I was pretty unsure about the second episode of Switch last week, and have to say that this third instalment is a big improvement even if it still has some glaring problems. As we saw at the tail end of last week, the girls are bringing Stella’s ex-girlfriend back into their lives so she can move on from their volatile relationship, and things go about as well as you’d expect. Meanwhile, Jude tricks her way into a big fashion house as head designer, Hannah gets conned into an illegitimate job, and Grace gets the hots for her friend’s boyfriend/fling-type person.
The most interesting storyline is, predictably, Stella and Lucy’s rekindled romance, as it’s nice to see the other three girls rally around their friend like they do. Lucy herself is less entertaining, more irritating, and it’s hard to believe two people so different could ever have maintained a relationship. It’s a worthwhile story to tell, at least, which is more than I’ve had to say about some of the story threads over the last couple of weeks. Frankly, having a lesbian couple treated like any other relationship on a mainstream ITV series is refreshing and should be applauded (though that’s sad to say in our day and age).
Jude is back cheating her way through life this week as, after discovering that an old classmate had made it as a designer, she charms her portfolio to land the top designer job at a big fashion house. The fact that she can’t do the job doesn’t seem to matter, as we’re meant to believe that someone who’s life passion is clothes doesn’t know what to say in a meeting about the spring collection. It’s all played for laughs, of course, but Jude is just making me angry at this point.
Workshy until the end, she throws away the manager’s job she got by default last week just so she can have a huge office. Her laziness ends up getting the intern in trouble and this is the first time Switch has attempted to throw in any moral implication attached to the girls’ actions. Without a spell portfolio and working three jobs just to maintain her dream of working there, Jude still manages to get her fired when delegating work above her pay grade. She eventually quits to start her own market stall, which is a nice move for the show in terms of somewhere else for the girls to congregate, but not before recommending the girl to her old boss. It’s a step in the right direction, but Jude remains the least likeable character on the show.
Hannah and Grace take a backseat this week, with Hannah’s job search taking a slightly dangerous turn. Talking to a random passer-by about any jobs he might have going, she ends up in what she thinks is a security checker (or secret agent) position, which involves stealing things from department stores in order to check how secure they are. As it turns out, she’s just taking stuff for her boss to sell on, and the police eventually catch up with her. The plot thread isn’t really resolved, but I can’t see it spelling much further trouble for her. Anyway, they can just do a spell if things go badly wrong.
Grace’s storyline, however, will probably carry on for the rest of the series, as the slacker boss from last week has become involved with both her and Jude. Despite the implication that Jude wouldn’t really care if he disappeared, there’s still an element of loyalty between them that stops Grace from really pursuing the relationship. So far I find Grace the most intriguing member of the coven, especially with the revelation this week that she was agoraphobic at one point, and would love to see her past expanded upon. Maybe we could visit the solstice in which the girls met for the first time? Or bring her mother back to the show?
This episode was better than last week’s dubious outing, and I appreciated the lack of magic used, but there’s still a few problems I would like to see ironed out if I were to fall in love with these characters.
Read Caroline's review of the previous episode of Switch here.
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