In this episode Ruby and Pearl Pratt are confronted by the past when their drifter father returns to the area. Caroline still owes money to her creditors, and since she hasn't paid, a court official is after her. She teams up with Ruby and Pearl's father to fleece residents out of money in various scams, but it backfires and she is hauled off to jail. Laura is dating Philip and when she is with him she acts as if her relatives are beneath her. Dorcas makes a jelly her late father loved.
The story built nicely. We knew the Pratt sisters would reconcile with their father, or at least try to. But I wasn't prepared for how spectacularly it would backfire. In a way, it's a shame their father is not used as a semi-regular character. Having him featured in only one episode doesn't give us the full effect of how his scams would affect his daughters as well as Caroline and the others. The damage in their lives would be far more extensive, very far-reaching.
The actor they hired to play the wily rascal didn't quite seem old enough, but what a marvelous performer. The scenes where he is staying with the girls and it looks like he is about to reform were played quite softly. But of course, he was a rogue through and through so there had to be a continuing flicker of evil under the surface. The actor conveyed all of that and more.
I didn't think the subplot with Laura ignoring her father worked. We needed a greater reason for her to suddenly put on airs and act like being with Philip was more important than acknowledging her dad on the street. I don't think she's been on her own and away from home long enough to seem loftier than her folks and the life they have. She would still be connected to it.
The actress who plays Caroline is simply wonderful. The scene at the end where she was hauled away by the bailiff with her son Alf was trailing after the paddy wagon was powerful. I guess I figured she would continue to evade the law, so her being caught all of a sudden was shocking.
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