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llywelaPoor John really is falling apart after losing Jo. That's pretty much the nutshell version of last night's episode. I can't remember there ever being a time when he's lost her friendship so completely, and he is suffering badly as a result.
And when all is said and done, it can't even be said that it's his fault this time, because he was completely faithful to Jo while they were together this time. The split was down to her, and her alone - she wasn't satisfied, she decided she couldn't trust him, she decided she needed a break from him, and she moved on to someone else while taking said break. And John has been forced to just sit back and watch while she made these decisions about his life. And then she complains that he wants everything on his terms?
And now she's talking about marrying Marc. And John is falling apart.
I never thought I'd say this, but hooray for Monty and his turn to the light side. He's becoming a good friend to John now, after their differences in the past, and he and Joe Canning were wonderfully staunch supporters for the Judge last night.
There were two cases on offer last night. The first was the one that brought about the greatest show of hostility betwen John and Jo that I think I've ever seen. Jo was defending a 15 year old boy who'd fallen in with the wrong crowd and ended up getting dragged into a mobile phone robbery. Found guilty, the guidelines instituted by Home Secretary Neil meant John had little or no choice but to impose a custodial sentence despite it clearly being the worst possible outcome for young Macdonald. He specified Detention and Training, where the boy could be properly supervised. Instead he was sent to a young offender's institution, and hanged himself within 48 hours.
Some really powerful scenes resulted, between John and Jo, John and the dead boy's mother, and Coop and the dead boy's mother. Nice to see background work for Coop for once, learning about the death of her young son many years ago.
Poor John took the boy's death hard, allowing a furious Jo to pile all the blame on his head, drinking heavily, storming in on a dinner party at Neil and George's, determined to make Neil back down over his strait-jacket guidelines regarding mobile phone crime. And this was where Joe and Monty came into their own, backing John to the hilt right to the extreme of persuading enough of the other high court judges to support a 'soft strike' to push Neil right into a corner with no way out.
In case two, John and Marc got to go head to head for the first time. Marc's team at the hospital sought the right to stop treating two year old Baby Ivan if his heart stopped beating again; this was a severely premature child who'd lived his whole life in hospital and was now in a coma. His deeply religious parents, on the other hand, pleaded eloquently for their son's life. John was conflicted.
And during all this, he had Judge Morag in his ear all the time, blatantly making a play. And this is John - of course he was going to go along with it. Who else did he have to turn to for comfort? And she is so blatantly spying on him for Sir Ian Rochester. She all but said so when John started confiding in her about his mother's suicide all those years ago, and she told him not to trust her with such personal details. But John, right now, is in no frame of mind to care or even notice.
Charlie was John's only other source of comfort, their relationship clearly not the slightest bit strained by the events of last week. Loved their scene in the bar where John grumbled about wanting to thump Marc.
Charlie: "Do you think you could? He's very tall..."
After much agonising about his own motives, John found in favour of the baby's parents, forcing the hospital to continue to rescusitate the child should his heart stop. Marc was furious, and clearly not for monetary reasons - it was obvious he truly believed that letting the child go would be the kindest option. And Jo was furious with John all over again.
It hurt to hear Jo telling Marc that John had been a good friend, past tense.
And then came the happy ending. With his back against the wall and facing the prospect of being made a scape goat, Neil backed down and relaxed the guidelines regarding mobile phone crime. Young Macdonald's mother came to see John to offer her forgiveness and admit that it wasn't his fault in the first place; she'd just needed someone to blame and he was the most obvious target. And, rescusitated yet again, baby Ivan miraculously came out of his coma.
And Jo came to apologise to John, first step in restoring their friendship taken.
So, the twists and turns continue for another week...
Oh, and happy birthday to the Judge himself, Martin Shaw
And when all is said and done, it can't even be said that it's his fault this time, because he was completely faithful to Jo while they were together this time. The split was down to her, and her alone - she wasn't satisfied, she decided she couldn't trust him, she decided she needed a break from him, and she moved on to someone else while taking said break. And John has been forced to just sit back and watch while she made these decisions about his life. And then she complains that he wants everything on his terms?
And now she's talking about marrying Marc. And John is falling apart.
I never thought I'd say this, but hooray for Monty and his turn to the light side. He's becoming a good friend to John now, after their differences in the past, and he and Joe Canning were wonderfully staunch supporters for the Judge last night.
There were two cases on offer last night. The first was the one that brought about the greatest show of hostility betwen John and Jo that I think I've ever seen. Jo was defending a 15 year old boy who'd fallen in with the wrong crowd and ended up getting dragged into a mobile phone robbery. Found guilty, the guidelines instituted by Home Secretary Neil meant John had little or no choice but to impose a custodial sentence despite it clearly being the worst possible outcome for young Macdonald. He specified Detention and Training, where the boy could be properly supervised. Instead he was sent to a young offender's institution, and hanged himself within 48 hours.
Some really powerful scenes resulted, between John and Jo, John and the dead boy's mother, and Coop and the dead boy's mother. Nice to see background work for Coop for once, learning about the death of her young son many years ago.
Poor John took the boy's death hard, allowing a furious Jo to pile all the blame on his head, drinking heavily, storming in on a dinner party at Neil and George's, determined to make Neil back down over his strait-jacket guidelines regarding mobile phone crime. And this was where Joe and Monty came into their own, backing John to the hilt right to the extreme of persuading enough of the other high court judges to support a 'soft strike' to push Neil right into a corner with no way out.
In case two, John and Marc got to go head to head for the first time. Marc's team at the hospital sought the right to stop treating two year old Baby Ivan if his heart stopped beating again; this was a severely premature child who'd lived his whole life in hospital and was now in a coma. His deeply religious parents, on the other hand, pleaded eloquently for their son's life. John was conflicted.
And during all this, he had Judge Morag in his ear all the time, blatantly making a play. And this is John - of course he was going to go along with it. Who else did he have to turn to for comfort? And she is so blatantly spying on him for Sir Ian Rochester. She all but said so when John started confiding in her about his mother's suicide all those years ago, and she told him not to trust her with such personal details. But John, right now, is in no frame of mind to care or even notice.
Charlie was John's only other source of comfort, their relationship clearly not the slightest bit strained by the events of last week. Loved their scene in the bar where John grumbled about wanting to thump Marc.
Charlie: "Do you think you could? He's very tall..."
After much agonising about his own motives, John found in favour of the baby's parents, forcing the hospital to continue to rescusitate the child should his heart stop. Marc was furious, and clearly not for monetary reasons - it was obvious he truly believed that letting the child go would be the kindest option. And Jo was furious with John all over again.
It hurt to hear Jo telling Marc that John had been a good friend, past tense.
And then came the happy ending. With his back against the wall and facing the prospect of being made a scape goat, Neil backed down and relaxed the guidelines regarding mobile phone crime. Young Macdonald's mother came to see John to offer her forgiveness and admit that it wasn't his fault in the first place; she'd just needed someone to blame and he was the most obvious target. And, rescusitated yet again, baby Ivan miraculously came out of his coma.
And Jo came to apologise to John, first step in restoring their friendship taken.
So, the twists and turns continue for another week...
Oh, and happy birthday to the Judge himself, Martin Shaw
