It\u2019s been a while, so I thought I\u2019d get back on this subject once more after reading about how the last season of Peaky Blinders reached its conclusion (I only made it to series 3). And this gives me another opportunity to bash Prison Break, which is nice. Plus I\u2019ll also mention a few of my favourite gals on the small screen recently. Spoilers for Peaky Blinders and Prison Break ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not sure why we didn\u2019t finish off Peaky Blinders. I think one house member was just getting particularly frustrated with it, so we just stopped watching. I\u2019m not sure. Anyway, I was reading a piece in Empire about the upcoming Peaky Blinders film and came across this particular paragraph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Tommy, believing he has a brain tumour, is about to take his own life when he has a vision of his dead daughter Ruby, who tells him he must live.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great stuff. We all love that final season brain tumour reveal when the writers have exhausted all narrative competence and need to add a bit of good ol\u2019 cancer into proceedings to add a spark of drama for their grand conclusion. But it can\u2019t just be any kind of cancer, mind you. It\u2019s gotta be a brain tumour. You can\u2019t have Tommy dying of lung cancer, \u2018cause that\u2019d be lame. What, all that smoking caused lung cancer. Huh? That\u2019s just WOKE, man. And you certainly couldn\u2019t have Tommy dying of prostate cancer, because that might suggest some kind of impotence to the audience. No, it\u2019s far more manly to settle for the good old brain tumour. It can stand in as an excuse for madness, after all. Sure, I\u2019m not denying that there are numerous cases where brain tumours can cause mood swings (some of the treatment I had to cure my tumour certainly had a mood swing side effect), but it\u2019s still a lazy ass ploy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I watched the scene where Tommy hears the diagnosis on YouTube. He takes the news from the doctor like a champ, lighting up another cigarette and breathing in some masculine, heart healthy smoke as he takes in the news. Tommy asks how long he\u2019s got. Then the doctor makes this really witty quip: \u2018I understand that you have defeated many enemies, Mr Shelby. Now you have a new one. Inside you. You cannot defeat it\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Applause)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wow. Subtle. Ingenious. Tommy keeps on inhaling that sweet nicotine, reprimanding the doctor before he continues his laconic speal, once again asking how long he\u2019s got before he needs help. Once the doctor\u2019s told him he has 18 months, Shelby maintains the same cool tone of voice, thanks the doctor and plainly states that he\u2019ll get his finances in order. Short. Sweet. Masculine. Healthy. Hooray. The doctor says he\u2019ll write to Shelby, and Shelby cuts him short with another dismissive \u2018thank you\u2019. Shelby wins the manly game of words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I watched the final scene that Empire described. It\u2019s done in typically stylised PB fashion with some moody music playing as Tommy stares at his burning home; the image of him framed in the entrance is taken right out of any classic Western like The Searchers, so the silent hero imagery is never far away. Sure, maybe not the towering load of flames, but hey, they\u2019re just a groovy metaphor for Shelby\u2019s apparent downfall. Oh, and that image of Shelby riding into the distance on his horse framed by the door again. The creators aren\u2019t exactly coy about letting us know that their main guy is a 21st<\/sup> century tribute to the silent hero. Except this time, he\u2019s got a fancy brain tumour to justify his retreat into the sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t get it. Why is it always a brain tumour? I mean I do get it, it\u2019s an easy device to signify a change in a character\u2019s mental capacity or depict madness, but\u2026it\u2019s just lazy as hell to push it in there at the end of a series. Speaking of which, let\u2019s take another bash at Prison Break. I looked at a scene from this old doozie of a series too. Main man Michael falls over and he\u2019s taken to hospital. The clip\u2019s titled \u2018massive headaches\u2019, but I didn\u2019t get any headache vibes from that clip, just a dude falling over in slow motion. Then there\u2019s another scene where his nose starts bleeding, accompanied by dramatic music. Nose bleeding. Definitely a symptom of a brain tumour (the clip\u2019s called \u2018Michael Scofield\u2019s illness\u2019). And then it transitions to him being taken to the hospital again. The show doesn\u2019t even make any attempt to depict the symptoms in a respectful format. The nurse asks Michael if there\u2019s been any history of neurological disorders in his family and Michael mentions his mum. Cut to Sarah\u2019s dramatic concerned