Amy Shindler (Brenda Tucker)
Brenda has finally had enough – after another week
of being treated like a slave at work and being ignored at home by Tom,
something had to give. Friday morning she rang Tom, saying she wanted to meet
at lunchtime. This isn't convenient for the Ready Meals magnate, but at
Brenda's insistence, he re-schedules his packed diary, cancels 427 high-powered
meetings and tells Richard Branson that he'll have to wait awhile for Tom to
tell him the secret of succeeding in business.
When they do meet, Brenda drops her bombshell – she
can't go on like this and, despite the fact that she loves him, she thinks they
should split up. Tom is staggered, saying "But we're Tom and Brenda –
we're a team." No doubt he's thinking about the footballing pigs. "I
can change" he says. Yeah right. But Brenda says she doesn't want him to,
thereby putting herself in a minority of one against five million listeners.
Tom says he loves her (almost as much as a Ready
Meal) and he'll fight for her. "We chose a place to build a house, to
raise our children." He says, whereupon Brenda drops her second bombshell –
she doesn't want children. Tom is stricken, as he has left a brief window in
his diary on Easter Sunday 2015 for the act of procreation and has already planned
a new range of Ready Meals, designed for pregnant women and who will he use for
a guinea pig now? Brenda says "seeing you like this is breaking my
heart" so she does the sensible thing and leaves. Pity she didn't go
straight to AmSide and tell Lilian to stick her job, before quitting Ambridge
and riding off into the sunset, but you can't have everything.
But hey, it's an ill wind, as shortly after Brenda
goes, Tony and Pat turn up to tell Tom that they have agreed with his plan to
sell the herd and re-name Bridge Farm 'Tom Archeropolis'. They don't notice
that he seems a tad distracted and Tony unconsciously twists the knife when he
tells his son "Hard work brings results – you've finally got everything
you wanted". As his parents leave, Tom bursts into tears, presumably
because they didn't buy a Ready Meal or half a pound of sausages. Look on the
bright side Tom – with Brenda not around, just think how much more time you'll
have to devote to your business empire, and you can always exist on Ready Meals.
Tony and Pat's decision came after a week of soul
searching – Pat had a girl's night out with Kathy, who told her she needed to
think about the future and had she ever considered that Tom might jump ship?
(Oh, yes please!). Pat admits that her attachment to the dairy herd is
irrational – what is it about Ambridge women and cows? First we had Rooooth and
the Brookfield herd and now Pat is in love with the Bridge Farm bovines. Pat is
eventually won over when Tony says that they have had a tough working life and
it's now time to ease off a bit and leave the future of the farm to Tom and
Helen – Rich seems to have been airbrushed from the scene.
There is potential conflict at Brookfield, when
Rooooth's mum, Heather and Jill have both made simnel cakes, which means that
everybody has to eat two lots on Easter Day to keep the peace. Pip rings up
from Spencer's – his Grandmother turned up unexpectedly, which of course means
that Pip can't make the Brookfield meal. When Pip does come home eventually,
she is subjected to sarcasm from her parents and force fed simnel cake.
Over at Lower Loxley, Ifty turns up for his meal,
bearing a bottle of rosé, to find that Freddie and Lily have been sent to the
cinema, so he and Elizabeth will be dining a deux. The wine and conversation
flowed freely and Elizabeth's baked salmon and roast vegetables is superb. The
recipe is as follows: roast some vegetables, then bake some salmon. Serve.
Ifty says he likes the sound of Elizabeth's laugh
and he likes spending time with her. "I like being with you too," she
says, which Ifty takes as his cue to kiss her. Sadly, she fends him off, saying
that she can't, even though she has felt more positive this evening than for a
long time. "Maybe I'm not ready for more than friendship" she tells
Ifty. Ifty says that he won't deny that he is disappointed, but it is all
amicable, as Ifty replaces the condom in his wallet, puts his trousers back on
and leaves.
The Lilian/Paul saga took an unexpected twist, as
Paul starts stalking his ex-wife Celia. She is going to marry Frank - a friend
of his - and Paul says he won't let her and he's trying to protect her. She
tells him to bugger off as he's no longer part of her life, but he is exerting
a control freak nature that we haven't seen before. It bodes ill for Lilian.
Finally, the Alice/Chris/Canada saga came to a head
as the two finally spoke to each other about it. Chris said that if Alice
wanted to go, he'd go with her. Alice can't believe it – "I don't deserve
you" she says. "Yes you do," he replies, somewhat immodestly. As
it turns out, she has decided to turn down the job as "right now we need
to be together, here in Ambridge." Why, for God's sake? Wouldn't it have
been a hoot if Chris had spent his convalescence booking flights and buying a
house in Vancouver as a surprise? As it is, Alice gives Chris a hug, thereby
setting back his recovery, but I bet he can't wait till he's better so she can
thank him properly.
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