'The A Word' Season 3 Episode 2 Preview: Did Maurice ruin Alison's love connection before it even took off?
Remember Ben Chambers (David Gyasi), the handsome stranger, that oversensitive Alison Hughes (Morven Christie) screams at when she assumes he is referring to Joe's (Max Vento) autism rather than his tantrum? Well, Mr. Chambers seems to be shaping up to be Alison's love interest this season. Well, if her father Maurice (Christopher Eccleston) hasn't completely squashed any chances of romance with his brand of bluntness, which results in what else but discomfort and awkwardness all around.
Sundance TV released a short clip from episode 2, revealingly titled "Alison's New Friend". In it, we see Alison sitting at her father's kitchen table with Rebecca (Molly Wright), her daughter. Maurice walks in and he has dragged in Ben as well. He admonishes his daughter saying: "A fellow gives you a lift from Manchester, the least we can do is offer him a cup of tea." Ben, looking distinctly uncomfortable, says: "I was happy to wait outside, really".
Alison has no choice but to introduce him to Rebecca and Maurice as the father of one of Joe's classmates who drove her here as a favor. She pauses a little, before saying he's "a friend". To which both Maurice and Rebecca give her knowing looks. Rebecca adds, "Don't know any friend who would do that for me" -- which is kind of heart-breaking as well because we know that she is pregnant and her boyfriend scooted as soon as he heard about it.
Right at that moment Paul (Lee Ingleby) walks in and the introductions are done all over again. Only this time, Maurice "helpfully" tells Ben that Paul and Alison were divorced, in case he "was wondering". Both Ben and Paul stare at each other in silence not knowing what to say as Alison mouths "sorry" to Ben. Ben scuttles out the door as fast as he can and Paul looks distinctly uneasy about the prospect of Alison seemingly moving on from him.
We also know from the short clip that Paul has just returned from dropping off Mark at the army. Now Mark, if you remember is the waiter who works at Paul's gastropub and is also autistic, like Joe. In the show's official synopsis, it states that "Paul helps Mark in his bid to join the army". After the bold steps taken by Ralph and Katie to move into an independent home, it is great that Mark too looks like he is striking out on his own, though it still begs the question -- why the army?
Meanwhile, back in Manchester, we have Joe becoming fixated on his teacher, Heather. This causes concern at school as his behavior changes around her because he feels attached to her. With so much upheaval in his life, it isn't strange that he is clinging to the one stable figure in his life -- his teacher. But the question is how will Heather react to Joe's obsession with her, which is a real enough situation for children on the autistic spectrum.
'The A Word' airs on Wednesdays on Sundance TV at 11 pm ET/10c.
