Latest / Podcast Portwenn: Doc Martin & Best Medicine / Best Medicine S1E11 – "Mind Your Own Buboes" | Full Reaction & Doc Martin Comparison

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Best Medicine S1E11 – "Mind Your Own Buboes" | Full Reaction & Doc Martin Comparison · Podcast Portwenn: Doc Martin & Best Medicine

• Chesla Wechsler: So we got the band back together to discuss the unspoiled perspective of Best Medicine Season 1, Episode 11, Mind Your Own Buboes. Welcome back to Podcast Portwenn to Doug, Erica, and Patty. Chesla Doc Martin: Here to join me in the Doc Martin savvy discussion of Best Medicine Season 1, Episode 11, Mind Your Own Buboes is none other than Chris, with whom I just watched the episode twice in a row. Welcome back to Podcast Portwenn. Oh, and good to be here. Good to be here with you, too. Yes, yes. Good to have you back in Jersey. So what did you think? I liked it. Actually, I liked it. Of all the episodes that we've seen, count them, 11. Chesla Segue: I'm about to segue into the Doc Martin Spoiled segment of the episode. If you want to keep your Best Medicine knowledge unspoiled by Doc Martin specifics, now's the time to drop. This is my final warning. Patty V: Hi everybody. Doug B.: Good to be with you. Erica Susko: Hi Chesla Wechsler: Yep, great to see you guys. So, water cooler, know, Doug, take it away, what'd think? Chesla Segment 1: I had four guests today between the two segments. They were evenly split between loving and not exactly loving the episode, so I had to be the tiebreaker. Come find out how that went, as well as some very interesting predictions. Doug B.: I the episode. one that jumped out at right when started is lots of medicine, doctor stuff, with the, what do we have here? it going to be another pandemic? Is this the of a new pandemic starting in Port Wenn? Or not, or just another sexually transmitted disease? ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: I definitely like this one the most. Yeah, two thumbs up. Two thumbs up from both Four thumbs up. Yep. What I liked about it is that I would say the ⁓ the show basically finds voice and its voice in this And what I disliked Chesla Wechsler: A little chlamydia action. Doug B.: ⁓ So I enjoyed it, you know, and disappointed at the end where Louisa shuts down Doc Martin after he's ready to bare his soul with a script, which I could totally identify with. But I enjoyed it. It It was good. Chesla Doc Martin: especially about the first couple episodes, especially embodied by Mark, is that it seemed a little over the top. Especially Mark seemed a little over the top. A lot over the top. Yeah. but just talking about Doc Martin, that show, as you've said, is like a documentary. You see these characters. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, it makes sense that you should say that because you have said in past episodes you really like the medicine stuff and you really want to see the romance succeed. So that's completely consistent. Yes? Doug B.: and I and I think ⁓ think Louisa kind of summed it up There's this this push and pull between the two of them, and she said that at the end. I'm like yeah, there really is so Why why don't you all just figure it out? But she's not ready to figure it out Chesla Wechsler: That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah, right, right. Yeah. Chesla Doc Martin: Best Medicine is not like that. It's TV show. It's a TV show and it's sort of like an American TV show that you see people doing things and saying things more sometimes for the effect not necessarily because the characters would do that. This show, this episode, I think the characters ⁓ those sorts of things but they're saying it more in character. Chesla Wechsler: She's figuring herself out, you know? I'm still trying to figure out what she's trying to do there. So how about you, Erica? Doug B.: We are. Erica Susko: Unfortunately, this was one of my least favorite episodes. I'd put this ranking pretty low out of 11. I think I might put it at 10 out of 11 least favorite. I just could not connect with the storyline and again, with the... Chesla Doc Martin: It's more, in a sense, believable, and more emotion in there. And so it's sort of the emotion that we respond to. It's authenticity. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a real emotion there. And there's an element that sort of is almost like speaking to the camera. But ⁓ I it pleasing. Good. Yeah. Good. Like, yeah. Erica Susko: I just the town reaction of I know that if I was in a doctor's office or a bar restaurant and someone told me I was just exposed to the plague, my first idea would not be to get drunk. People walking all over town in between the bar and to the doctor's office and not like I just didn't I just couldn't. Chesla Doc Martin: I also, this was also my favorite so far. I thought this was a really great blend of drama and comedy. it wasn't just played as a slapstick thing. There was a lot of stuff going on and people were involved in it and they a potential plague, but there were funny things happening. And I thought they did that well. I thought it was the best written episode so far. I thought some of the earlier episodes weren't as tight. This one seemed very tight. Erica Susko: I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't believable in my mind that this is how people would react. get it when he lifted it and said it was not, but then he went back to it again and I struggled with this one. Chesla Wechsler: So you're looking for like The Pitt type realism, which is not this show, right? Erica Susko: Yeah, I mean, I don't expect them to be doing open heart surgery, no pun intended there, the show because it is supposed to be more of a family doctor. But I just feel like the town consistently episode after episode seems to not care when there's ⁓ medical issues afoot. And it was more along a funny line, then I think I could get behind that. Chesla Doc Martin: Yeah. And to me, you talk about like it found its own voice. What kept coming to me was like, felt like Independence Day. It felt like, like Best Medicine in this episode said, okay, we've established that we're a adaptation of Doc Martin, but we're going to go our own way because this one really was very, original and its plot not a lot of and, ⁓ Erica Susko: But I feel like they vacillate between joking about it and completely ignoring his advice, medically. And this one just, felt like they were ignoring it. And to say it might be the bubonic plague, to me, the panic strickenness that ⁓ present itself in any sane human just wasn't there. And so I think it just kind of turned me off