The Button House crew loses a well-loved member in this emotional Ghosts episode, titled Gone Gone, writes GEMMA JOHNSON
Review of Gone Gone: Ghosts BBC
Sniff, sniff… this episode hit all the emotions HARD as we watched Mary finally get ‘sucked off’. There are only a couple of episodes of Ghosts that have made me cry – damn you Christmas 2020 special – but this episode was up there with them.
The episode starts with the departure of Mary, a glorious moment and one that we know she has long been waiting for.
Any true Mary fan, like me, was so happy for Mary but then equally sad at the loss of a stellar character – would a Mary shaped hole forever be ingrained within the episodes to follow? Will we ever get over it? The fellow ghosts, along with Alison, worked through the grief with us and it was incredibly touching to see.
Anyone who has ever suffered the loss of a loved one will no doubt have been able to identify with the different stages of grief that were represented by the outstanding writing behind this episode.
One scene that particularly struck me was when we see Pat trying to explain Mary’s departure to a very confused Kitty.
There are different stages, mythical lands and lots of well placed white lies present, hand on heart it very much reminded me of when I was told about the death of my Dad at a very young age.
The words have stuck with me to this day and they were full of fluffy terms ‘a star in heaven’, ‘wings’, ‘angels’, all designed to minimise the truly devastating message hidden amongst them. That is one of the reasons why this episode was so truly emotional, for me at least and I am sure that there are many people who can also relate.
Mike is the rock of this episode, holding everything together to allow Alison and the ghosts to work through their loss.
I have always seen Mike as a background character, often overshadowed by the others, but here he had his opportunity to step out of their shadows and, long story short, I now have a soft spot for Mike.
For most people, the words ‘children’s party’ will send us running for the hills but even amidst all of the sadness Mike takes on the task like an absolute trooper.
I would have pretended I wasn’t home a bit like I do when we have run out of trick or treat supplies on Halloween. #teamMike
There are many moving moments within this episode but dear Robin, dear beastly Robin, truly never fails to capture and create the most tear jerkingly stunning deliveries.
Here he talks about how passing on has become just part of his life, he accepts it will happen and there is nothing he can do about it. But then he points his hand up to the sky and names all the stars that, to him, represent the people that have passed over – they never really leave us.
If this beautiful scene doesn’t make you well up then I would question if you are human.
Grief, death and loss are not necessarily aligned with comedy but, done in the right way, it can create an impactful episode without being too heavy. The writers, cast and crew achieved that balance here, perfectly, bravo.
Takeaway lesson from this episode – throwing sweets at children is an acceptable form of entertainment at a children’s party but not in the middle aisle of Aldi on a Sunday morning.
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