Papa Can You Hear Me?: Analysis

Season 2, Episode 10: Papa Can You Hear Me?

Analysis

Here's an incredibly predictable comment: I love this episode. For me, it's one of the best of Season 2 as Dr. Tom takes centre stage and gets to travel back in time to re-live his regret over his daughter, Sarah.

This is something we saw right at the start of Season 2, as Dr. Tom took Erica back in time to show how he and his daughter had fallen out. He also referred to her in Episode 4 and her love of taking risks.

It was a nice touch from the writers, therefore, to bring the matter back and deal with it to a certain extent towards the end of Season 2. And a clever way of showing the growth and development in the relationship between Dr. Tom and Erica.

Indeed, relationships are at the centre of this episode. I have to say, right from the outset, I disagree with Erica's assertion that relationships are solid. Maybe I'm wrong to, but I see them as very fragile. Capable of ending and breaking in an instant.

Plenty of relationships are put under the radar in this episode. We'll deal with the primary one between Dr. Tom and his daughter Sarah first of all though.

It's clearly a big issue for Dr. Tom, as he doesn't even know where his daughter is in the present day, or whether she's even alive. For a parent, that must be a nightmare.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy this episode so much as well is because I have a difficult relationship with my own parents. We're not close to say the least. I guess it's one of those things which begins in teenage years.

You just have to hope that as you mature and grow up, that you become closer again. It's not always the case though. Clearly Dr. Tom and Sarah, with their strawberry milkshakes with extra whipped cream, used to be close.

It's that classic parent-kid dilemma though. The parent wants their kid to be happy but they also want them to be the best they can be and think they know what's best for them. The kid disagrees and wants to live their own life and make their own choices. Cue confrontation.

I don't doubt that being a parent is the hardest job in the world, and I certainly doubt my own ability to be a father, if it were to ever happen.

I do feel lucky as a kid though that my parents have never been very pushy in terms of my future and been happy for me to do whatever I want.

On his return to the past, Dr. Tom sees how wrong he has been about Sarah - and realising how she has a talent for art which should be encouraged and nurtured rather than shut down. How he did he discover it? By taking the time to listen and understand.

Obviously Sarah's rant over dinner resonated with him, as he realises that the way he has been acting with Erica, controlling the direction of her therapy, has produced a similar negative reaction from her.

I liked the fact that he was able to keep the drawing of Sarah's though, proudly hanging it up on his wall in his office. However, he was clearly sad on his time travelling of the wasted and missed years that he will never be able to get back as he watched his talented daughter at work.

Great acting as ever from Michael, who is given more time than usual to shine. I also liked the different therapist interaction in this episode - with the return of Dr. Naadiah and Dr. Fred also making an appearance.

Ultimately, Dr. Tom - maybe in a sign of how he cares about Erica - does go and pay a visit to Kai, as she requested. Obviously something he said got through to the barista too, judging by his decision at the end to return to Goblins to work.

Speaking of Kai, the turbulent friendship between him and Erica takes another twist in this episode. Seriously, it's getting pretty boring by now.

They are going to be friends, they aren't going to be friends. They are going to talk about things, they aren't going to talk about things. Erica is going to go to Goblins for coffee, Erica isn't going to go for Goblins for coffee.

She, naively, thinks initially that things with Kai can go on as normal, despite her confessing feelings for him. She seems to have forgotten what happened during a similar thing in Season 1 when she told Ethan she loved him though.

How uncomfortable she now is around Ethan is a clear sign of the confused feelings she has though. The words of Sam about her relationship with Josh and the "made up" view he had of her clearly strike a chord too.

My own view is that most relationships break up because the two people aren't right for one another in the first place. The only difference is how long it takes for that to be discovered - sometimes it can take a couple of dates, sometimes months, sometimes years.

The other difference can be whether it is a discovery made internally or whether an external factor provides the catalyst for this discovery. I guess this is where Kai comes in, causing confusion and doubt in Erica's mind about what she really wants.

You'd think the fact her issues with Kai stops her from sleeping in the middle of the night, causing her to go to Goblins late, falling out with her therapist, and not wanting her boyfriend kissing her would give her some kind of indication though.

Of course, as is the way so often in Season 2, the episode ends with Erica saying she can't be friends with Kai. Talk about deja vu. You get the feeling it is the last desperate act to save her relationship with Ethan. The inevitable just keeps getting delayed.