So this week’s episode was relatively better than last.  We start with Ammi in Pakistan still coughing and the son and daughter in law from he** who couldn’t care less. From there we move on to Bhatty telling Mark that he is leaving. Whereas Mark was the only person who Bhatti had an equation with in that house, even Izzy was sad to see him go. I’ll be honest, I didn’t quite understand that since Izzy never seemed to have any respect for Bhatti, but I think having someone around for years, not a father but kind of like one, and then him leaving is a bit hard. I think her reaction was justified. The reaction I didn’t agree with was Kathy’s. For 20 episodes we have seen a Kathy who was strong and independent. She never seemed to need Bhatti ever. The Kathy we knew would have been the first to kick him out when he admitted his love for Salma. After seeing all of that, how did Kathy become a mazloom aurat who all of a sudden was begging and pleading with Bhatti to stay? Why would that character need to change so much (and so quickly) and that too just to degrade herself?  It really made no sense at all, at least to me. I will say that the lady who plays Kathy is pretty great at her character. I would love to know what she thinks of the change in Kathy.

The other thing I don’t get is how did the house all of a sudden become Bhatti’s? All this time we were led to believe that it was Kathy’s house, which is why she was so easily able to throw Jamshed out. At times, I really feel like this script was written by 2 different people who had no idea what the other was writing. I will admit though that for the first time, I thought Bhatti was being genuine. I didn’t feel like there was any ulterior motive to what he was saying or doing. Hats off to Nouman Ijaz for playing all the shades of Bhatti (and there are many) so flawlessly!

Speaking of Jamshed, he has ‘surprised’ Michelle with a wedding date 3 weeks away. Michelle seems to be in a state of fools paradise. How did light bulbs not go off in her head when Jamshed said he has already spoken to a lawyer and immediately after they get married his immigration process will start? He never talked to her about it, she never mentioned it, he made all the plans himself. And why is RizwanI tolerating  Jamshed? Why doesn’t he tell Michelle the truth and show her what is blinding her? Why does he think he is protecting her by hiding the truth from her? He does hint that its too early for the wedding but that’s all. Isn’t Michelle supposed to be in her late 40s if not early 50s? How does she think that getting married will solve all the misunderstandings between her and Jamshed? She has actually been down this road before so red flags should have immediately gone up.  Marina Khan does complete justice to Michelle’s ‘confused and blind in love’ character. Just her smile makes the entire screen light up. Adnan Jaffer is suave as ever as Rizwan. The only person not convincing is Adeel Hussain, especially so in this episode. Sikander’s character is the worst of all yet Ali Kazmi is so convincing that we love to hate Sikander…we want to see him on screen even more. I just don’t get that feeling when I see Jamshed.

And speaking of our  great Sikander, he is finally well enough to go home, yet gets beaten up by the guys whom he owes money, and that too in Tai Jee’s presence. Also, apparently the infamous zevar haven’t yet been sold. Why so much air time is given to this zevar is also astounding.  I feel like it has become a character on its own. Amina Shaeikh continues to show why she is one of the best actresses in Pakistan. The way she portrays Salma, with such dignity and strength is just amazing. Even though it would be great to see her tell Tai Jee off on her constant taanaas, that Salma doesn’t lower herself to Tai Jee’s level takes a lot of strength and dignity. Salma isn’t weak or dependent on anyone. It takes more strength to ignore Tai Jee and stay quite than it does to get into with her every time.  Like the saying goes, “Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” She is still taking care of Sikander even though she doesn’t have to at all, but she is doing it on her own terms. And for the first time, it seems as if Sikander is genuinely ashamed of all he has put Salma through.

And this was episode 21. As I said in the beginning, this episode was much better than the last one. Mehreen does a fabulous job in directing in spite of the some-what confusing script. The cast, (with the exception of Adeel Hussain at times) is great as always. Let’s see what happens next.