The Reunion – The series 3 premiere begins in Paul Wickstead’s/Wicky (Greg Davies) flat with PS Ruth Edwards (Zita Sattar) teasing him over his ridiculous wall of trophies while they get ready for work. After a goodbye peck, Wicky arrives at a disgustingly large home to begin cleaning up what is shortly revealed by the owner’s son, Danny (Zachary Cohen), to have been a horrible piano-moving accident. After a brief word with the boy, Wicky turns his attention back to the driveway where there is now a man washing the elaborate sports car he noticed on his way in.
Wicky embarrasses himself by crudely joking with the man as if he is also part of the help staff. It is only after he realizes his mistake that he also realizes he knows the man as Justin Chapple (Ben Willbond) from school. Justin gives Wicky a tour while also explaining his fortune as ‘several lucky investments.’ Given that the local paper is sending over a photographer to take photos for a recent article on his good fortune, Justin offers to help Wicky tackle the cleanup so they can continue their reunion. Although he appears a bit uncomfortable with the proposition, Wicky accepts.
It isn’t long into the cleaning task that Wicky’s attention is drawn to the broken banister where the accident originated. When Justin mentions having a problem hiring a local carpenter, Wicky suggests another former classmate now a professional carpenter, Dicky Daw (Naveed Khan). Wicky immediately regrets his suggestion when Dicky shows up and reveals that he’s also invited another classmate, Marnie (Rosie Cavaliero), over. Justin doesn’t appear to mind and leads Dicky to the job.
Wicky’s fears are confirmed when Marnie shows up seconds later in her convertible Thunderbird, looking like she stepped off the set of an 80s music video. She’ll explain her appearance away as a Pink impersonator ass Wicky escorts her inside. Much to Wicky’s displeasure, Justin insists on celebrating the reunion with champagne. By the time Wicky reluctantly joins them, the champagne is flowing and they are knee-deep in social media looking up other classmates. One in particular, Gavin Hardy, and the news of his recent imprisonment leads to a debate about how people never really change.
The group’s discussion about people never changing segues into Marnie asking Justin how he made his money. Wicky is outraged after hearing that Justin’s startup was funded by a David Bowie vinyl that he swears he stole from Old Tom’s Rare Grooves. Justin immediately denies Wicky’s claim and this clearly would have led to a huge blowup if not for the arrival of Simon/Simey Stevens (Vaun Earl Norman). The arrival of the coolest kid in the entire school certainly does improve Wicky’s mood.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Simey comes rolling up the driveway on an electric scooter, breathing from an oxygen mask. Despite a bad few years, Simey claims the emphysema diagnosis really helped him open his eyes to what is important in life. He’s not only recently taken up painting but appears to have turned it into a successful business. Something about this inspires Justin to suggest going into town and getting chips like they used to do. Wicky puts up a resistance but is ultimately convinced to tag along.
The trip into town only makes Wicky feel like more of an outsider. The first instance is when they briefly stop by an old tire swing to reminisce about how high they would go. Wicky claims that he got higher than anyone but the others tease him about being too cautious to get on the swing. Nearly the same thing happens outside Old Tom’s (David Fielder) Record Shop. This time Wicky is determined to prove the group wrong and recruits Danny’s help. This comes back to bite him because instead of distracting Old Tom, Danny practically tells him about Wicky’s plan to steal a record. This will lead to a brief chase that ends with Wicky in the back of a police car trying to explain his actions to Ruth. As it turns out this won’t be needed because Tom isn’t interested in pressing charges.
The episode ends with Justin asking the old gang to pose with him in the photo. Everyone will agree, including Wicky. Before that happens Wicky witnesses Justin pleading with Danny’s mother, Claire (Mercedes Grower) for more time with Danny. Wicky appears to realize that everyone has their own problems, regardless of how good things may look.
The Cleaner Review
I must say I was shocked by this series. I hadn’t watched any of the previous episodes and wasn’t familiar with any of the actor’s or creators’ previous works. I didn’t even pay much attention to the synopsis, so I was taken by complete surprise as to how the show played out. It may have just been this episode but the show was far different than I would have imagined. Even a lot of the comedy wasn’t as raunchy as some would assume. I really enjoyed the reunion theme and would give the episode 6 out of 10.
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