[7.0/10] This is a wacky comedy episode, which tends not to be my jam as much. There’s a decent emotional throughline here, with Tristan wanting a check for his college tuition and Seigfried being torn about whether giving it to him would be encouraging his little brother or just indulging him.
But for the most part this is just silly antics with Mrs. Pomfrey’s dog, Tricki, being overweight. The gags about Tristan lazing about at the same time Tricki is, or the gimmicks Tristan must employ to get the little pudgy fluffball moving are pretty broad. I don’t mind comic relief episodes now and then, but this is pretty sitcom-y stuff.
That said, there’s dribs and drabs of more compelling things. Mrs. Hall getting a letter returned to sender that she’d meant for her son, and it clearly wounding her a bit, has meat to it. Along with pampered Tricki being a metaphor for Tristan, the growling big dog whose bark is worse than his bite seems like a metaphor for Siegfried. And the pair of them each overcoming their fears to treat the pup that means the world to a WWI veteran is something.
The rest of this feels like piece-moving though. We get some tired, teasing interactions between James and Helen over a less-than-amorous bull. (Another bit of broad comedy.) They at least resolve things amicably between Herriot and Hugh, but then we introduce Helen’s pugnacious father. By the same token, Siegfried deciding to tutor Tristan himself rather than send him off to college seems less an object lesson in not spoiling someone you love and more a cheap excuse to keep Tristan on the show, but whatever.
Overall, this one is largely amiable enough, but unlike Mrs. Hall’s roast beef dinner, is largely lacking in real meat.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-01T01:22:06Z
[7.0/10] This is a wacky comedy episode, which tends not to be my jam as much. There’s a decent emotional throughline here, with Tristan wanting a check for his college tuition and Seigfried being torn about whether giving it to him would be encouraging his little brother or just indulging him.
But for the most part this is just silly antics with Mrs. Pomfrey’s dog, Tricki, being overweight. The gags about Tristan lazing about at the same time Tricki is, or the gimmicks Tristan must employ to get the little pudgy fluffball moving are pretty broad. I don’t mind comic relief episodes now and then, but this is pretty sitcom-y stuff.
That said, there’s dribs and drabs of more compelling things. Mrs. Hall getting a letter returned to sender that she’d meant for her son, and it clearly wounding her a bit, has meat to it. Along with pampered Tricki being a metaphor for Tristan, the growling big dog whose bark is worse than his bite seems like a metaphor for Siegfried. And the pair of them each overcoming their fears to treat the pup that means the world to a WWI veteran is something.
The rest of this feels like piece-moving though. We get some tired, teasing interactions between James and Helen over a less-than-amorous bull. (Another bit of broad comedy.) They at least resolve things amicably between Herriot and Hugh, but then we introduce Helen’s pugnacious father. By the same token, Siegfried deciding to tutor Tristan himself rather than send him off to college seems less an object lesson in not spoiling someone you love and more a cheap excuse to keep Tristan on the show, but whatever.
Overall, this one is largely amiable enough, but unlike Mrs. Hall’s roast beef dinner, is largely lacking in real meat.