{"id":5467,"date":"2018-02-01T08:46:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T08:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ofah.net\/blog\/?p=5467"},"modified":"2018-02-05T08:02:06","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T08:02:06","slug":"royal-flush-episode-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ofah.net\/blog\/royal-flush-episode-review\/","title":{"rendered":"A Royal Flush episode review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UPDATE: I recently watched\u00a0A Royal Flush episode again, the first time for a few years. If you have also done so over recent months then enjoy this frank review from Nathan Lloyd.<\/p>\n

The end of the fifth series of Only Fools and Horses was ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ (1986). One of the more dramatic episodes, it almost ended the series with Del leaving Peckham for a chance of a lifetime partnership in Australia. If the next episode ‘A Royal Flush’ (1986) was indicative of the show’s quality after that episode, the proposed spin-off staring Rodney and Mickey Pearce, Hot Rod, sounds almost desirable. Thankfully, just as much as David Jason’s opting to remain in Only Fools and Horses was a welcome a relief, ‘A Royal Flush’ was just a misstep in the show’s then flawless history and the show would regain its wings a year later with ‘The Frog’s Legacy’ (1987); however this does not wash away the fact that ‘A Royal Flush’ was written, filmed, produced and aired. ‘A Royal Flush’ is the unloved child of Only Fools and Horses hated by its writer, John Sullivan and its two leads, David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst. It’s also the least repeated episode of the sitcom, shown only on GOLD around Christmas time. But why is it hated? The premise, while atypical for the series at the time, owes many opportunities for laughs. Rodney befriends Victoria, the daughter of the Duke of Maylebury, due to their mutual love of art and naturally enough Del smells money and encourages Rodney to propose to her before interfering.<\/p>\n

First of all, the positives. Like every other episode, ‘A Royal Flush’ has some funny one-liners. My favourite has to be Rodney reading a book of peers and Del notices the title as ‘Burkes’ and asks him if it’s a teach yourself book. It also has some humorous scenes; the scene where Rodney fires a rifle at clay pigeons is sometimes classed as one of the funnier moments of the series as is his reaction when he sees the three-wheeled van appear suddenly at Maylebury’s estate. The appearance of June from ‘Happy Returns’ (1985) was also a welcome piece of continuity for the series, making the universe of Only Fools and Horses seem more complete. I also must digress that the moment when Rodney breaks his hand at the end of the episode is actually a moment I still laugh out loud at, but this may be due to me hating the episode so much I never watch it so I forget the little moments that are done right.<\/p>\n

The character of Vicky is also well-written. It was an inspired choice by Sullivan to make the upper-class character bored of her status; it contrasts well with the Trotters and their apathy with being at the bottom of the social ladder, and this decision forces her to have good chemistry with Rodney. They’re both tired of their backgrounds and they share a symbiotic relationship: Rodney can learn about opera, game hunting and expand his knowledge of fine art, while Vicky can learn about women spitting, greasy spoons and market spiels. She is wonderfully portrayed by Sarah Duncan, and despite my opinions about the whole episode, I think Vicky is the woman most compatible with Rodney in the entire series, even beating Cassandra, and it is refreshing to see Rodney engaged in a romantic friendship as opposed to an intimate relationship as usual. Another thing that this episode excels at is adding another dimension to Rodney’s character. Previous to this episode, Rodney claimed that he was sensitive, yet this was seldom seen outside of him mourning the latest ex-girlfriend that wasn’t right for him. Here, however, we finally see a distraught Rodney, stripped of his pride in front of the highest company he would ever share. I like to think that the events of this episode are a by-product to the more mature Rodney that is seen from ‘The Frog’s Legacy’ onwards; he wouldn’t be able to trust Del as much as he had in the past in danger of him ending up in a similar situation. The final scene between Rodney and Vicky where Rodney suggests that he goes home and Vicky can’t finish her sentence that their time together was nice is one of the most heart-rendering scenes in the entire sitcom. The two had a perfectly good friendship that was razed to the ground by the tyrant that is Del in this episode.<\/p>\n

\"Del

I might let off in the second half<\/p><\/div>\n

The character of Del is the main problem with ‘A Royal Flush’. Simply put, he isn’t Del, he’s a cruel pastiche of the character that makes one doubt that the character seen in this episode was written by Sullivan, but by some over-zealous fan-fiction writer who had exaggerated every negative trait about Del: his greed and zest for money while suppressing his main attribute that he genuinely loves his family. The Del of ‘A Royal Flush’ will be termed hereafter as ‘Evil Del’ because evil is what he is throughout for reason that will be explained throughout this essay. While the Del of every other episode isn’t totally intelligent, he has common sense and tact; here he is a total buffoon that embarrasses not only his family, but his social class. To Sullivan’s credit, the episode needs a villain, someone to snatch Rodney’s dream away, but one would not expect it to be one of the show’s principal characters. Granted, this episode isn’t ‘To Hull and Back’ (1985) in which Slater is the villain of an international smuggling ring; it’s a personal episode, more to do with emotion, so may be Evil Del’s villainy in this episode is necessary. However, this tough love approach had been seen before in the show and had been portrayed better. In series 2’s ‘No Greater Love’ (1982), Rodney falls in love with the wife of a convict. Concerned for Rodney, Del tries to sabotage his relationship and succeeds. Del isn’t the antagonist of that episode because the audience is aware that nothing good would have come of the relationship and that Del was interfering in the best possible motives of protecting his brother from a criminal. In ‘A Royal Flush’, however, his defence of his actions that Special Branch would be checking on Rodney’s background is a rather presumptuous and tenuous one. A more dignified approach would have been may be having the Duke be dismissive of Rodney so Del protects him, and, in doing so, burning bridges with the upper class and maintains Rodney’s dignity. Instead, this version of Del is at odds with the established one. While he protected his brother in ‘No Greater Love’, he stoops as low as causing him emotional harm when he totally destroys his brother’s pride at the dinner party and physical harm to him when he twists his broken hand; while he was fighting off Rodney’s rival in ‘No Greater Love’, he was selling Rodney’s exile from Vicky to Maylebury to make money which leaves one to ponder whether this was Evil Del’s intention all along. In doing this, he has destroyed what could have been a fruitful friendship between two like-minded people just so he could earn a few thousand pounds. If this is indeed the case, Evil Del is actually more intelligent than the usual one and definitely more ruthless; he has lied, feigned stupidity and offended his way through several innocent people in order to achieve his own ends. While it is was written to be indicative of Del’s occasional mindless nature, his shaking Rodney’s broken hand could be seen as a victorious pose of Evil Del that well and truly supplants his defeat of Rodney. Del has had a fun evening in a country estate that has rendered him drunk; while Rodney may have been reeling from emotional scars caused by embarrassment. All of Del’s actions leave a bad taste in the mouth because they are so out of character. Derek Trotter is not Edmund Blackadder or Albert Steptoe, he has good qualities that are all but absent in this episode.<\/p>

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