So So Gay
So So Gay brings you its review of the latest episode of original drama Hit & Miss.
After last week’s explosive climax, we tune back into Hit & Miss at an uncharacteristically sweet and innocent scene where the two youngest play with their recently rediscovered uncle. However, the fantasy and frolics are interspersed with some brutal realities as Mia and Riley dispose of a body, finally bringing down the thin veneer that has kept Mia’s lives separate. Seeing John the wicked landlord get his long overdue comeuppance was a a real pleasure, but the messy work of the cleanup was sobering and surprisingly difficult to watch. The viewer is given the impression that this was a deliberate move to really hammer home the true brutality of Mia’s world and the contrast between hers and Riley’s reactions was pure poetry. It was a surprisingly tight sequence which was resolved within the first quarter of the show, but left its mark on all of the characters and kept us wondering how things would develop.
Mia for her part continues to try to tread a line between nature and nurture this week, but we were left feeling a bit disappointed. After devoting so much time to slowly breaking down the walls that separate each aspect of her life, her attempts to contain it were understandable but reeked of desperation. An emotion we would never have ascribed to Chloe Sevigny’s take on the character. Likewise the breakdown in her relationship with lover Ben and her subsequent reactions feel divorced from reality – which seems unusual after spending so much time trying to humanise her. There was a small reprieve in a rather unusual but poignant dream sequence, which saw her confronted with the faces of her victims, alongside images of her young family. It was a simple yet elegant touch which shows that no matter how hard Mia tries to run, she cant escape the truth for much longer.
The rest of the family are blissfully unaware of the murder which lead to a fascinating counter-balance to the secrecy that is now in operation. Riley is also beginning to suffer from something akin to PTSD and is unable to see past her guilt and accept her part in a murder. Then there is the matter of Ben, whose desire for a normal sex sees him in the arms of another woman. Though we cannot deny that seeing a very nearly naked Jonas Armstrong was a guilty pleasure, we were more captivated by his guilt and melancholy after the fact. It shows that whatever the reality may be, he is falling for Mia and the shock from the fact that she was born a different gender seems to be wearing off at last. The rest of the family seem to meander through the episode this week which saw very little input from the rest of them. There were one or two moments from them which made us chuckle but for the most part the central secret murder dominated the shows runtime.
This was actually the first episode where we did not have to bear the brunt of the dreaded prosthetic, though there were a couple of teasing near misses. There were, however, plenty of other visual treats – including Mia’s latest target which was carried out in true Mia fashion, both quick and with an elegance that left a striking image. There was also a surprising moment where Mia ended up helping John’s wife bring their child into the world. It was cathartic to see, and we felt an almost palpable change in the air around her after the birth.
It was a good episode, which felt like more of an ensemble piece rather than relying on Sevigny to shoulder all of the action. It was brutal yet loving, and as a penultimate episode it leaves just a mild hint of something big to come next week. Hopefully it wont be the return of that blasted prosthetic.
