THE SET-UP 2-07

LE TOUT POUR LE TOUT

Réalisateur : Jim O'Hanlon
Scénariste : Phil Ford 

L'HISTOIRE

Jim Fenner fait pression sur Yvonne pour obtenir plus d'argent. Celle-ci refuse de se laisser faire et prévient son mari. Ce dernier développe des photos qu'il a prise du gardien lorsqu'il acceptait le premier pot de vin et les envoie à Yvonne. Elle le fait chanter et lui demande de participer à son évasion. Jim est contraint d'accepter. Alors qu'elle s'apprête à s'enfuir, Jim découvre que Charly, le mari d'Yvonne, a été arrêté et incarcéré. Il comprend qu'il ne peut plus rien contre lui et empêche l'évasion de la jeune femme. 

De retour à Larckhall, Helen lit le dossier de Nikki. Elle découvre que la jeune femme doit au minimum attendre 10 ans avant qu'il ne soit possible de réviser son dossier. Et vu son attitude et ses antécédents, cela pourra être bien plus long. Par ailleurs, la seule personne capable de la libérer et le ministre de l'intérieur puisqu'elle a assassiné un officier de police. Ce qui signifie qu'il se peut qu'elle ne sorte jamais. Lorsqu'elle apprend la nouvelle, Nikki est anéantie. 

Helen parle de ses sentiments à Nikki et de sa peur vis-à-vis de cette nouvelle relation. Elle lui déclare qu'elle tentera tout ce qui est en son pouvoir pour la faire sortir de prison. Nikki lui demande d'être prudente et de ne pas risquer son emploi mais Helen ne l'écoute pas et le soir venu, s'introduit dans les bureaux pour photocopier le dossier de la jeune femme. 

Zandra va de plus en plus mal. Ses céphalées persistent malgré ses lunettes et elle s'évanouit à deux reprises dans les locaux de la prison. Sylvia considère que cela est du à la drogue alors que Di semble vraiment préoccupée. Elle la conduit à l'infirmerie où elle reste deux jours avant d'être mutée dans un grand hôpital. Là, ils lui font une série d'examen. Lorsqu'elle revient à Larckhall, elle semble être redevenue la même mais Karen, au courant de son état semble perturbée. De son côté, Zandra déclare à Crystal que le médecin pense que ses symptômes sont simplement du au manque de drogue. 

CAPTURES DE L'EPISODE

Helen est de retour à Larkhall :

   

  

Zandra et Crystal lui souhaitent la bienvenue :

Helen vient à la rencontre de Nikki à l'heure du petit déjeuner :

  

Helen: Hello.

Nikki : Do you wanna come back to my place?

Dans la cellule de Nikki :

  

Helen : Have you not worked out yet how to be a good girl?

Nikki : Oh, you know me, Helen: As long as my gob's open, I'm gettin' into trouble.
Helen : Fenner.
Nikki : [nods]
Helen : Nikki, just keep out his way.
Nikki : Yeah, I'll try.
Helen : [unconvinced] Hmm?
Nikki : Look, Helen, don't think I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me. I've got more reason to get out of here now than I've ever had. But the reality is, it's gonna be nine years before they let me out.
Helen : Look, this job gives me access to the files on all the lifers here. That means your files. Trial details, directions by the judge, updates on parole — everything.
Nikki : So?
Helen : So, maybe I can find something that will get you out of here.
Nikki : Like a magic key?
Helen : Come on, Nikki. I'm seerrrious.
Nikki : Helen, I know what I'm missing. And I am not prepared to spend the next nine years living in false hope, expecting to get out early.
Helen : It won't be false hope if we make it happen.
Nikki : [sighing] Maybe I think I'm lucky.
Helen : Lucky?
Nikki : I'm locked up in here, and I can still touch you.
Helen : [jumping up] No, Nikki. Look, I know that I'm not the governor anymore, but you're still a prisoner. We still have to be careful.
Nikki : Yeah, I know. I understand that.
Helen : Look, if there's anything in those files ... a witness that wasn't brought forward, evidence that was left out, I'll find it.
Nikki : Thank you.
Helen : I've gotta go. I'll see ya.
Nikki : See ya.

Sur son chemin, Helen s'avance vers Jim. Alors qu'ils marchent dans le couloir, il lui demande comment c'est passé la "réunion" :

  

Helen : Sorry?
Fenner : You and Wade. I have to admit, I didn't realize you were that way inclined. The, uh, signs were there, I s'pose.
Helen : I've had enough of this conversation, Jim.

Fenner l'harangue un petit peu plus et lâche le nom de  "Simon," juste pour lui faire peur. Helen s'arrête et se défend :

Helen : Look, not that it's any of your business, but for the record, since I've left here, yes, I've written to and I've visited Nikki Wade. And I've informed the governor. Not doing so would've been unprofessional, wouldn't it, Jim?