from really connecting with the episode. Chesla Doc Martin: Yeah, I really think it's healthy it to kind of say we've taken some of these characters, we've taken some of the basics, but we have our own thing that's going to go on now. So your ⁓ voice, Independence Day, we had very similar thinking about it. Yeah. I'll give some examples of the sort of characterizations that I liked. Mark, when he's talking to ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: I can see what you're saying because I know if anybody told me that it was the bubonic plague, I'd be in a panic even though and if they told me, you know, basically it's 2026 now and we've got antibiotics and it's not a big deal. You hear that and you just think, ⁓ my God, right? Like, like Louisa did. So Doug, you had a point? Chesla Doc Martin: Martin at the beginning and saying that he saw him and Louisa in the parking lot. And Martin says, what? You saw that? But I thought he was good. I thought Mark was good there, that it was something that he was hurt about. And compare that to Mark in the first couple episodes. This Mark was really good. You could see the hurt. Yes, he's hurt. He saw this. Erica Susko: Right. Yeah. Doug B.: So it's interesting that when this was brought up during the show, agree, my reaction to the bubonic plague five years ago would have been like, ⁓ my God, I'm gonna die. Now, ⁓ gone through COVID, like, it'll all work out okay. Chesla Doc Martin: and that sort of comes out. His delivery is sort of a little, is sort of... He wasn't cartoonish in this. wasn't cartoonish, he was a character. And the that he expresses that, he has his own mannerisms, but it's not like he was just doing it for effect. ⁓ It was it because he was a character. Chesla Wechsler: interesting interesting. Patty, what's the water cooler from you Patty V: Like Erica, it wasn't my favorite episode. I kind of agree with her the medical stuff, but that wasn't my thought at the time. I'm just in hearing her say it, I feel like I felt the same way. ⁓ I was turned off a little bit by the ⁓ and the way acted, like when Elaine was trying to do Chesla Doc Martin: He has this pain and here's what he thinks is a friend he betrayed by that. And then at the end when ⁓ Martin is that, we kissed but we're not together. It didn't mean anything or something. ⁓ And Mark is he smiles broadly and I think he's because Patty V: Some videos of the doctor saying hey, it's the plague. here's what you have to do whatever ⁓ and and don't commit any crimes that just seems so juvenile even for him. I thought that was over the top. ⁓ So I wasn't crazy about that three characters in there that I'm you're not supposed to like the teenagers. The obnoxious teenagers but Chesla Doc Martin: he can see that in Martin, there's sort of an insecurity there, vulnerability. And says, well, you're lying not to me, ⁓ but yourself. So ⁓ I that was a nice moment. ⁓ thought, George. you move on, I thought that Mark, having been someone who's kissed Louisa before, might have along the lines of, I've kissed her. Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Patty V: I'm really ready for the writers to somehow have someone tell them off or get comeuppance or something. I'm kind of tired of the way they act all the time. could there be any growth there? I did like, ⁓ and thought it was really in at the end where when Martin was... Chesla Doc Martin: It doesn't ever not mean anything. That was what I took from that, which you could take it either way. that was what I got. Other moments that I think bring up the characters, when Louisa is talking to George. I loved it. George is my favorite. Well done, George. I like George. He's still my favorite. The whole show, he's been my favorite. So and George can tell that Louisa's feeling a little Patty V: pouring out his heart to Louisa and using the list. I just thought that was really in character and I knew that with his personality, he was trying so hard and I appreciated that. But I just felt ⁓ they're just dragging that out too much and I was getting a little tired of the dragging it out. I feel like maybe she would have responded. Chesla Doc Martin: put out or ⁓ because of kissing Martin and everybody knows what she feel about it she doesn't really seem to know or she feels hurt and George says well when I have these moments that things don't make sense which is very Martian but he does it very well he doesn't he's great yeah he's very attuned into people which is great yeah I watch Patty V: She would have known how she understands him. knows how hard that is for him. And she knows he's pouring out. And so would she really say, what she said in that episode? so anyway. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, no, that's fine. Erica. Erica Susko: I did want to say ⁓ do have one redeeming quality of the episode that I really enjoyed at the very last scene where he finally puts the dog and I want to say he calls it Sisyphus or something. ⁓ And he puts the leash on and takes him for a walk, which is kind of like showed that the growth ⁓ the point where he could talk to Louisa like that. Chesla Doc Martin: I watch animal videos. That was very nice. So I mean, it's a very nice moment. And ⁓ my favorite character is probably Aunt Sarah. Okay, all right. If it's not Martin, I find Martin very sympathetic. And the moment when they're trying to sell Sarah's house and has her drink ⁓ and just sort of... How did he know about the fleas in the house? She just slurps. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Copernicus. Copernicus, yeah. Doug B.: pernicus. Erica Susko: wasn't fake. It wasn't just about trying to get with Louisa or something. It's obviously he is struggling with connecting and he's finally admitting that it's his dog. So I did really like that. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah Patty V: Yeah, I did too. I liked that as the ⁓ and that he actually out and bought a collar for the dog ⁓ and not just okay, I'll let you live here, but I am going to take care of you the way you should be taken care of. Chesla Doc Martin: And that's great. mean, it's sort of part of her character. It's maybe a little over the top, but I don't find it objectionable. It subtle. It's very, very likable. ⁓ agree. Yeah. So good. So we both really liked ⁓ Both think it's a favorite. Both had the sense of it's setting out on its ⁓ which is good. Very much so. And you also think it's healthy. Yeah. Yeah. The characters are... Yeah. speaking of characters, ⁓ about ⁓ I thought, mean, Martin as a character, I think I've liked him. have liked him from the beginning. ⁓ Very Has feelings about Louisa. Not sure about them. ⁓ Would you that you like how Josh Charles has chosen to play Martin the whole time? Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: And when Elaine is of shooing Buddy out of the exam room, she says, come here, Buddy, or, know, Buddy, let's move. So that was a little Easter egg. Doug B.: Yeah, so for those that Back to the Future fans, Dr. Brown's dog was named Copernicus as well, although I don't remember in what time frame that was. I think it was the 50s, it may have been the 80s. But yeah, easy. Chesla Doc Martin: Because that's that's kind of how I'm thinking like I I think I I really like how Martin has been played the whole time I like how George has been played the whole time Mark I've made no secret of the fact that I am NOT a fan of how he's been played. I agree with you that I think This particular episode I liked him much better. It had my absolute favorite Mark scene in it, which is when he gets the ticket Chesla Wechsler: And of course, Peter Cronk is the one who named the dog. Patty V: The little boy named it. Yeah, that's what I thought. But I wasn't sure. Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Chesla Doc Martin: I just really liked it. And then it carried, that was a trailer I saw, and then it carried on through the whole episode. And I think it is just because it seemed very cartoonish at the beginning. And it doesn't, it didn't seem cartoonish in this. So I like how he's being played. still has some mannerisms that I just don't find appealing, but that's just a creative choice and I just have to suck it up. so ⁓ how Spencer is presenting Louisa. ⁓ This was the first episode. Chesla Wechsler: I would say that this group here is never gonna like Mark and there's creative choices being made basically on Mark is an absolute goofball, doesn't have... a lot of neurons that are rubbing together correctly. And also we're demanding of more realism when it comes to medicine and how a doctor's office should practice, than this show will probably ever provide, is my guess. Yeah, Doug? Chesla Doc Martin: that I thought. the way that Louisa acts made sense. mean, she's before talking, obviously uncertain ⁓ herself, not about things. She sort of says things one way and then sort of darts in another. ⁓ And it seemed kind of like a little crazy, well, little, little uncertain. A little inauthentic. Yeah. Doug B.: Is it possible that a Port Wenn ⁓ doctor, ⁓ town, I mean, I've never lived in a small town. ⁓ it possible that's ⁓ normal in small town America? ⁓ I know. Chesla Doc Martin: And I thought this seemed authentic. this episode, I that sort of uncertainty was dead ⁓ was ⁓ much in keeping with her character. mean, they had this great kiss last episode. Speaking of I mean, the seriousness last episode of operating on Peter Cronk sort of carries through to this episode. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: We could put that out to the universe of watchers and say, hey, if anybody's in a teeny tiny little town, let us know if you hire your doctor or there's some other way of payment that somehow is not what we're used to. Erica? Erica Susko: Yeah, I mean, for me, it's not every episode that I don't connect with that piece. I'm not looking for, you know, ER level, Grey's Anatomy, The Pitt type intricacy. You know, they've had other issues before where it's big Chesla Doc Martin: Okay, there's serious things. But Louisa, so mean, last episode, the kiss, the uncertainty, and then getting sort stood up by Martin at the end, and now she's sort of. Erica Susko: They've had episodes where there isn't much technicality to it, and that's okay. I just felt like the issue they chose for this episode was so much bigger than the town reacted I do think though, small town, ⁓ I would I grew up in, I'd say smaller And I think, they do have that type of level of medical... Chesla Doc Martin: dealing with that and not only dealing with that, dealing with the fact that everybody in the village seems to know. And how is she going to handle that? She doesn't know. And so that uncertainty of, well, she doesn't know what she's going to do, I think comes through very good. Comes through very well. It seemed very real. Yeah. Yeah. And it made sense and it seemed very real. Erica Susko: access to the doctor, familiarity. I've seen other shows where they have that kind of level of familiarity. And that part doesn't bother me at all. just, for this particular episode, I just couldn't get past that. And maybe it was because of COVID and being stuck in a house and, I know I had it at one point, I quarantined and not seeing people so I could see the severity and the plague is something, you know, kind of big deal. Chesla Doc Martin: to me, it was ⁓ more of yeah, this makes perfect within character that she's having a life crisis, but a, my job could go away. We just had potentially this life threatening thing happen. Where is my life going? What do I want to do with it? I'm drawn to this guy, but I really don't need drama right now. I'm getting older. I'd maybe like a child. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Erica Susko: One more issue with this particular medical issue on this particular episode. I'm okay that act that way on some occasion they don't quite care about the severity. Like with the Blueberry Festival and Gentleman Was Blue. ⁓ me, that was kind of a funny way of ignoring that a problem. And I'm okay with that. For me, this episode, it's the plague. I mean, come on, people. It's the plague. Chesla Doc Martin: You know, maybe this is just something I should go do on my own and not wait for the planets to align and for this doctor guy who I seem to be drawn to to figure himself out. So was good. and then talking about sort of an over the top thing. Chesla Wechsler: Mm-hmm. Yeah. How quickly, do we remember how quickly he said, don't worry, it's solvable a course of antibiotics? I'm just wondering like how quickly he put people's fears to rest. Patty, did you remember? Chesla Doc Martin: when Mark is going into Martin's office at the end, and he's gonna have it out with him. And he says, I have something to say to you, Doc. And Martin says, you have something to say to me? And Mark says, no, I don't. But then everybody in the office, they look at the door, all the patients are looking in. Patty V: If he said it right away, I didn't catch it, put it that way. So, maybe that was just me, but I had a point about something you said earlier. ⁓ you want, ⁓ you said this group is never going to like Mark. it's not just not liking him because there's always going to be, quirky character that ⁓ is, you know, exaggerated qualities. if a bit, a little bit of humor. