This Way Up – Season 1, Episode 4 Review

After the story-lite Episode 3, This Way Up returns to form with the fourth episode.

Aine (Aisling Bea) and Shona (Sharon Horgan) are set to attend a birthday party for Vish’s father (Jeff Mirza). Their mother (Sorcha Cusack) has also been invited which is awkward for Aine since it’s the first time the two have seen each other since Aine’s breakdown.

The fourth episode was filled with emotional reveals and family drama. There was tension between Aine and her mother. Aine was especially hostile. Every time Aine’s mother says anything to Aine the young woman bitterly replies like when the mother comments on Aine’s hair. This culminates to an emotional outburst when they’re forced to be together. Aine reveals why she’s so angry with her mother and the mother reveals her own deep, dark secret.

The other reveals were during the family meal. Aine and Shona had to run interference for each other as they face awkward questions from Vish’s family. The Irish mother nearly drops Aine in it when she said that Shona was busy for a year looking after Aine, nearly revealing Aine’s mental health problems and her stay at a rehab facility. It was meant to be a family secret and Shona jumps on the grenade for Aine by admitting she never wants to have children.

Shona’s reveal adds to the wider familial theme of the episode. Vish’s family add who would look after the couple when they grow old. During the episode Aine and Shona were protective of their mother who was walking around with a cane, even though she was a tough old bird who didn’t want her injury to hold her back. Although Shona stated she didn’t want kids, Aine was holding and playing with Vish’s young niece (Alayna Wahid), hinting that she might have a different attitude regarding children. When Vish’s family asked what he wants Vish answers ‘I want what Shona wants,’ but it was clear that was not what he was actually thinking.

Like the previous episodes, the humour was naturalistic. It’s basically the type of things family members would say to and do with each other – like Aine and Shona’s mother pretending to fall. A lot of the humour in this episode was centred on taking the Mick out of Aine. Shona and the mother took the Mickey when Shona reveals Aine was interested in an older man. When everyone was at Vish’s family home everyone reminded Aine of the ‘spicy incident.’

Fortunately Aine was not alone in the humiliation. Both sisters had to sing their tone-deaf rendition of The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ and Vish’s younger brother, Anil (Nikhil Parmar) was mocked for his choice of career: writing for Buzzfeed. Prostitution would be more respectable.

The fourth episode had a fair mix of light comedy and witty lines with more serious moments of character development. It was an episode that felt true to real life.