Dans la bibliothèque, Helen lit le dossier de Nikki :

Nikki : [voiceover] I stuck what was left of the broken bottle in his neck. He fell to his knees; he was trying to hold the blood in with his hands. I could tell straightaway he didn't have a chance. There was a hell of a lot of blood. I didn't regret a single drop of it. He tried asking me to help him, stupid bastard. I phoned the police then. While we waited, I told him why I stabbed him. He knew anyway; course he did, but I told him anyway. He tried to rape Trisha, and you lot were never gonna do anything about it, were ya? He was one of yours, a copper, and I'm glad the bastard's dead. 

Helen : Oh, s---. 

La porte s'ouvre ; c'est Karen. Elle demande à Helen de venir boire un verre si elle n'est pas trop occupée : 

Helen : Never too busy for that. I'd love one.

En parlant de Jim Fenner : 

Helen : Just watch him, Karen. He's a sly bastard.
Karen : Oh, I know. 

Un autre jour, le lendemain peut être, Helen trouve Nikki à la bibliothèque. Celle-ci est tout sourire mais Helen est très sérieuse quand elle lui explique que son attitude lors du procès pourrait la laisser enfermer pendant 15 ou 20 ans :

  

  

  

Helen : Lettin' you go is up to the Home Secretary. Now, you killed a police officer. It means that they might never let you out of here.

Nikki : I said I was a hopeless case.
Helen : You're not a hopeless case, Nikki. It's just gonna be difficult, forming an appeal. [pausing] I saw the statement you made to the police. You didn't do yourself any favors. [sighing] The judge said it was cold-blooded murder. Is he right? Is that what you are — a cold-blooded killer?
Nikki : [quickly] No, of course I'm not. 

Elles sont interrompues par Di.

Plus tard, elles peuvent à nouveau avoir un moment d'intimité :

    

  

  

Nikki : It's all right; we're safe here. Don't worry.
Helen : It's not that.
Nikki : What is it? You gone off me, then?
Helen : [breathlessly] Nikki, sit down. I need to talk to you.
Nikki : Talking's what you do after.
Helen : Please.
Nikki : OK. [sitting] So what do you wanna talk about?
Helen : Us. What we're doing.
Nikki : What we're not doing, you mean.
Helen : Nikki, I need you to understand. You've turned my life inside out. I thought I knew which way I was going. I was doing the job that I wanted to do; I was committed to the man that I loved ... There's no signposts anymore. I don't know what to expect. Except that it won't be normal.
Nikki : So what's normal? A husband, a job, 2.4 kids?
Helen : I wanted kids one day.
Nikki : You can still have them. There are ways. Oh, look, Helen: You're not normal. You're not abnormal. You're just you. You do what you want to do. What you feel. 
Helen : I wanna do what's best for both of us.
Nikki : And this is. But Helen, relationships need both people involved in them. Sometimes I feel like I'm on my own. I need to know that you're not just going through the motions.
Helen : Don't worry, I'm not! Nikki. If I didn't feel the way I feel, I wouldn't be talkin' like this.

  

  

  

  

  

Helen : I've gotta go.

Helen : What is it? What's the matter?
Nikki : You, trying to get me out of here.
Helen : I will get you out of here.
Nikki  : That's great, Helen. But you can't make it your job description.
Helen : Can't I? Watch me.
Nikki : I don't want you ruining your career over me.
Helen : So what're you gonna do? Tell the governor that I'm helping you formulate an appeal? That's a new one.
Nikki : I don't want you getting into trouble.
Helen : Look, I'll make a deal with you. I won't get into trouble if you don't.
Nikki : You don't give up, do you ? 

Alors que les gardiens vaquent à leurs occupations, Helen photocopie secrètement des documents confidentiels qui pourraient aider Nikki :

  

  

  

(Sources Captures et Dialogues : Afterellen.com - simonelahbib.net )

ANALYSE DE L'EPISODE

AUTEUR : JENNIFER T

The power of sight

This episode repeatedly employs a single motif: sight. Again and again, characters tell others to "watch" or talk about what they "see" or don't see, or what someone is "looking" for. This sight metaphor is used to indict the prison system in a really chilling and subtle way. Given that prison officers can see (nearly) everything prisoners do, it's tragic and unjust that the prisoners have to rely on their faulty and biased vision: some prisoners are seen clearly by those in authority, and they benefit, while others are ignored by anyone and everyone until tragedy ensues. Sight represents not just the ability to see the truth, but caring enough to look. 

First, Helen and Nikki. Of course we all notice The Look, the moment when Nikki sees Helen entering the servery, and their eyes catch and hold. This moment is the first time their mutual gaze is emphasized. Any other time their eyes have met has been with bars and walls between them, Nikki up in her cell and Helen down in the Larkhall entry yard. 