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, go ahead. Sure. Good. Go for it. Chesla Doc Martin: which is a little over the top, they then just closed the door and kept going on. In the original Doc Martin, maybe they would have had people like in the office leaning in. So subtle in what people And if they were caught, they'd be kind of like. ⁓ subtle what people probably do in real life. In Best Medicine, would people really do that? Probably not. Patty V: thrown in, but the idea that he had a serious relationship with Louisa for long, what the heck did she see in him? That's kind of hard to believe. ⁓ kind of, if wanted that to be believable, that they had this but they just weren't right for each other, I don't think they should have made him as much of a caricature as he is, but. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah. Chesla Doc Martin: It's that it was it's now that that's this is how this show does it. Yeah, but it wasn't so completely over the top That's right. It was it was likable. seemed They didn't all have cups on strings that were attached to the wall or something. Yeah. I liked it. Yeah, how the Doc Martin-ey things? Doc Martin-ey things. Well, this is really Chesla Wechsler: I find Louisa to be pretty scattered and ⁓ emotional, very anxious, maybe. not sure if anxious is the right term, but she seems very reactive. like in... Chesla Doc Martin: It's sort of going its own way. Pretty unique. The point of commonality, I could see the house. ⁓ house, where Sarah lives. In Doc Martin, Martin's father going to ⁓ sell the house. They need to sell it. He needs the money. So he's going to it out from Aunt Sarah. And Martin, Ellingham. Chesla Wechsler: At the end of this episode, I really thought that she was kind of thinking through what she wanted to do with her life and she was getting a bit more serious about things. But at the beginning of the episode, she was very sort of frantic that people had found out that they'd had this kiss and, everything in this town is known to everybody. And she seemed very... And I'm just wondering if, because she's the teacher, am I giving her too much credit for being willing to overlook Mark's... ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: Steps in and ⁓ of and it's all taken care of in one episode taken care of in one all one episode presented to Aunt Joan Selling the house by the end of the episode. No, you're not right gonna do that. I'll ⁓ my flat and pay you. and here ⁓ Ongoing saga, that's an ongoing saga. They're gonna say he's gonna sell the house how it's gonna be done ⁓ yes, Sarah's gonna be out of it bring back Robert and Vanessa. That's what I said ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: obvious deficits in meeting her on an intellectual level, but the fact that he really does seem like a super guy. Even the fact that when he has this argument with Doc Martin about giving him the ticket and he's leaving the office, he's like, do you want me to close the door? Like, ⁓ he's polite and nice. gets the sandwiches for people. So like, I don't want to try to make up how those two somehow managed to be together for eight years, but I think I could probably cobble something together that would let me get 80 % of the way there. But I am with you that I can't get 100 % of the way there, with those two. Chesla Doc Martin: put that out to the universe You you're you're a Clunatic. As I had mentioned no Cluniac? No, I I be a Clunatic But as mentioned to Kathy, I'm also a Sam Neill-a-tic and Anthony Hopkins-a-tic ⁓ and many other 'a-tics', But yeah, a Clunatic Erica Susko: I gotta say, I start every episode really, really, really hoping I can connect with Mark. I really do. I want to connect with him. I want to like him. ⁓ have a theory that perhaps Louisa's a bit scatteredness helped balance out some of Mark's quirkiness and that perhaps some of this quirkiness is more about his sadness about losing her and not being able to kind Chesla Doc Martin: One way that I found that I was reminded of Doc Martin was ⁓ getting into the mind of the dog. or whatever her name is, she to say, know, Buddy or not Buddy, ⁓ the who's finally going to be called Copernicus, even though Peter Cronk named him eons ago. You know, he's really depressed. wants, he doesn't know where he stands with you. Angela Sim was, you know, the dog for, for Buddy, the dog whisperer. So that reminded of that. Erica Susko: compartmentalize how to function going forward. I do really want to, just, his choices are just not choices that I prefer. Chesla Wechsler: Yep, Patty V: So Chesla Doc Martin: You know, Elaine, like Pauline, has a tendency to invent roles for herself in the office. Yes, I am the safety officer. I'm the public safety officer. And Pauline was like, I'm the practice manager. It's like, you're not. You're the receptionist. So those were a couple of things. But there weren't a lot. And that's what, you know, where I really said it was Independence Day. There weren't a lot of plot arcs that I detected similarities with Doc Martin. And it's going its own way. I mean, in the dog. Erica Susko: I'm trying, I really am. Chesla Wechsler: Patty? Patty V: So I was just trying to ask Erica if he wasn't quite as ⁓ or weird, if you turn the back and they were still together, ⁓ he wouldn't act quite ⁓ macho and, and, and If at that time it's more he's still lost without Louisa. He is doing crazy things. Yeah. Chesla Doc Martin: In this episode, Martin takes the dog. He says, says, Copernicus, we're to go for a walk and gives him a collar. Yep. So that establishes an ownership. So that clears up the relationship. mean, to I mean, Doc Martin original. Patty V: If so, I'm kind of ready for that to start dying down. And I thought it had in earlier episodes and boy it was back, but. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, I I thought what you were saying, Patty, right there, I do think that all that macho stuff that came out very early in the series was a reaction to their breakup. And I'm sure he wasn't like that. I'm trying to, from a consistency standpoint in the character, he does seem like he's trying to be the police officer of a town that doesn't seem to really need a police officer. Chesla Doc Martin: Martin could not throw out Buddy's dog bed after Buddy died. Okay. said he would do it like the next day. He was putting it off. there was like, he'd gotten a little bit attached. ⁓ then when Chicken was missing, he went all over town and put up the little flyers ⁓ he didn't want their departure to be delayed. But that wasn't it. He James loved that dog and he wanted to get that dog back. Chesla Wechsler: It's like don't you guys commit any crimes just because I'm stuck here at the doctor's office, you know, it's like no one's committing any crimes I still think that this was a make-do job. They gave this guy Patty V: in the. And I didn't think about it that way, he, so what is his purpose period? You know, he doesn't really have a job that's needed and he doesn't have this girlfriend he's pined after forever. So his whole life is upended. That's a good way to be more sympathetic towards him to think of it that way. Chesla Doc Martin: But yeah, there weren't a lot of plot arcs. Yeah, and this is, it's going its own way. And I think healthy, actually. Yeah, I agree. a Doc Martin fan, I no look for points of commonality. some certainly suggest themselves, but the show, Martin Best is a very different from Martin Ellingham. Absolutely. Chesla Wechsler: Would, yeah, how about you, Doug. Doug B.: Yeah, well, so now wait a minute. We can't forget about the fact that he's now writing parking tickets to the good doctor. So he's there to create income for the town. but, but I agree with, with both Patty and Erica that, you know, the whole breakup thing ⁓ him ⁓ He, we, we never saw him pre-breakup. Well, I don't know. Did we? I don't think we did. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah? There is that. Chesla Doc Martin: And thing about that was, you know, we spend a lot of time with Martin Ellingham trying learn about Like we get tiny little clues here and there when he makes comments about, my father hit me with a table tennis bat and he just throws it out there. And you're like, holy cow, this guy's been hit. ⁓ And then, you know, mother used to lock me in a cupboard. Patty V: No, they were... Doug B.: So may, you know, ⁓ whole breakup thing may have turned switch in him. ⁓ And why he was with Louisa for so long happily. Chesla Doc Martin: you I turned out okay. You and you just learn like these little tiny things about this guy. And takes a very long time before anybody's really diagnosing him ⁓ and he relates to people. Whereas in ⁓ right off bat in this episode, it's episode 11, which would be episode five of season two, if we numerically were working them. Chesla Wechsler: And if the switch could be turned one way, the switch can be turned back. And we have season two, which of course, all of season one was in the can, so they can't react to any viewer feedback. But, we can have hopes for season two that maybe Mark will have an opportunity to do a little healing and a little settling down. ⁓ And maybe he you know, he seemed to kind of like that Savannah girl. Patty V: Thank Doug B.: Maybe he can find a girlfriend. Chesla Doc Martin: You know, Aunt Sarah is saying, you you screwed things up with Louisa. You blew it up because you didn't want to get hurt. Martin ⁓ previously introduced the idea of, basically like why waste anybody's time? ⁓ in essence, kind that not worthy. so we've already got like him being self-aware or at least expressing himself in a way that people can understand where he might be coming from or why he does what he does. Chesla Wechsler: But she of course is gonna get thrown into jail for trafficking exotic pets, you know? Ooh. That's right. That's right. He also, yeah, that's right. There is room. There's nobody else's in there. And Mark did write, well, he was writing up Robert Best for having hit the shrub or bumped a bush as he said in the episode. Doug B.: Well, maybe she can be thrown into his jail. Patty V: There's room. Doug B.: Hahaha! ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: And then Aunt Sarah having her perspective, which is probably Rosemary related, you're blowing things up so that you don't get hurt. So that's early to be getting that much into what's going on with Martin. Well, we don't know if it's hurt. I'll save them both the trouble. Yeah. Well, I would that it's not necessarily a hurt with Rosemary. It could be some romantic hurt. ⁓ Yeah, maybe that we know about. Chesla Wechsler: What other, I mean, if I look at this episode, it takes place in two different places. We do see all the same people kind of all the time in the episodes. We saw Gilbert, we saw Irma, Geneva. Johnny, think is the guy who we saw talk to Mark. He wanted him to get his chlamydia medicine. He's the guy. ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: But do like Aunt So what did you do with Louisa? What'd you do wrong? What'd do wrong? One thing Aunt Sarah, which is different than the show, ⁓ is in show, Bert was like, Aunt Joan told Martin, if you want to know anything about what's going on in the town, talk to Bert. It's like Bert was known to be the source of all the gossip. Whereas here's Aunt Sarah, who seems to own the ⁓ hot goss right? So sounds like maybe in this show Aunt Sarah is the... Chesla Wechsler: who was feeling ⁓ just assiness or something like that, ⁓ assy, whatever supposed to mean. Any other characters standing out to Patty V: That's just what I said before, that I'm annoyed by the three teenagers. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Yes. Erica, you had pointed out a while back, like you're just expecting Martin some point to take them to task for shooting blueberries and going to see their parents and being do something about these guys. Chesla Doc Martin: You know, telephone, telegraph, tele-Sarah. could be. other diversions did you see? ⁓ well, yeah, I mean, and the Louisa character. Yeah, very different from the show. Doc Martin, ⁓ Louisa where she is, what she's where she's going, part of the village, what she wants. Career goals. Career goals. Patty V: Yeah. Erica Susko: That's a really good point. And I still think that he seems to have no problem giving snarky answers to his patients. Yet he lets these three teenagers who he doesn't even know no, emotional to treat him like crap and others too, but mostly him. And for his ⁓ demeanor, I have expected by now for him to just shut 'em down, take 'em out, whatever. Chesla Doc Martin: Yeah, has a baby, doesn't talk about it that much. So, well, it's going further down. mean, to me, that's a commonality in the sense of this plot arc, is Louisa might become a single mom, which was certainly a plot arc. But then you look at Louisa Gavin ⁓ a mess. She's where ⁓ Glasson is like very she knows who she is, what she's doing. Chesla Wechsler: Elaine had an interesting comment when she was talking how she wanted to go to Juilliard, but then she'd have to leave Al and the kids were commenting on all of her answers. And she's like, those three can die. she was ready to write, ⁓ was