The Department of Time: Hasta que el tiempo os separe (Til Time Do Us Part)   First Watch 
June 19, 2018 10:48 AM - Season 2, Episode 12 - Subscribe

Ortigosa and Natalia's wedding is complicated by a hidden time portal and a romantic legend from the 13th century.

Notes (contain spoilers)

* Ortigosa’s bachelor party was thrown in the 1930’s during San Fermín. Ernest Hemingway attended.
* Spanish Masterchef’s Pepe Rodríguez Rey has a cameo in this episode as himself.
* Raúl Cimas (Cuñado) apparently improvised many of his lines.
* Velázquez asks what dowry the bride brought to the marriage. The other agents explain to him that dowries are a thing of the past. He asks Salvador what his wife brought to him, who responds: "40 years of happiness."
* Spinola returns to save the day, but it has already been saved. Here's why he was late.
posted by zarq (5 comments total)
 
Yay, new thread! I watched this episode before I flew out on vacation (Sardinia + Rome), and downloaded the next 5 in case I wanted/needed to watch more during the trip. (I’m kind of glad they weren’t posted yet, since it meant I could watch some new Queer Eye for my ‘winding down at night’ viewing since it doesn’t require concentration.)

The sword fight cinematography was fun — I’ve seen that ‘mount the GoPro on the sword trick done before, but I don’t remember where, probably in a YouTube video about the camera trick rather than as part of a larger work. It’s pretty gimmicky, but, for Alinso’s hero-walk with Elena after the fight, all is forgiven.

Velázquez driving Salvador crazy was fun, as ever.
posted by oh yeah! at 11:25 AM on June 19, 2018


Drunk Velázquez is the Best Velázquez! :D
posted by zarq at 11:26 AM on June 19, 2018


I noticed everybody was wearing 30's outfits but didn't twig they were actually in the 30s. How did they sneak the civilians over the time border without them knowing???

I just loved that Irene arranged the batchelor party. And beat them all at running with the bulls.

That catsuit. And it had pockets.

The first time I watched i couldn't hear what Irene whispered in the ear of 'the arsehole of the wedding' and thought it was left enigmatic. Then for some reason I rewatched that bit with the Spanish subtitles on. Oh yes, i was trying to understand what her excuse was for borrowing a safety pin. Ha. She's very explicit about what she'll do to him.

There's a lot of mirroring in this episode - themes repeating (once as tragedy, several times as farce), and play with actual mirrors and double viewpoints. Elena fixes Alfonso's tie and we see both of them, and each of their points of view. We see Irene and Amelia getting ready and on the other side of the mirror Angustias, detatched from them but loving and kind. The actors at the wedding mirror the legend, the legend invades the action, and the non-acting Ministry people invade the legend. The Time Door itself is like a mirror which is both a gate and a reflection of Bizarro world. Also the horrific ancient wedding is shown in parallel with the joyous modern (modern but displaced in time) one.

There's a lot of women dodging men, deftly (Irene/Hemingway) amusingly (the dreadful wedding guest) and deadly seriously (the bride.) Once again the themes repeat and repeat and repeat; the legend is enacted, re-enacted, retold and then repeated and revised to end better in the final fight. The trauma of the bride is not in the least glossed over, even though this episode is hilarious.

Well, I just loved the final fight, which was scrappy and untidy and brutal. And in spite of the heroics, and rooting for Alonso, and the brutality/gallantry thing going on, and the retribution, and the hero walk, Elena was absolutely right not to jump into the role of rescued maiden, in fact, to get herself away from all of that soonest.

I was thinking there's a larger theme of getting love and having it. Salvador and Angustia both feeling the pain of lost love, in tune with the first bride, Ernesto nearly getting his leg over, the happy young Ministry couple, Amelia and Julian approaching each other, Whatshisname rampaging all over the place looking for Constanza, Alonso who is very much in love but Elena keeps slipping away from him.

This is what Velasquez says, once he's good and sloshed: Venus - I mean God - no, no. Love is the child of Beauty. Beauty with a capital letter. Just as Cupid is the son of Venus. I mean that myths have to be humanised. Venus is no more beautiful than your average Italian matron - later we see him trying to get off with someone of that vague description - Venus is in all women.

This is my actual favorite episode and I've rewatched it more than once. Just as well, considering the next one.
posted by glasseyes at 2:59 PM on June 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


Really nice little touch of humour: Amelia spending the whole evening trying to check her cleavage unobtrusively. Who hasn't gone out in a gorgeous new dress and found it's just a bit more revealing than expected?
posted by glasseyes at 3:04 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


Also I thought it was delightful that with all this demonstrated trouble between getting love and keeping it, Irene and her lady friend had a nice little untroubled interlude getting it.
posted by glasseyes at 3:53 PM on June 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


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