facial expression. Then the scene transitions, and Sarah gives Michael his diagnosis. The way it’s filmed just feels like a classic American cheesefest. No, I\u2019m not talking about cheddar, the edits are just cringy to an impressive degree. Then Sarah tells Michael he was \u2018probably born with it\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whoa there. Cut the shit. \u2018Probably born with it\u2019? In case those super duper clever script writers weren\u2019t aware, that\u2019s not a thing. You can\u2019t accurately determine that an individual was born with a brain tumour. I was diagnosed when I was eleven. Did the doctors know the exact moment when the tumour formed? No. It could\u2019ve been there from a really young age, and it could\u2019ve developed a few years before. There\u2019s no way to accurately tell. And news flash, most brain tumours ain\u2019t hereditary. So you\u2019re already suspending disbelief my implying that Michael directly inherited the disease from his mother. Anyway, there\u2019s all kinds of levels of medical bullshit going on here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarah then says the surgeon needs to operate tomorrow. Michael says he needs two days. Sarah insists that the operation needs to happen tomorrow, or he\u2019ll die. Again, no. The diagnosis doesn\u2019t just go from \u2018you have brain tumour, brain tumour growing, you need operation tomorrow otherwise you\u2019ll die\u2019. Oh, but it does in Prison Break. Because, drama. You really need that extra tension when you haven\u2019t got any ideas, so why not shove in some nonsensical medical jeopardy to spice things up? Mmm, spicy. Also, Michael hardly says anything as Sarah delivers this news. He\u2019s just the good old strong and silent type. Oh, and the scene finishes with a zoomed in dramatic close up on Michael that\u2019s accompanied with equally dramatic music. Again, it\u2019s so over the top that it\u2019s just comical. Going off tangent a bit, there\u2019s that scene in Inspector Morse where Morse and some other guy are just having a casual cup of tea and the camera insists on doing extreme dramatic close ups on the mugs of tea. Nothing dramatic is happening in the scene. The tea isn\u2019t poisoned. What the hell\u2019s wrong with you, camera? Likewise in this scene, there\u2019s no need for that dumbass zoom in close up. It just creates comedy when I assume the cameramen (or women) are trying to create serious drama. There\u2019s another scene where he has a big headache, and another one. Ok, I guess? I had big headaches and those made me feel bad too. It\u2019s just that the blurry way in which these headaches are depicted in Prison Breaks are kind of comical with the melodramatic soundtrack and substandard acting. Oh, and there\u2019s another scene where Michael seems to go momentarily blind and faints. Ok. Everything\u2019s just farcical and set up to score cheap points with a lazy dramatic device. Meh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, moving on to some lighter stuff. A few women on the small screen who I\u2019ve felt really engaged by recently. So\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was over the moon when Rhea got the Critics Choice awards for this show. It\u2019s more than warranted, especially because of the damned disgrace that she never got anything for Better Call Saul. She remains my favourite actress working in TV today, and she\u2019s just awesome. Nobody scowls like Seehorn. Or emotes as effectively. Watching Carol turn down all the happiness of those weird happy alien folks was a true joy to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jasmine, The Great British Bake Off 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, it finished a while ago, but I was with Jasmine from the first episode. Because, you know, no hair. A woman with no hair who\u2019s confident enough not to conform to modern beauty pressures by wearing a luxurious long wig. Amazing stuff. And she turned out to be a goshdarn amazing baker, too. Amazing stuff, and an amazing inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jessie, The Traitors 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another inspiration, vibing with me this time because of her openness about her speech difficulties. And it\u2019s just awesome to see someone with similar issues to you living their best life on a popular programme without caring what others think about you. And she mentioned at one point that her speech difficulties have made her more resilient. A fact which I also vibe with. I\u2019m hoping Jessie gets all the traitors and wins that big pot of cash, but only time will tell. Go Jessie go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hello there. I’ve written about this subject a lot. And I mean a lot. It’s kind of personal. If you want to check out some other related stuff I’ve written (long hair obsessions, trigger warnings for cancer, treatment-related sandwich squeamishness and more) , see below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n