-fiving because it would look so good on screen.) Good thing Constance did choose to do this, because she spotted that a police officer had found the hiding place and warned them. Quick-thinking Bella made Lucian and Constance pretend to be having a tryst, while she and Nish hid, hoping that would baffle Danioni. They got away with it, Danioni thinking Lucian was a sly dog (Danioni’s poor maids!) The women returned home, with Bella being none the wiser (even though Constance wasn’t subtle) that Constance and Lucian had been faking what they’d really like to do.
Where Nish could be kept safe and safely treated was left undecided, but both Constance and Bella showed the most gumption in that scenario.
Oh yeah, the lame poet had decided to apologise for his rudeness to Lucian, they’d drunk together, bonded over being two veterans tied to their mother’s apron strings, and Lucian, possibly reeling over the fact that his hors de combat BFF was gay, suggested they go fishing some time.
But back to chronology, Lucian returned to the hotel, but went to Constance’s door, and was allowed in, with her going in for the first kiss. Soon they were getting undressed in between enthusiastic kisses (although if Danioni had stopped to think, when they live in a hotel with many beds, why would they go out to the middle of nowhere to have a tryst in an abandoned house?) There was a moment where Constance was very accepting of Lucian’s scars, which turned him on even more. Yes, they’re clearly into each other, but he is married, she’s from the lower class, and has already got a child from a man taking advantage of her, so I remain of the view that Lucian is too much of his father’s son. And while he hasn’t encourage Constance to engage in violence that will bring the authorities on top of them, he's being pretty inconsiderate.)
Big reveal for Bella and us at the end of the episode, Alice was back early, with a French fiancée in tow! (Definitely younger than Albinesi, but she can’t have known him more than two seconds.)
