So it’s been a year – one year of heartbreak, heart ache, deception, lies and breaking away from all of that to breathe again. So then what is stopping Laila from making a clean break? When a man can end a marriage with three short words and very little rationale and reason, what is keeping her bound to Mansoor?

This episode continues with the mill of victim hood around its neck and an attempt at playing around with ideas of trust, and love, commitment and a very un-subtle spot light (really more like neon highlighter) on patriarchy and double standards.

Her mother, trotted out yet again for *inset double standard dialogue here* moment says on cue ‘I wish you were a boy’ not an if you were a man you would be free to do what you are doing – though am certain Laila’a mother would frown on such a manly man baking such a dainty cake.

So yes, we haven’t picked up (yet) from last week’s fall. Though, I have to say the camera movement to reveal Laila’s mother picture on her desk was quite lovely.

Here is the problem – you want to portray Laila as a strong emboldened woman finding herself and playing on her naivety as well as resolve. It’s a good character with much needed nuance but scenes that require you to play on that innocence are played with maturity and scenes that require maturity are played with an aura of goodness bordering on squeaky clean secular purity.

I bet you if Laila was dressed up in a duppatta with her head covered, her quick sign off on her rightful share of property, her visit to update her mother about her life, even her letter to her mother would have had more folks foaming at the mouth or putting her up on a pedestal. Your pick.

Laila’s character is written in a vein of a mature woman of the world who can take all the zulm thrown at her, and look fabulous to boot. If there had been more of Laila’s gullibility at play while finding out about the affair instead of embracing her husband’s mistress, separating from Mansoor, some ups and downs in her business, her confusion would have made more sense. Right now, she’s just reacting to a threat.

In all her maturity at dealing with what life throws at her, did she really think that Mansoor would not play the child card? What happened to thinking things through?

Is it her naivety that makes her think Mansoor was upset, bikhra hua? Honestly, he didn’t look at all upset to me and even putting aside the fact that we know he had no clue about his anniversary, (Side rant: why is it always happy wedding anniversary? What else would it be? happy finding-out-about-my-affair anniversary?! End rant), any man that reconnects with his wife on a threat – agar tumne doosri shaadi ki mein appni bacchi tum se wapis le loonga and ends his plea to forgive him and take him back with an underlying taunt  you are nothing without me, isn’t looking for reconciliation. He’s looking for control.

As for our bekaar average-looking nikamma, let’s hope he’s waiting in the wings with his electric blue guitar. The continuity error with the candle stand notwithstanding, why can’t he, as a friend, get Laila to see that Mansoor won’t be a fundamentally changed man.

The be-labouring of subtext which we thought was long gone and buried, reared up again with Mrs. Khan’s take on men as vegetables (while holding onto a long squash no less) was just forced. The pity party these women are throwing for the men folk in their lives also needs to wind up and let’s see some new beginnings please. Chop chop.

MM (aka A musing Muslim)