ready to write those three off. But what about Al and Elaine? I thought we learned something about Al. Go ahead, Doug. Doug B.: Let him die. Chesla Doc Martin: Louisa Gavin does not. She doesn't know what's in her future. She doesn't know what she feels about her future. You don't get the sense that she wanted to be a principal, she fell into the job. Louisa Glasson, there's an opening, I'm going to apply for it. This is what I'd like to do. I'd like to be the headmistress. So she was very, very decisive. So it's like they sort of inverted Louisa Glasson to get Doug B.: Yeah, so that was, we were talking about other characters in this episode, Elaine. I think Elaine is growing, Chesla Doc Martin: Louisa Gavin. sure of herself? Not sure of herself. So they've done that. And also friends, not friends. So Louisa Glasson and ⁓ like Pippa and are kind like the only two friends we ever really hear about. Although one night does, after she has James Henry, she goes out with some people and Martin stays home to babysit James. But that's Doug B.: Elaine is really maturing ⁓ think her connection with Al, ⁓ didn't, I have missed an episode, but I didn't think that she had made the boyfriend reference publicly before. she, it just seemed emphatic this time. It's like, yeah, he's my boyfriend, I don't know what to do. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. One thing that occurred to both Chris and me when we were watching it, because it's a phrase that he's always hitting me with, ⁓ guess Elaine is telling Savannah, I might be so awesome and Juilliard might just think I am so amazing at how they can't ever imagine that they've ever seen anybody as good as me, which cracked me up, but that would take her away from Al and. Chesla Doc Martin: That's like the only night out she really has where as... Louisa Gavin. She's friends everybody. Yeah. Yeah, she hangs out at the Salty Breeze ⁓ and to people. Yeah. Yeah, you get more of that social sense. ⁓ Now, Glasson, everybody always seemed like they had her back, they threw a shower and people came to the shower. it all seemed like, people liked her. ⁓ Right. But she... Chesla Wechsler: Savannah was kind of like, the universe can let us do more than one thing or something like that. And one phrase that Chris is always telling me is 'the tyranny of or; the genius of and'. It's like you can have both things. And I thought, and I don't know if you guys caught this, but when Al is on the other side of the window and he's trying to persuade Elaine that she needs to do this rehearsal, he says, I speed read this book on Chesla Doc Martin: seemed a little bit above the village, whereas Louisa Gavin seems to be very much of the village. Yes, I agree. I think that's a good characterization. What else did I have? They're giving bigger roles to people who were sort of minor characters in Doc Martin, like the Bevy Girls, the girls who always would call Martin 'tosser', right? They were sort of a Greek chorus in Doc Martin. They've changed those into those three teenagers who have Chesla Wechsler: how to act or how to do the monologue. And you're supposed to add these emotional markings or whatever. And I started marking them in a script. And I'm wondering if Al's gonna secretly do an audition video and send it in too. Chesla Doc Martin: They're in almost every episode with a Greek chorus. Well, that's what they were. Yeah. But they're they're not really that now that now they're active participants in the plot, whereas they really weren't. They were commenters on on what was going on or what had just happened with Martin. They're still commenting, but it's not the same type of not quite. They're not like doing a hit and run. They're they're kind of present in the plot, I think. Yeah. And I mean, in general, the villagers in Erica Susko: Yeah, he was marking the beats. It's a very theatrical and type word for it. But yeah, he said he was marking the beats. But if he got that from reading, even speed reading one book, that's, he's it up pretty good. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Right. We know he's smart because he got perfect SATs, right? So we've got that. So I was predicting that perhaps he's gonna submit audition too. And what I'm wondering is, wouldn't it be a kick in the head if he got in and she didn't? Chesla Doc Martin: Doc Martin were used in episode or a couple episodes and you'd have those villagers essentially In Best They have a large number of villagers and they use them and there. It seemed to me like they have a large number of villagers in Best Medicine, ⁓ but they are always Like the same people all the time in everything. Chesla Wechsler: That could cause problems. Yeah. Cause you know, Elaine is, she's interesting and good and she's growing, but you know, she's probably not going to completely blow away Juilliard. Patty V: Here's a plot. Erica Susko: The plot thickens. Doug B.: Yeah, I didn't think her audition tape was special. Chesla Doc Martin: Whereas in Doc Martin, they had a vast number of villagers, but they would focus on, they really give a focus to a couple of them per episode and they didn't necessarily repeat a ton. So like you saw Chippy Miller a lot, right? You saw, I'm thinking like in patients and stuff like that. But it just seems like we see all the same people all the time and that seems a little different to me. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, was fine, but you really do need to be rather exceptional. knows? ⁓ Erica Susko: But it's nice to see her doing something other than videos on rubber band balls and what's in my box and those kinds of things. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, yeah. And she was doing public service ⁓ announcements. Chesla Doc Martin: The bar keeps. I mean, know, like Greg and George, really pivotal characters. Right. They're the bar keeps, in essence. And so at the Crab and Lobster before you had Al running the place, you had, I forget if Ken was the original Ken was at least in the middle. He's the guy who ends up dying. But I think there might've been a guy even before that, we never really got to know them. No, they weren't right. Big parts of it. Erica Susko: New ideas, like she be the reporter for the town. We don't have one Chesla Wechsler: There you ⁓ Erica Susko: yet. Patty V: And in some ways kudos to Martin for agreeing with and letting her do the ⁓ public service announcement, because that's not the kind of thing he would normally do. But it was a good idea for what the situation was, how serious it was. ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: I don't know if you noticed but the guy who was selling the house on behalf of Greg. I laugh because he said Ken called or I'm doing this on behalf of Ken and I'm thinking to myself, I wonder if that was intentional because Ken was the name of the barkeep in Doc Martin. So did they use that name? I don't know, that could have just been purely an accident. But yes, certainly the bar keeps here are much more. So they have the characters. So we get to know a little bit more about the characters. is... ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, and she was laughing at him because, telling her, let's do a PSA and what's that, a video and you're gonna put it on your social media and she's like, now you like my social media, huh? Any predictions of what might I mean we saw the which we didn't really like? Doug, what do you think? You think we're gonna see that script come out again at some point or at least the contents of it? Yeah? Doug B.: Absolutely. That's good. There's going to be pushing as as Louisa said, this push and pull between that's not going to stop. yeah, we'll ⁓ see that again. Chesla Doc Martin: Aunt Sarah's friend? getting back to sort of character moments, she, not ⁓ but she adds some emotion some crystallization ⁓ what she says. ⁓ Patty V: How many episodes are there in season one? There's two left. I don't think you're going to see that come to fruition in this season. I think we'll drag it out to season two. That's my prediction. Chesla Wechsler: No, there's two left. Doug B.: Yeah, yeah, I agree, but it'll, you know, the push and pull will continue. But yeah, no, that'll be a conflict that doesn't get resolved, maybe ever. Chesla Doc Martin: So like when they're talking in the Salty Breeze about how they can all, they're gonna die. What's the importance of life? And I forget what she says. But it's something very short and adds to what the people are saying and it's just a very nice contribution from her character. And when everybody was like, Chesla Wechsler: Okay, Erica? Erica Susko: I have my prediction is that and Louisa are going to in the next episode have a tryst, a of the moment, ⁓ and going end the season with Louisa finding out she's pregnant. Chesla Wechsler: Ooh. Patty V: Whoa! Doug B.: I like it. Erica Susko: I mean, what Plus we also know that she just told Martin she wants kids and he was like, thanks, but no thanks. So wouldn't it be interesting if she ended up being pregnant with his kid? Chesla Doc Martin: like gathering around Louisa to be a single mom. think she says something like, may all be like nosy and annoying, but you know, we're your friends and yeah, and we'll help you. Like Gilbert, Gilbert Spencer in Best Medicine is in more episodes than Gilbert Spencer was in Doc Martin and Ross, who was the lifeguard guy who had the affair with Lady Brading is Doug, the houseboat guy in this. And he seems to be having much larger roles. Chesla Wechsler: Did you think he was thanks but no thanks? Erica Susko: not as and cruelly like that. I'm just putting a little snarkiness to it. I just think that that's not what he wants right now. I think he so disconnected ⁓ emotionally disconnected. He's got to work on himself just as much as she has to work on herself. So he's just working up the nerve to say he wants to. Chesla Doc Martin: Ross mean, Ross was in several different things. And then, you know, we've got the Geneva and Irma. We got some new characters that are being repeat characters. Yeah. Yeah. The one thing about Elainiacs I like that name. Elainiacs. Well, it's funny that I'm that they that from Clunatics. I'm sure they did. But there was an interview Erica Susko: try dating or even just be something to her that thinking about having a baby with her would be blowing his mind at this moment is kind of how I took it. Chesla Wechsler: I could see her asking him to be the sperm donor, intelligent guy, you know, but I don't know if that is in the cards. Patty V: Yeah. Erica Susko: I'd love to hear, Patty, Doug, what do you think about my theory? Chesla Doc Martin: with Josh Charles and Martin Clunes when Martin Clunes had been in the episode like kind of like that they're talking about like how how was it to watch yourself your character be written and it's not and everything but Josh said something about how Martin had fans the Cluniacs and I and Martin just sort of chuckled knowingly didn't even Chesla Wechsler: I was just about to... Chesla Doc Martin: correct Josh Charles, but you know, all of us who knew were kind of like, that's the Clunatics. But now I know why he confuses them because you're probably thinking of the Elainiacs and the Cluniacs, but it's understandable. Anyway, I'm glad, I'm very happy with this episode. Oh, me too. I'm hoping that this is where the series goes. Yeah. As I said, as I said previously, it really seems to have found a voice or found a tone. Patty V: OK, a one night stand, she ends up impregnant and they'll say it was a mistake and then it but she ends up being pregnant. Yeah, maybe I one thing I liked in that. I like I really liked him at the end of the episode because I thought it's really hard for him to make that list and say it to her. ⁓ And when she said, well, I can't do this right now because I want to go have a baby. I thought he Erica Susko: is that the doctor will Chesla Doc Martin: that I thought worked very well with the story. A story that did not hearken to anything in ⁓ Martin. So it's going off in its own way. ⁓ characters, we have Louisa who ⁓ to be a mom. We have Martin Best ⁓ who ⁓ falling love with Louisa and the poor ⁓ Patty V: genuinely, he something, well, I wish you well with that. And I don't think he was just throwing that out there as a nicety. I think he's really caring for ⁓ And I think he thinks she want a baby. And if that's what she wants, he wants it for her. And like Erica said, I'm not sure ready at this point, but I just felt like he really showed Chesla Doc Martin: sure how to, I mean, he had all written up. he probably had lots of things in there that he finally, Aunt Sarah telling him, you gotta do this. ⁓ And he gonna do it. ⁓ And Louisa says, shut him down. "You know? Port Wenn is too small for us be together." We have two more episodes. Two? Patty V: ⁓ for her and trying to help her get what she wants. Chesla Wechsler: Did you ever thought about that, Doug? Doug B.: Just fingers crossed that Erica is right on. Go for it, doc. Chesla Wechsler: I, there you go. To your point, Patty, I also think he was, I think he was thinking when she said I wanna have a baby, I think he was thinking too quick for me, but not something he was rejecting. Kind of like, whoa, we're leaping right to that. And