That’s just fine, My Mad Fat Diary, just tear my heart straight out of my chest and stomp it into a fine purée. It’s all good.
I swear, things were nowhere near this dramatic when I was accepted to university as they are for Rae (Sharon Rooney).
On the one hand: hooray for Rae! All the nice things are happening for her all at once. Which would be great, apart from the fact that they’re apparently mutually exclusive!
Rae’s feeling pretty in control of a good life, with a good job (at a record store, for which my eighteen-year-old self would have been infinitely jealous – and my thirty-something self maybe still is) and a kind and beautiful boyfriend (the delightful Finn, played by the delightful Nico Mirallegro), but then a rather poorly-timed acceptance to Bristol turns up in the post, even after her having given the interview panel a passionate rant about why they’re a bunch of pretentious jerks and she doesn’t want to go there anyway.
(Would this strategy work for job interviews? I’m genuinely asking.)
It’s a perfect reflection of what it’s like to be at that age, teetering terrified on the edge of adulthood and somehow expected to know the best choice for the rest of one’s life without nearly enough information to make an informed decision, and frustrated by everyone who seems to know one’s best interests better than oneself.
Letting go of therapy is a terrifying thought for Rae, as is having to choose between living in Stamford with Finn, and packing up and going to uni like everyone (including her wonderfully supportive boyfriend) thinks she should. Just as everything seems to have come together, it falls apart again.
And then, just as Chloe swerves the carful of revellers and they almost but don’t quite get into an accident, they get into an accident after all, and poor Chloe (who just wanted a revision buddy for A-levels) looks to be in pretty bad shape indeed.
Despite all this, some pretty just plain sweet and hilarious things happen, too. Archie gets sexual with record shop Rob! Go Stan Ford!
I have never used so many exclamation points in a review! And for good reason: this was a wonderful opener for the show’s final three-part run, perfectly encapsulating so much about the utterly stressful nature of being in those circumstances at that age.
Aired at 10pm on Monday 22 June 2015 on E4.
> Buy the Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
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