Good episode after a long time.
HS showed why he is HS. He was flirting like an expert but still never crossed his limits. It was hilarious how he was trying to extract himself from Poona's grip and then was ended up as part of the tug of war between Kammo and her.
He did a great job controlling his anger with Babita - I thought he was about to smash something after the way she insulted him again, this time in front of everyone else. Even his Veer Balika could not calm him down. I loved that Minnie saw firsthand how her mother treats HS, things that often happened in her absence, and now she can correlate this behavior with other things Babita has done in the past.
Everyone took Babita down a notch. It was much-needed. I think it was temporary though. This will surface again because ego is not something you can turn on and off with a switch. She will have to be mindful of it because she won't always have someone to show her the way or detect these things on her behalf. We will also see her insanely jealous side at some point.
The episode started with everyone teasing HS about wanting to get a glimpse of Babita but now I hope she will be the one trying to pacify him and apologize because she went beyond overboard and really hurt him. Forget HS, by her behavior today she was losing her dignity and that hurt HS even more.
We've been wanting him to stop being so over-protective and not walk on eggshells around her because it is toxic. We wanted him to tell her when he feels hurt on the spot and not days or months later, and he did. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was poison, or if it was then the small quantity that he drank recently came out.
I think he shocked Minnie too with the way he said he was a human being after all and his heart was wounded too, something he has never done before. This is a great learning for her to see both sides of the coin, and with NB's insights she formed the full picture. I think she is going to be more observant next time her parents fight and note that it's not always HS' fault or that he can't be made to suffocate just because he promised to keep her mother happy. He also finally voiced what he felt about the concept of love as well as being constantly asked to prove it, and just as with the camera argument he flipped things round and challenged her conception of his love for her. I think this repeated provoking by Babita is going to make him insecure about his future with Babita, so what Ashnoor said in the segment about their chat later on makes a bit more sense.
For once, even Lala understood what HS had been trying to explain to him in the police station the other day about Babita's nature. Lala has never been shown to be angry or disappointed with Babita, but today he was. They didn't show Poonam after HS walked out. My guess is she's still around and will be able to help Babita see things better. She knows her friend's nature and seeing it manifest this way should not come as a surprised to her.
I feel really bad for Babita. I understand where she is coming from but she needs to think hard before making such mistakes over and over because she will end up pushing everyone away, especially Minnie, who has now started sharing everything with her diary instead of her mother because on some level she feels she can't get through to her. I don't want her to be left all alone because of being consumed by her insecurities.
NB is the best. We need more women like her to provide a good example of how to be strong but generous and wise at the same time. She didn't need to give Babita a massive lecture - her words were to the point and touched upon all the things we have been saying. I almost felt as if the writers were echoing all the words that we've been saying here for the past few days. The best line was when she asked Babita to stop being unfair to HS and herself through constant comparisons with Ashok, indicating that she had not gotten rid of the baggage of her past.
There is a reason why they showed HS and Mickey. I got FIL and SIL vibes, but apart from that, HS took his time to calm down slightly and refused to make the same mistake as he had just seen Babita make: taking your anger out on the wrong person and also how a fit of momentary rage had the potential to ruin everything. I loved Lala as well in the way he didn't leave HS' side and knew exactly how to pacify him - even HS listened to his words and drew some proud looks from Lala. I am sure HS will also never leave his side if he ever has issues with Geeta Kumari, who I am still hopeful of seeing. She is a lucky woman, indeed.
The whole subdued feeling we were getting from everyone was delightfully deliberate, and it culminated in a fantastic fashion. They came full circle with these themes since episodes 194 and 195. I am pleased with how the episode turned out, now that people's emotions are out in the open.
PS, rather than a minute-by-minute analysis of the episode, I decided to go with an overall first impression post. I will add more comments once I watch it again, but would love to hear your thoughts.
Cricket