then to your point, Patty, when he was patting her arm arm, ⁓ Chesla Doc Martin: Two more episodes. have two more episodes. This is 11. So dollars to donuts. letter comes back out, or at least we, the contents of it come back out. But knows? We know how they would end seasons of Doc Martin. Is will they, won't And she even talks about push-pull or whatever in this, Louisa does. ⁓ But he's got to be to profess Patty V: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: to wish, I really wish you well with that. I think it was not only sincere, but just that sort of, that arm pat? felt like he really wanted to just gather her in that was as much as he could do because I'm sure he had steeled himself for this conversation. You could tell how hard it was for him to be. And that I think he felt like there would be a different resolution to that. He was ready. And then this was all he could get away with was like squeezing her hand and being like, really wish you the best with that. Chesla Doc Martin: So could be. Yeah. be a cliffhanger. Could be a cliffhanger. It was renewed. Yeah. Anyway, if like Podcast Portwenn, please subscribe, like the episode, drop, drop me some comments. I reply. If you've got ideas, please let us know. We're coming down to the end of the season. So we'll either be going on some sort of a Best Medicine hiatus unless you guys think of something that would be interesting for us to talk about or we think of something interesting. ⁓ But yeah. Patty V: ⁓ yeah. Chesla Wechsler: All right, so it sounds like we're tryst maybe, accidental pregnancy, but then what would they do with that? Chesla Doc Martin: I hope you guys have enjoyed it. Have a good one. Bye. Erica Susko: the way to end the season to get you to want to come back. What will happen next? What will they do? ⁓ What is going to be made? Chesla Wechsler: dope. Doug B.: And maybe it'll just turn out that, ⁓ no, we were wrong. The test came back in correctly. Patty V: You Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, you could start right into season two that way and then you've got that whole push-pull and now that it was a temporary thing that did happen, now maybe that makes them start rethinking things. mean, all sorts of things could happen from that, couldn't it? Patty V: would be interesting with me saying earlier that I thought they were just dragging this out. if all happened before the end of the first season, I would have to retract my statement that they're dragging it out. Chesla Wechsler: Yeah, no, that's true. I mean, it would have all come together pretty quickly. But he's showing an incredible amount of growth. Patty V: Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: And I still want to know what happened with Rosemary and I want Robert and Vanessa to come back. Plus we've got, yeah, you want to know the blood, the explanation, and I want to know what happens to Aunt Sarah's house. Erica Susko: and I'm still stuck on the blood. Doug B.: Well, so watching the coming attractions next week, there is there. ⁓ don't the specifics other than there was conversation with Aunt Sarah saying they're selling my house and where am going to go, I think. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Remind me what they said, Doug. Okay. We shall see. Patty V: Can somebody refresh my memory on that? brother, Martin's father, is just taking it away from her. Chesla Wechsler: Robert Best and Sarah up in Port Wenn and Robert moved away, but the family home belongs to him when their parents died. And he has this gambling problem where he's accumulated lot of debts. So he wants to sell the house because he needs that Patty V: Right. Right. Right. Right. know he has a He wants to sell it so he can pay. Yeah. And she's just, Sarah's just been living there. He's just let her live there. now, yeah. ⁓ Chesla Wechsler: Yes. And we also know that she's basically, in British terms, she's skint. She doesn't have a lot of money ⁓ because were even talking about when she had to renew her lobster license. Like she had to earn some extra money so she could pay for that. So you can tell she doesn't have a lot of money. She can't buy him out. Martin offered to help, but she didn't want his help. Patty V: Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Chesla Wechsler: And you we still have the outstanding thing of what happens to the school too. Does the school close? Yeah. Patty V: Is the school going to close? Yeah. Erica Susko: And I believe Sarah said the was only going to give 20 % of the sale, Patty V: Was she estranged from their parents? Like why would only he get the house? Chesla Wechsler: Sounds like it was the oldest male, right? Doug B.: That's what I heard. Patty V: Ooh, patriarchy. Erica Susko: That's what he said. Chesla Wechsler: And if you look at Annie Potts and Martin Clunes, she's the older of the two. So oldest male was kind of required because one would think ⁓ might be the younger brother, but because he was male, just that's how their parents rolled, I guess. ⁓ Erica Susko: Although there might be another twist because if I recall correctly and I can go back to watch it, but I believe when they were sitting around the table and this was not this episode, this was obviously two episodes ago. He said, I'm the oldest male, so the house goes to me. He didn't specifically say he was left the house. The house was left to me. He said, I'm the oldest male, so the house goes to me. Now, maybe I'm just reading into that. I don't know, but. Patty V: Ooh. Chesla Wechsler: I thought you said... Yeah, I took it as definitive like he had inherited the house. But maybe I'm just reading into it and I'll have to, see now I get, I'll just have to go re-watch the Martin Clunes episode. Patty V: and Yeah. Maybe there's a plot twist that she thinks she has to sell it, but she doesn't because it was left, you know, half and half or something or, or even her. Who knows? Yeah. Chesla Wechsler: Well, there is an interesting thought. Yeah, yeah, I like that idea. Interesting prediction, but all right, cool. So I guess, you know, with only two episodes left, I'm assuming we'll see you guys again for the next two episodes. Yes? Yes. Okay, very good. As always, I appreciate your time. I'm really glad that you watched these episodes ⁓ than once sometimes, and come here and share your perspectives with me. Folks out in listening land, if you've enjoyed this, please like the episode, subscribe. If you have ideas of things that you'd like us to talk about, please let us know. Any comments on the episode, I always respond. Again, folks, thanks very much. Erica Susko: For sure. Patty V: Okay.