by Hayley Charlesworth
Episode three of Cucumber, Banana and Tofu split off into three very different directions. While Cucumber follows the main story, but moves away from Henry’s perspective somewhat, Banana invests time in characters we haven’t really seen before, and Tofu takes on a different subject matter entirely.
Episode three of Cucumber, Banana and Tofu split off into three very different directions. While Cucumber follows the main story, but moves away from Henry’s perspective somewhat, Banana invests time in characters we haven’t really seen before, and Tofu takes on a different subject matter entirely.
In Cucumber, Henry remains estranged from Lance, but it is not Henry’s story we are particularly interested in here. Freddie takes centre-stage, which at first makes you wonder why this wasn’t an episode of Banana instead. However, things become clear when the purpose of the episode is to show Freddie as far more damaged (thanks to the return of his former teacher who he had an affair with) than his cocky, sexual character appears to be, and to finally open himself up to a tentative friendship with Henry. Henry takes on the B-plot, which involves him exploiting his YouTube star nephew to gain money, after discovering how much he earns for his homoerotic videos. Parodying the “gaying it up for views” trend on YouTube, this storyline is much lighter than Freddie’s, but nevertheless reveals a desperate side to Henry’s character.
The focus of Banana is the couple of Sian and Violet. These two girls have barely been present in the cross-over world, revealing their connection by being neighbours with Dean, Freddie and Henry, which means this episode works far better as a standalone than either Dean’s or Scotty’s. The main focus of this episode is the strain put on a relationship by moving in together, and has some particularly nice moments. Especially excellent is Sian’s also-lesbian mother, whose unsuccessful previous relationships have given Sian expectations that may not exactly be accurate. Perhaps we will see Sian and Violet more in future episodes of Cucumber and Banana, but their story is just as effective in this episode alone.
The focus of Banana is the couple of Sian and Violet. These two girls have barely been present in the cross-over world, revealing their connection by being neighbours with Dean, Freddie and Henry, which means this episode works far better as a standalone than either Dean’s or Scotty’s. The main focus of this episode is the strain put on a relationship by moving in together, and has some particularly nice moments. Especially excellent is Sian’s also-lesbian mother, whose unsuccessful previous relationships have given Sian expectations that may not exactly be accurate. Perhaps we will see Sian and Violet more in future episodes of Cucumber and Banana, but their story is just as effective in this episode alone.
This week’s Tofu tackled the often un-discussed topic of people who don’t have sex, whether due to celibacy, asexuality, or simply not having lost their virginity. While previous episodes have highlighted how squeamish people tend to be when discussing sex, this episode exposes the hypocrisy of also judging people who don’t have it, wondering what is “wrong” with them. For the first time also, the sketch in this episode worked very well. The scene depicted a rather graphic orgy, with a variety of partners and fetishes, while a lone man sat at the bar and sang Underwear by Pulp. Instead of being distracted from the interviews, the scene complimented them, including letting the song continue as interviewees were speaking.
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