Posted:
I am running out of words to praise the writers/team for delivering six fantastic and consistent episodes in a row. Well done, once again.
Tonight's episode had flow, character development, story progress, balanced suspense -- and even logic. Can you believe it? You should. I'll compliment the writers for writing their scripts with focus on character growth and character consistency/depth. We've had three months in which we got nothing but a few moments here and there. Now we're getting full power-packed episodes with the theme back in focus.
Before I head on to the pros/cons, I'd like to point out that I would love to see a whole new montage now. You see, V is no longer superior in power, mind, and skill. Raghav and Sia are equal to him and that should be evident in the montage whereas right now we have a large-sized V and miniature sized Raghav-Sia. That's not quite fair to the characters. I am hoping that the writers/team has already looked into this and that we'll be seeing Raghav and Sia rival V in size and power in the new montage.
>> Pros:
1) Sia's dialogues and Sriti's dialogue delivery
First thing, Sia's dialogues were frigging mindblowing. I have never heard such powerful, such impactful dialogues on the show before. Not from the female lead. This was really, really needed after months of weak/flat dialogues with no depth, no impact. V's dialogues had always been given more attention and power, but finally Sia's dialogues countered his and belittled his character. Thank you, writers.
Some of the pointers that I really enjoyed was...
- How Sia told him that he was less than an animal because even animals don't intend cruelty for pleasure.
- How so many sinners must have died to finally give birth to a demon like Viraj Dobriyal [I laughed here because the way Sriti delivered the dialogue was frigging BRILLIANT and her gesture with the hand as she waved it up and down to encompass his figure was just the final touch to an already awesome scene].
- That she prayed from the heart [dil se di dua!!!] that no one should have to live with a husband like V. The message was DELIVERED! At last! *parties*
- That Jahnvi SHARMA destroyed the relationship between them when she left him in Manali, and that she, Sia, was saying it to his face now that their marriage is OVER, done, finito. Get it?
- And finally she told him that she didn't love him. *dances* Thank you for proving me right, Sia. I always had this theory, but now you confirmed it.
- Also, the lines she said about V that showed she'd finally figured him out [about how he came for himself, not her, and how it's about his manhood, etc.] it showed that Sia has finally become an intelligent character who now gets what goes on in V's head and isn't fooled by it. Perfect character growth for Sia. About time.
And apart from these lines, I loved every single line of hers that degraded V's character, made him so small and pathetic. I was like "YES YES YES, keep going!"
This was one of the highlights for me in tonight's episode. Truthfully, Sriti's performance stole the limelight. She was fantastic. I knew that she had it in her to switch completely, go from weak/scared to strong/powerful. I've seen her in Rakht Sambandh and Jyoti, so that wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was the uniqueness she brought to Sia's strength. The modulation of her voice, her expressions, her style in delivering those powerful dialogues -- it cannot, in any way, be compared to her previous roles. She was brilliant, hands down. I loved the complete disgust on her face, the hatred, the "I really don't care shit about you" attitude of hers, the total confidence. She didn't falter, didn't waver for even a second. She looked at him without blinking. She didn't take a step back. She finally faced him and what a confrontation it was.
There's not enough words in my dictionary to describe Sriti's performance tonight.
2) V walks away, humiliated, his manhood damaged
I had predicted that he wouldn't harm her then, because he'd need a moment to himself, a moment to digest the fact that Sia had slapped him, broken their relationship.
The way he walked away conveyed humiliation, his injured manhood -- because a woman had degraded him. Sia had wiped him out and he'd been too pathetic to counter her. Well, he tried to regain his pride with "no one messes with The Dobriyal", but it lacked bravado. Especially in the wake of that awesome slap and Sia's words to him. In fact, it was just his poor and useless attempt at convincing himself that he was still superior. Which he isn't.
His stick stomping was another evidence of his humiliation. You see, it's like with a child -- only in V's case we're talking about a cruel child. When you scold a bad boy, he will slam his foot into everything on his way to his room, telling you that you do not tell him what to do or how to do it. He still dares. He's still as bad as he always was. What his stomping said was "don't let me walking away fool you into thinking that you've won".
3) Cop Creep was bribed
What a creep. His eyes were bulging at the sight of money. I liked that they showed how corrupted police men can be. V kept handing him more money and he took it all. He sold his own uniform for pieces of gold.
4) V and his Death Mask and my W*F face
The hoodie had me laughing. The Death Mask had me going W*F? I mean, seriously. It just ridiculed him. Does he believe that he has the power of Death? Is that why he put on a mask that associated with Death? I admit that his eyes were scary though. There was hatred in him, hatred toward Raghav.
But what I loved was that even after beating up Raghav, he didn't feel any better. No, he wouldn't feel better because Raghav might have strenghtened Sia, helped her take that step toward freedom, but it was essentially Sia's own choice and V knows that torturing Raghav for it won't give him what he wants -- which was Sia's submission.
Something else was the symbolism in Raghav wearing a blindfold and yet being the one who could "see" while V cowered behind a mask and his silence.
5) Raghav is tortured and his SMIRK *dies from awesomeness*
This was an epic Raghav scene. Trust me. I wanted to swoon. First, he was hung from a ceiling and beaten by a stick. He didn't as much as let out a grunt of pain. He was, in fact, enjoying it. He wore that smirk that clearly said "keep hitting me, you sore loser" because he knew and V knew that Raghav had won this battle. V showing up to beat Raghav was a proof of that.
