At the beginning of the 2nd episode, we learn about current activities and the fact that the crown jewels of the British Navy are steaming toward Singapore to strengthen defenses. After that, we learn that there have been reports of seven Japanese ships off the coast of Siam. Sir Robert Brook Popham (Sam Cox) and General Percival (Richard Lumsden) discuss the decision not to launch Matador and it is suggested they should abandon Matador. Popham doesn’t believe there is anything to worry about. Next, we see Vera Chiang (Elizabeth Tan) keeping a close eye on Matthew Webb (Luke Treadaway). Major Brendan Archer (Colm Meaney) stops Matthew and tells him he is sorry for his loss. Monty (Luke Newberry) encourages them to get a move on.
They enter another room and find Francois in his underwear on top of the pool table. Monty scares him by saying the Japs have landed in the garden but he is too out of it to care. They enter another room and run into Robin Turner (Bradley Hall) who wants to talk to Monty but Monty says he can’t do that. Although Robin seems to have something important to say, Monty doesn’t care. When Robin leaves, Monty tells Matthew that Robin is the manager of his rubber estate in Johore. Monty says he pulled a lot of strings to get him the job and he is going to marry a stinger or a Eurasian. Matthew is shown his father’s office but the conversation turns to dinner and Joan (Georgia Blizzard) says she could eat a horse. When Monty steps out of the room, Joan makes small talk with Matthew but it is a bit awkward.
Once that ends, Matthew goes to the Blackett house where he is introduced to Sylvia (Jane Horrocks). They sit down and Sylvia asks Francois (Christophe Guybet) about the situation. He says he thinks the Japs would’ve overrun us in a twinkling and eventually seize them by the throat. Sylvia laughs about that and claims he is trying to scare everyone. Walter (David Morrissey) enters and tells everyone that the Air Chief Marshall has been spotted at the end of the drive. Dinner begins and Charlie Tyrell (Joe Bannister) interrupts a short time later. We learn he is the brother of Mrs. Blackett. The conversation turns to Matthew’s recent visit to the Committee For International Understanding and the committee closed down last year. Walter tells Sir Robert Popham he doesn’t see how one can blame the Japanese.
He understands why they would invade China. He says for a business to succeed, there has to be security. Matthew says the security for business doesn’t give people the right to murder their neighbors. Sir Robert says the Japanese eat too much fish and it creates thyroid problems. After that, Vera gets a visit from a man who intends to take her back but she says she wasn’t planning to go back. She is told that Mr. Blackett will need this room tomorrow. Sylvia tells everyone about her recipe while Charlie causes a scene and Joan tries to play footsie with Matthew. Charlie talks about the soldiers being paid little to nothing to die before he takes his pill. After dinner, Matthew walks with Monty, Francois, and Joan. He learns that uncle Charlie was a Cambridge cricket blue at one time.
Now, he is in the Indian army. Joan and Matthew hold hands before she asks him if he always looks so serious. He tells them goodnight before Joan complains about Matthew not being romantic. Francois asks Matthew about his sexuality once they’re alone and Matthew confirms he likes women. Francois says it is problematic that there aren’t many women out there. He goes on to say that the English are always worried about the purity of the race much like Hitler. In his country, it is okay to marry outside of your race. Francois asks him about Joan but Matthew doesn’t want to talk about that. When Joan returns home, Walter asks her about Matthew and she refers to him as a pushover. He says they’re more than halfway there already. Then, Matthew tries to figure out what the Singapore Grip is.
Francois says it is a tropical fever that you must watch out for. The following day, Brendan and Matthew take the car out for a drive. Brendan tells Matthew about the Japanese convoy approaching the east coast of Siam and Matthew says that doesn’t sound very good. Brendan fears the worst but says the only way onto Singapore Island by land is the Causeway. He says they may have to start thinking about blowing that up. They drive through the rubber plantation and the Mayfair Estate which is 20 miles from Singapore. Matthew and Brendan join Robin and discuss the orders that came from Walter. They’re introduced to Robin’s wife seconds later. Meanwhile, Walter tours the facility.
He returns to his wife and tells her she should’ve seen Langfeld’s face when he learned he purchased 100,000 tons of rubber two days before the Americans closed the door. When asked, he admits he didn’t actually see his face but could imagine it. The next day, Monty interrupts Matthew’s bath and tells him they’re going to visit The Great World in a few hours. Monty explains that it is a sort of funfair on Kim Seng Road and some Irish woman is going to be fired from a canon. Matthew doesn’t seem to see the fun in that sort of thing. Monty says Joan is going to join them and listen to the Da Sousa Sisters who sing together. Then, Matthew tells Monty that they were digging up mature trees and replacing them with saplings.
He says it seemed an odd thing to be doing but Monty claims to know nothing about that and suggests bring it up with the Pater. Walter tells Matthew that it has everything to do with the excess profits tax. He says they brought in a new regulation at the beginning of the war to find your standard profits and take 60% of everything over and above that. He says they eventually increased it to 100%. He explains that replanting expenses are allowed against the tax even if you replant perfectly healthy trees because they’re in no position to know what state of health the trees are in. Joan enters and interrupts their conversation. Matthew leaves with Joan and Monty. They visit The Great World and spot Ehrendorf (Bart Edwards) in the distance. Matthew says he phoned them and he told them they would be coming down there.
