#Robert is so annoying so much of the time but he was a fatherly icon in this ep

[itspileofgoodthings]

I know I’m talking to an empty theater here but the writing on that episode of Lark Rise to Candleford where Robert loses his tools (and so the means to feed his family) and is facing destitution and then runs into the young guy who’s in love with his daughter and then uses the moment not to take out all his angst and anger on Fisher but to ask him if he’s ready for all that marriage and staying and giving up his life on the road actually means thus forcing Fisher to admit that he isn’t ready for it—-

!!!!!!!!

#and it’s just so brilliant because we’ve watched Robert suffer so deeply the entire episode #because of how crushing the weight of parental responsibility and poverty can be!!! #and he sees this guy that loves his daughter but has no understanding of the life that that love could and should and will lead him to #if he chooses to stay. this guy who’s just living in the moment and in the feelings of the moment but whose love is not strong enough #to endure the sacrifice that would be required of. well. ordinary married life in a small town! #and Robert uses all his wisdom to force him to admit that he’s not ready for it and doesn’t want it #and then it gets even more brilliant! because after Fisher leaves and Laura is heartbroken and angry #he presents her with the same reality/question but from HER side #her being like ‘how dare you make him not stay’ and Robert being like ‘and did I force you not to go with him?’ #‘were YOU ready to give up your whole life and world for him? to make it work? or did you want your life AND him’ #it’s the have your cake and eat it too truth in this case. their lives didn’t fit together and their love was real in a way #but not real enough to weld their different lives together without both of them hating each other in the end #idk it’s just BRILLIANT and I love it so much #because it unfolds so truthfully and all of the pieces of the story fold into each other so that it a) hits exactly as hard as it should #and b) reveals the truths of things so clearly and so accurately #Robert is so annoying so much of the time but he was a fatherly icon in this ep #lark rise to candleford