Something different..

Quite honestly, the underlying theme of this episode seemed more to be in line with highlighting the blind faith we have in our religious figures and their hypocrisy and I for one enjoyed the reprieve for the constant "VIDWA HAIN HUM" spiel. It was so predictable to see one singular pandit blow the whole issue so far out of proportion that what started with an accidental-but-averted crisis involving alcohol turned into a riled up mob of people wanting to set dogs free on Dhani and to beat her up or my personal favorite, to tie her up with stones and drown her in the river (which was so classy really.. grown ass men discussing ways to beat up ONE 20 year old girl.. such a brilliant show of manliness and testosterone.. Not. -_-). That whole issue escalated simply because these pandits and men of the society had decided to connect the dots with whatever story they seemed fit and consider that story to be the ultimate truth. Oh so there was a girl with alcohol in her container in the mandir.. Hmm, that HAS to mean that she wanted to spray alcohol all over the place because that is the ONLY possible explanation. And goddamnit we will stick with it like it is the only one that makes sense. -_- Stupid, chauvinistic, hypocritical, disgusting men. If nothing else, I hope this show causes at least ONE person to stop and THINK before following everything a pandit/maulvi says and actually take a minute to logic out if what is being said even makes any goddamn SENSE! No one bothered to think WHY she would want to do something like this to begin with. Everyone was so sure she was the one that did it, because the pandit jee said so, k then they made a random crap filled story about how she MUST be recruited by someone to do this. Because yes, that is the ONLY logical thing that could have happened. And not that she didn't do it, didn't know anything about it, like she had been saying. Ugh. Stupid people just irritate me. And the first half of this show was just that.

Dhani, as usual, kept crying. I don't have anything more to add to that anymore. It just is what it is. But Dhani's mom was a nice surprise. I wonder where this mamta was hiding yesterday when she used her daughter as a punching bag for the first half of the episode.. But oh well at least today she did what I was hoping she would - stand in solidarity with her daughter and wait for all the facts before formulating judgements against her child. And that's more than I can for her behavior yesterday.

I honestly LOVED Indrani! So much! So freaking much! Finally a WOMAN who can speak her mind in this show and stand her ground with LOGICAL arguments. I was also happy that a widow in this show was finally speaking up too, but what she said was so universal that it didn't feel like "oh a vidwa is talking back" but more like "FINALLY a woman is speaking up". Because every other woman in this show goes silent when the men show up, sans Viplav's mother but woh toh alag hi cheez hain. I was cheering with every worth she said to the mob assembled in the police station and to the priest. So on point! And she didn't just defend Dhani blindly, she asked for proof to be presented before judgement be passed and that judgement be passed by those with the authority to do so and not priests who feel a misguided sense of power simple because they are priests. Loved her SO MUCH.

And to close off this issue, I am looking forward to Viplav's smirk being WIPED OFF his face! That man has no remorse for acting like a complete entitled brat! At first I thought k he was just drunk and so him bragging about teaching Dhani a lesson to his dadiji was just alcohol talking. But then he has the audacity to SMIRK when the officer tells him of the showdown that happened at the mandir.. And seemed completely unaffected when he was told that he was caught on tape doing the act! The same act that Dhani was being threatened with JAIL for! How spoilt IS this guy! How much has he gotten away with in life that even the thought of being caught red handed doesn't seem to bother him! I do not know how he goes from the guy he was in today's episode (with his head in the clouds) to the guy in the precap at the police station (who seems remotely apologetic) but I am hoping that between now and then there is some semblance of a wake up call - and I hope that it is one of MANY wake up calls to come in the future. This guy is so not getting off the hook easily. He will need to earn back my respect and adoration. MR, I love you as an actor, but Viplav better get a massive reality check and some sense knocked into him!

Finally, since I was saving the "best" for last.. Dadaji. Why is this man such a grade-A prevball?! His own DIL?! Really man? And if that's not bad enough, it seems like his own son is fully aware of daddy ji's intentions.. I felt so bad for the guy when he was asking his wife if she was going to the mandir with "babuji". *sigh* I hope he gains back his self confidence as the show progresses and tells off his lecherous dad in a grand fashion! That is another scene that's gone down in my list of scenes to watch for (along with Dashrath getting beat by women he has perved on). I wonder thought if the DIL is aware and looked annoyed at her husband's question in the bedroom because she wanted him to stay out of it OR if she thinks her FIL is just a holy man and was annoyed that her husband thought something so vile about him.. I don't know.. Can't tell. But I am hoping she is just naive and ignorant when it comes to her FIL and not complacent in his disgusting shenanigans.

Overall, this was a much better episode (either that or my standards have really dropped in the last three days) and the precap makes me hopeful that we'll get to see some positive growth in Viplav, even if it is TINY.