Tommy demands Frances counter Catherine’s influence
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Tommy presses Frances about Ryan's feelings toward him; Frances relays that Ryan speaks highly of Tommy and remembers their past interactions fondly, particularly the milk offering and the boat trip.
Tommy, embarrassed, questions if Ryan mentioned the petrol incident, and Frances says Ryan attributes Tommy’s actions to illness and feels responsible for triggering the event. Tommy expresses that he was terrified, not malicious, as he grappled with septicaemia, and Frances believes Ryan understands this.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Feigned calm masking deep anxiety—she projects reassurance but is visibly unsettled by Tommy’s escalating paranoia and violent rhetoric, especially his threats toward Catherine.
Frances sits across from Tommy in the prison visiting area, her posture calm but her fingers subtly tense around the edge of the table. She speaks in measured tones, carefully relaying Ryan’s positive memories of Tommy (the milk, the boat trip) to soften his paranoia, but her composed facade cracks slightly when Tommy’s rage escalates. She listens intently, nodding at his denials of crimes, but her eyes flicker with unease when he justifies violence and threatens Catherine. Her goal is to soothe Tommy while maintaining control, but his demands to ‘get Ryan out of there’ unsettle her, revealing the moral tightrope she walks in enabling his obsession.
- • To calm Tommy’s paranoia by validating Ryan’s positive memories of him, thereby maintaining her influence over him.
- • To subtly redirect Tommy’s fixation on Ryan away from dangerous actions (e.g., ‘getting him out of there’) while keeping him engaged.
- • Tommy’s bond with Ryan is genuine but dangerous, and she must carefully nurture it to control him.
- • Catherine’s influence over Ryan is a direct threat to Tommy’s psychological stability, and thus to her own leverage.
Indirectly portrayed as warm and forgiving in his memories, but the adult conversation around him reveals the danger of his idealized view of Tommy.
Ryan is physically absent but looms large in the scene through Frances’ relay of his memories: the milk offering outside the shop, the boat trip, and his understanding of the petrol incident as an accident. His voice is heard indirectly, softening Tommy’s edges before the conversation devolves into Tommy’s rage. The boy’s innocence and affection for Tommy are weaponized by both Frances (to calm him) and Tommy (to justify his obsession), making Ryan the emotional fulcrum of the exchange.
- • None (he is a passive figure in this exchange, his memories and feelings are leveraged by others).
- • Implied: To maintain a positive relationship with Tommy, unaware of the darker implications.
- • Tommy’s actions (e.g., petrol incident) were accidents born of illness, not malice.
- • Tommy cares for him deeply, as evidenced by the milk and boat trip.
A volatile cocktail of hope, rage, and paranoia—briefly elated by Ryan’s remembered affection, then consumed by fury at Catherine’s influence and his own powerlessness. His emotional swings are extreme, revealing a psyche teetering on the edge of collapse.
Tommy leans forward in his prison chair, his body language oscillating between desperate hope and barely contained rage. His voice drops to a whisper when Frances mentions Ryan’s fond memories, but his hands clench into fists when he denies his crimes. He fixates on Frances’ every word, searching for validation, but his paranoia spirals when she resists his demands. His physical presence is domineering yet vulnerable—like a cornered animal lashing out. The moment Frances suggests keeping an eye on Ryan rather than ‘getting him out,’ his smile twists into a snarl, revealing the thin veneer of his composure.
- • To coerce Frances into countering Catherine’s narrative about him, ensuring Ryan sees him as a victim, not a monster.
- • To extract Frances’ commitment to ‘getting Ryan out’ of his unstable home, reinforcing his delusion that he can ‘save’ the boy.
- • Catherine is systematically poisoning Ryan’s mind against him, and Frances is his only chance to counteract her lies.
- • His violence (against Lewis, his grandmother, Ann Gallagher) was all justified self-defense, and the system is rigged to vilify him.
Tommy’s projection: A mix of terror and hatred—she is both a puppet master and a monster in his fractured psyche.
Catherine is never physically present but dominates the scene through Tommy’s monologue. He frames her as a ‘clever bitch’ filling Ryan’s head with lies, a ‘dangerous’ force orchestrating a serial killer narrative to frame him. His language is laced with misogynistic venom—‘she needs putting out of her misery’—revealing his deep-seated rage and fear of her. Frances’ silence on the matter amplifies Tommy’s paranoia, turning Catherine into a spectral antagonist.
- • To destroy Tommy’s relationship with Ryan by poisoning his mind.
- • To frame Tommy as a serial killer, using the system to silence him.
- • Tommy is a danger to Ryan and society, and must be contained at all costs.
- • Her trauma over Becky’s suicide blinds her to Ryan’s need for a father figure (Tommy’s delusion).
