I'm traveling so can't write in much detail but here are some initial thoughts after watching the episode:
- Who invited Khatri?
- What was that strange look HS gave Babita as he slowed down while dancing? Was he worried he will hurt her the way his father had hurt her mom, or was he still wondering if he was capable of giving her the happiness she deserved and was so clearly looking forward to as she danced without a care. She was shedding her inhibitions slowly but what was she literally coming home too. I had a feeling he was thinking about how his mother must have once arrived there as a bride with her dreams just like Babita had with Ashok and was now starting to dream again with him. The end of the episode proved me right. This haveli had not seen such happiness in a long time, would it last? The dialogue during the balcony scene about him not wanting history to repeat itself in terms of mother-daughter suffering like his mother had - when I heard it I knew it was the starting point/anchor for a new track about his mother at some point.
- Babita actually scolding her daughter about bit checking the quality of the mehendi and worrying about what the others would say about how light hers is.
- The haveli is so decorated that I can't recognize it and frankly it looks gaudy.
- The whole song dance sequence seemed fake and over the top. I don't want to see more of it. I know they were trying to do like in the movie and shoot it in one take. It was successfully done but the effect didn't come out as intended. Also for the first time I felt Minnie was overdoing things.
- Minnie seemed to be under a lot of mental pressure.
- HS can't dance sala. 😆
- The last few minutes were pure gold. Finally his repressed memories are being addressed. Social conditioning by his mother that men don't cry, his mother trying to raise her voice but getting beaten more by his father for supposedly complaining to his grandfather, him keeping quiet as a kid so as not to make things worse for her but his adult self cannot stop blaming himself for not taking action and helping her escape her misery. In those few moments his whole life story was written on.his face, in the transition from nostalgia to fear to regret, to a whole bottomless pit of dark emotions. Unfortunately it was too short a scene! Aniruddh was just fantastic there. I'm running out of adjectives for this guy.
- I was right that he was a naughty kid but what a shame his innocence was brutally destroyed in his childhood. They never talked about his father passing away so I wonder if he will make an appearance.
- Anyone else get the feels hearing all the Haryanvi spoken by his family members?
- What a master stroke in revealing the other rooms in the haveli and its dark secrets! Perfectly done. Totally worth the wait and endless speculation. 😉 With the wedding arrangements not only was the haveli decluttered take space but it also started revealing things that were previously masked or hidden.
- Glad it's not Imarti's but his mother's room. It's better for Imarti and Maan's relationship to be kept completely separate from Hanita's, at least until Babita's insecure. She is the makaan malkin now so one day she will learn all its secrets, and with them understand her husband better and better. She needs to know about his childhood trauma at some point and to figure out to.what extent it affects him even today.
- The look on HS' face as he touches Minnie's cheek in the pre-cap - so much love, trust, and shared understanding, implicit empathy, especially around both having daddy issues. He has just given her access to her late grandmother's legacy the way he gave her access to Imarti's. Yet another milestone in the father-daughter relationship, and Minnie taking on even more of her father's side's legacy, not all of it pleasant. At first, based on BTS videos I felt it was weird that she wanted to decorate it, but after watching the episode it takes on.a whole new meaning. Minnie knows about his mother and his emotions attached to what happened to her, how it shaped. She can't express it but she knows the significance of the room and the trust with which he hands over to her the keys to another part of his past yet again. It is indeed very special because she has moved yet another step closer to her father and knows the weight of his trust in her and his immense love for his daughter that enabled him to take this step - just when you think these two can't get any closer, they take it to yet another level.
- Once more I'll say I love Naeem Bi. She understands him so well. She was witness to the abuse too and a victim of abuse herself. I would like to know more about her story too.
- The last few minutes of the episode captured the essence of several years of trauma. Can't wait to see how more is revealed about his past. Just as with the Imarti track this will be mind-blowing as well.