This look, however powerful and electric, is just a visual manifestation of something much deeper between these two which this episode explores. When Barbara and Nikki discuss the concept of soulmates, Barbara first describes a soulmate as someone who "sees the world just as you do." And in this episode, unlike the other 38, we get to see Helen and Nikki sharing their own views on themselves, the world, their relationship. 

This idea unifies two scenes which some people have complained are jarringly disparate: Helen asking Nikki if she's a cold-blooded killer, and shortly thereafter the two sharing a passionate kiss and a discussion of signposts in the art room. In the first scene, Helen says to Nikki: "I saw the statement you made to the police. [...] Is that what you are, a cold-blooded killer?" Helen is asking for reassurance from Nikki, because Helen fears that she is seeing Nikki clearly for the first time, that she never looked at Nikki's case objectively before she read Nikki's file. Then, in the art room a few moments later, rather than Nikki reassuring Helen about that specific question (Are you a cold-blooded killer?), each gives the other an answer to the more general question which was implied by the specific one: "Who are you?" Helen can't see clearly where her life is going—there are no "signposts" for her to look to for guidance. She wants Nikki to see and understand how disconcerting and bewildering that is for her. Meanwhile, Nikki wants Helen to see her own needs, most specifically her need for reassurance about Helen's feelings. And in a lovely coda to this scene, when Nikki insists that Helen can't make winning Nikki's freedom her job description, Helen responds "Can't I? Watch me." 

Of course, Nikki is the only one Helen wants watching her in this episode. She jumps away from Nikki when the two are alone in Nikki's cell, paranoid that someone might be watching through the door. And her paranoia is justified, given how Fenner jumps on her as she walks off the wing, pointing out that she wouldn't want anyone to "make any embarassing discoveries" by spying her alone with Nikki in a compromising position. But as Helen knows, Fenner is the one who needs to be watched, not her. In Karen's office, Helen points out to Karen that there are things she sees about Fenner and things she doesn't. When Karen says that Fenner's been a "model officer" Helen responds "As far as you know" and then urges her "Just watch him Karen." 

Of course, Helen is right, Fenner is up to no good, with his deal with Yvonne to arrange conjugal visits with her husband Charlie for a fee. Interestingly, the two big shifts in the Fenner-Yvonne power struggle occur when Fenner sees photographs (the physical evidence or manifestation of being seen). In the first instance, he enters Yvonne's cell and sees the photos of himself taking Charlie's bribe. Instantly, Yvonne controls him. In the second instance, he sees Charlie's mug shot in the paper and instantly he controls Yvonne, catching her in her last-ditch escape attempt. Sight is power, and while Fenner, like Helen, sees the truth very clearly, unlike Helen he only uses his insights to further his own interests. 

Unlike Helen and Fenner, a number of other characters in this episode are having a lot of trouble seeing. Bodybag doesn't see Barbara as a Christian because (according to the law) Barbara murdered her husband. Bodybag also can't see past Zandra's drug history to see that Zandra is truly sick, not on drugs. She even goes so far as to search Zandra's cell before Zandra has even had a drug test, so sure is she that she sees the truth. But as Crystal reminds Bodybag, "God sees, he remembers." Barbara says something similar to Nikki regarding her mercy killing: "I knew God wouldn't see it as murder." No matter what God-like authority Bodybag may think she has, the essence of our humanity is that none of us (especially Bodybag) are all-seeing. 

Zandra also can't see clearly, but in this case, her lack of sight is both more literal and more tragic. She's wearing her new glasses, but they aren't helping—we see her blurred vision as she tries to read the horoscopes. More significantly, none of the prison officers see her. Bodybag thinks she's still a drug addict. Dr. No No isn't looking for anything other than drugs. Crystal and Barbara both mention this, Barbara hoping that the doctors will "look for" something other than drugs, and Crystal lamenting that people only look for what they want or expect to see, and in Zandra's case, that's drugs. No one is really interested in seeing what's wrong with her, and it causes her death. 

When Dr. No No gave Zandra glasses, it was because he assumed that what was wrong with her was that she couldn't see. But the reality was, it was he who couldn't see. This episode offers this disturbing metaphor to represent the plight of prisoners: no one really sees them. 

And they know it. Crystal complains explicitly that no one cares what happens to them when they're in prison, and Barbara feels the need to keep her journal, so she can describe what she sees, show outsiders the truth. 

The episode concludes with some powerful imagery, highlighting the rare prison officers who do care. We see Karen looking at Zandra when Zandra returns from the hospital, both when they are outside in the yard and then inside G-Wing. Karen is the only one who knows what's wrong with Zandra, the only one who sees. Like Helen, Karen is able to really see the prisoners, in a truthful way, as human beings. Sadly, seeing is not enough. No matter how clearly Karen sees Zandra, she can do nothing to save her from her fate.

(Source de l'analyse :www.badgirlsannex.com )

Lire la suite : BadGirls 2-08