Tommy’s grandmother is referenced only through his bitter justification for kicking her: ‘she were asking for it’ and ‘she’d have …
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The ‘knife’ Tommy claims Lewis attacked him with is a narrative device in his self-defense mythos. He uses it to justify killing Lewis, framing the act as preemptive. The knife’s absence (no physical description) highlights its symbolic role: a plot device in Tommy’s cycle of violence. Frances does not question this detail, allowing the knife to serve as a prop in his performance of victimhood, reinforcing his paranoia as justified.
The ‘bucket’ Tommy mentions as proof of his ‘kindness’ to Ann Gallagher is a darkly ironic symbol of his claimed innocence. He frames it as evidence of his care—allowing her to use it for bodily needs—while omitting the context of her captivity. The object’s mention is a twisted reframing of abuse as benevolence, revealing Tommy’s gaslighting tactics. Frances does not challenge this narrative, letting the bucket serve as a prop in his performance of victimhood.
Frances’ ‘chemical spray’ is a red herring in Tommy’s narrative, used to justify his violence toward his grandmother. He claims she ‘sprayed me wi’ that stuff’ and would have killed him, but the object’s specifics are vague, serving only to reinforce his self-defense claim. Frances’ silence on the matter enables this distortion, turning the spray into a plot device for Tommy’s paranoia. The object’s ambiguity highlights the scene’s reliance on Tommy’s unreliable narration.
The ‘Mars bars’ Tommy claims to have given Ann Gallagher are a cynical attempt to rewrite his relationship with her. He cites them as ‘proof’ of his kindness, contrasting Frances’ silence with his own performative innocence. The chocolate bars become a verbal talisman in his denial of rape, their mundane nature underscoring the absurdity of his reframing. Frances’ acceptance of this narrative without question enables his gaslighting, turning the object into a tool of manipulation.
The ‘petrol’ Tommy threw on Ryan during their narrowboat standoff is a loaded symbol of his instability. He claims it was an accident born of septicaemia, but the act’s violence lingers in the subtext. Frances’ relay of Ryan’s forgiving interpretation (‘he thinks it’s his fault’) softens Tommy’s guilt, but his later outburst—‘she needs putting out of her misery’—hints at the petrol’s potential as a weapon. The object’s mention bridges Tommy’s past violence and his present rage, a tangible reminder of his capacity for harm.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Gravesend Prison visiting area is a claustrophobic, hushed space where Tommy’s paranoia and Frances’ calm collide. The sterile environment—guarded, monitored, and devoid of privacy—amplifies the tension of their whispered conversation. The location’s institutional constraints (e.g., ‘hush hush’ visits) mirror Tommy’s own sense of being trapped, while the watchful guards symbolize the system that has already convicted him. The mood is oppressive, with every word carrying the weight of Tommy’s desperation and Frances’ moral compromise.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Calderdale Police is the unseen antagonist in this scene, embodied by Tommy’s rage toward Catherine and his fear of the system. The organization’s influence is felt through Tommy’s paranoia—he believes Catherine is using her police connections to frame him as a serial killer. Frances’ silence on this matter reinforces the police’s power, as Tommy’s delusions go unchallenged. The prison system (Gravesend) also represents institutional control, limiting Tommy’s ability to act on his obsessions while enabling Frances’ secret visits.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Tommy's frustration that events he felt terrified during lead him to attempt to re-write the narrative for Ryan and Catherine, this has Tommy wanting the truth about the past events'."
"Tommy's frustration that events he felt terrified during lead him to attempt to re-write the narrative for Ryan and Catherine, this has Tommy wanting the truth about the past events'."
"Tommy's frustration that events he felt terrified during lead him to attempt to re-write the narrative for Ryan and Catherine, this has Tommy wanting the truth about the past events'."
"Tommy's frustration that events he felt terrified during lead him to attempt to re-write the narrative for Ryan and Catherine, this has Tommy wanting the truth about the past events'."
Key Dialogue
"TOMMY: We don’t talk about me dad? FRANCES: Yeah, but listen, don’t get cross! He said that, but then nothing could be further from the truth! Once he started it was like he could talk about nothing else. TOMMY: ((suspicious, anxious)) What did he say? FRANCES: He said how much he liked you. When he met you. Outside the shop, and on the boat. And how he still thinks about you."
"TOMMY: Did he say that? He actually said that? That he still thinks about me? FRANCES: Every day. Yes. He said it. TOMMY: Yeah, in a bad way. FRANCES: No! He talked about bringing you milk. And how he upset you by bringing his friend, and how much he wishes he hadn’t done that now because that seemed to spoil everything."
"TOMMY: Got to get him out of there. FRANCES: Well. We can’t get him out of there just yet. But we can keep an eye on him. Can’t we? TOMMY: ((he’s smiling. He’s calm. But we - and she - detect his increasing frustration with her)) No. Frances. I keep telling yer. And you keep not hearing. That’s not enough."