Matthew wants to wait for Jim but the others aren’t happy to see him. At one point, Matthew sees Vera and they lock eyes for a brief moment. Vera approaches and calls Matthew by his name. She introduces herself and says she knew his father. She says he is all alone in the world and he admits it is true. He says she was in bad trouble and his father gave her a place to stay. Vera grabs Matthew’s hand, puts it to her chest, and tells him to feel how her heart is beating. He is pulled away by sailors before Joan and Monty catch up with him. We see the end of a performance from the Da Sousa Sisters. The group sits down before Jim arrives and sits next to Joan. She tells everyone that she would prefer to sit next to Matthew and Monty moves for her. Then, the Irish woman prepares to be shot out of the canon.
Next, General Percival gets a call from the aerodrome at Kota Bharu. They learn that the Japanese have already landed before the canon shot fails terribly. Jim tells Matthew about the advantages of changing from a barter to a cash economy and Matthew says a cash economy means the survival of the cheapest. Jim isn’t sure about that before suggesting something is missing. He claims there is an overriding principle and says it is survival of the easiest. Jim begins staring at Joan’s backside and wonders if it is possible for it to be too perfect. They sit down and listen to music. Joan pleads with Jim to stop looking at her like that while Vera looks at Matthew from a distance. Moments later, Monty says he has a serious proposition for Matthew. He says he came across a very nice Chinese girl named Sally.
She is very clean and has her own flat. Monty says Matthew can do anything he likes with him and two other friends of his. He says they can split her four ways for 1,750 a month. He says Matthew can have her one evening guaranteed and two evenings most weeks. Matthew isn’t interested and Monty suggests trying something with the taxi dancers. Jim tries his best to get Joan to dance with him but she returns so he decides to leave. As Jim walks away, Joan asks Matthew to dance with her and he agrees. Vera watches as they dance together. Then, the army receives a message from the GSO-2 asking if they should impose a blackout and they admit it is worth considering. Popham isn’t sure because he doesn’t want to spread alarm.
He tells Jack to tell them to hold off for tonight. Joan decides to leave for the night but Monty doesn’t want it to end so he suggests getting a trishaw with Matthew. Matthew is ready to go home as well but Monty isn’t having it. Monty warns Matthew that he won’t get anything from Joan so he shouldn’t turn down Sally for that reason. When Joan returns home, Walter tells her that Jim is there waiting for him. She tells her father that Matthew is in the bag. Monty and Matthew find themselves surrounded by women before Monty orders the drive to continue. Matthew nearly falls asleep before they discuss the current refugee situation. Matthew says it is all of their faults. Monty agrees to drop Matthew off at home but he intends to stay out longer. Joan asks Jim to do one last thing for her to show there are no hard feelings.
She takes him from the house while Walter tells his wife about Joan’s relationship with Matthew. As Matthew walks home, he remembers everything he heard throughout the night. Jack tells the others that the warning is red now and the siren begins sounding. He says planes are due in less than an hour. Jim and Joan find Matthew passed out. They wake him up because Jim wants to have a word with him. Jim tells him he is going to be leaving Singapore as soon as he can and he doesn’t see a future for him and Joan. Matthew isn’t happy because he is going to be left alone and says he just got a touch of the old Singapore Grip. Jim doesn’t believe that though but he has to leave anyway. Jim leaves before Joan takes Matthew for a walk against his wishes.
She takes him to a private spot and begins kissing him. She hides and asks him if he is in love with her. He searches for her until he spots her standing by the pool. She tells him there is something he needs to do for her. She wants him to jump into the pool with his clothes on. Matthew doesn’t understand that but says he wouldn’t dream of it. She tells him to wait before she jumps in with her clothes on. When Matthew returns home, he is surprised to see Vera in his house. She says she still has some things in the house in the bedroom his father gave her. There are pictures she would like to show him. Joan catches them chatting. Joan tells Matthew about giving her clothes to Vera who admits she never had such lovely clothes except when she was little in Russia.
Then, she says the dress isn’t a perfect fit because it is a little tight across the chest. Matthew gets stuck in the middle of an argument between the two before he drops to the ground. The General asks Popham if he should scramble a few fighters or something but Popham says he isn’t sure the anti-aircraft people would be able to tell the difference. He doesn’t want their Buffaloes getting shot down by their own side. Sirens sound in the city and planes fly overhead. The army learns about the attack on Pearl Harbor and Roosevelt declaring war.
The Singapore Grip Review
The Singapore Grip should be good but I just can’t get into the show at all. I love Indian Summers and The Singapore Grip is similar but it lacks the charm that made the former so good. With The Singapore Grip, the characters are dull, the dialogue is bad, and the story is hard to follow. I don’t care for the satire and rarely find the humor funny. Maybe I was hoping for more? I am not a fan of David Morrissey but I normally like everything Luke Treadaway does.
This show is an exception to the rule and I sincerely doubt it is going to improve from here. I’ll likely watch a few more episodes anyway because there isn’t much else going on right now. However, I couldn’t recommend The Singapore Grip right now. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Previous recaps of The Singapore Grip are available on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