The fact that V put aside his oh-so-superior dignity and got his hands dirty with Raghav is a proof of what a big loser V is. He lost. Raghav was loving every second of it. With every slam against his body, he relished the fact that it was the slam of V's fury and hatred that made him do it.
Harshad's performance in this scene is commendable. That smirk on his face -- I've said it before, but I'll repeat it now. It has become a character trait of Raghav now. Become one of the things about him that gives him personality and attitude. I absolutely love it.
Especially because Harshad doesn't overdo it. He has the perfect balance. Hands down.
The torture scene was awesome. KB did a fantastic job as well. Both actors chemistry -- even as Harshad wore a blindfold -- was incredible.
6) Cops help Raghav back to his cell
I really liked this scene. It was interesting to see a contrast to the corrupted cop in the old man who ducked Raghav's head to get him into the cell, supported him to the bench, and even buttoned his shirt for him. Wonderful scene. I also loved the relationship b/w the cop and Raghav. He doesn't hate all cops. That was obviously a misconception from our side.
The chemistry between Raghav and the cop is commendable too. They seemed like they had known each other forever, and the cop calling him "beta" just made the scene much deeper. There was history here.
7) Raghav's silent laugh and his reason for laughing
Gosh, I loved this scene. The way he laughed without a sound -- it was exactly how I had always imagined Raghav would laugh. He's a quiet type, not a loud type like V. Another distinction between V and Raghav.
Furthermore, I loved the scene because Raghav was enjoying a private joke. That he and Sia had made evil lose its cool. Something that I found most enjoyable was the very way that Harshad delivered the line -- in this totally casual, "I'm having a blast" manner.
Fantastic.
8) Sia babbles on about cab driver and Raghav watches her with a smile
This was one of the highlights for me. I love the chemistry between HarshSri, as we're all familiar with by now. But something else was how Raghav smiled at her proactiveness, at her almost aggressively proactive approach to the situation. She was energized, ready to claw someone's eyes out if she had to -- but she was in FIGHTER MODE.
She kept going on and on about the cab driver, and then when she saw him standing and smiling [because he was enjoying seeing her like this, strong, tigress mode, worried about him], she got frustrated and started reprimanding him and drilling him for answers. It was a very sweet scene. I'm really loving Sia now. Never thought I would. But I do now.
9) Raghav fuels Sia's fire and she leaves strong again
I really loved how Raghav fueled her fire by telling her that she was weak and all. It made her stop herself from breaking before she'd reached the breaking point, because she was starting to get there -- I mean, she was starting to get to her "oh, no, it's all hopeless and I will have to do something extreme!" point, which would benefit no one.
However, I do feel that it was unnecessary to fuel her fire with "you're still weak" when he could've just told her, rationally, that she needed to stay clear of jail if she wanted to fight V the right way. But then, I'm not sure that she would've understood. Sometimes I feel like Raghav knows Sia better than I do.
I loved, absolutely loved how Sia said "it's wrong, you're wrong" and how she repeated it several times, as if needing to convince him while at the same time knowing that he was only trying to get a rise out of her, to make her feel the anger again. Because anger is a one thing that'll keep her from breaking down and instead keep her fighting.
Sia even said it herself that "you don't think that way about me", which shows that she is aware and knows how he didn't mean any of that he said, because he believes the quite opposite thing about her. She can actually read him. That surprised me. Even if her mind did it subconciously and didn't realize it, it still mattered that she read him and a part of her knew that was he was saying wasn't what he meant.
She left, wanting to prove him wrong and herself right. Beautiful.
Plus, I loved how she said that she couldn't stand to see him like this 😳
10) Gayatri talks to a lawyer and Komal has to calm her down
I'm glad that they haven't forgotten logic in all this or Raghav's family. Naturally, Gayatri would be preoccupied hiring the best lawyer and getting him out of the mess. Something that I loved about this scene was that the lawyer pointed out how he could easily get her son out of jail, but she'd never allow false evidence.
Now, as a mother, the thought must be tempting.
But I liked that they showed Gayatri remaining silent at that, and the lawyer moving on to how Raghav's only possibilities were Sundar awakening or hard evidence being found.
Something else that I liked was how Gayatri started to lose control, but Komal's hand just calmed her down. Once again, I'd like say that I love the freshness, the uniqueness of the saas bahu relationship on this show. I've never seen anything like it.
11) Raghav and Sia will beat V together
I absolutely loved Raghav's line. He said that he and Sia would bring V to his knees -- and they'd do it together. Beautiful symbolism.
>> Cons:
1) V and his tear
Am I supposed to feel bad for him? Because I didn't. In fact, he disgusted me. And added to that, I wanted to laugh [sarcastically] in his face and tell him that he could take his self-pitying tears and vulnerable act and stick it up where it HURT. Because I so did not buy it. Never will. He cannot sell his tears to me. Even those tears were for himself. It's always, always about him. It always will be.
Being an unredeemable character, born out of darkness to bring darkness. That's what V essentially is. Now he has lost Jahnvi for good. What now? What's the next stage for him? When will we see him become murderous? He already has blood on his hands. I can just see him licking it, relishing it.
I'm glad that he's not glorified. But I want this "will he, won't he" act to come to an end and for him to be declared fully murderous. That's what I see as his transformation. The "she hurt my manhood and now I will destroy her and everyone she cares about".
2) Hope Raghav won't be in jail for long
Self-explanatory. I won't be able to stand it if they drag this.
3) How come Raghav didn't notice the goons?
That was kind of weird. They came in carrying bags and he didn't as much as glance at them in suspicion?
Still a must watch episode. Keep it up, CVs, and I'll keep loving ya 😳
