ANY HUMAN HEARRT Series 1 Episode 4 - This week’s final instalment of ANY HUMAN HEART sees an elderly Logan Mountstuart enter his autumn years as old age finally catches up with him. Not one to ease up with his pipe and slippers he sets about living his final days to the full as this story of one man’s life draws to it’s inevitable end.
As the opening scene of the first episode of Any Human Heart is an elderly Logan grasping his chest succumbing to a heart attack in a field we were already shown how and when he will die. Almost as though we have skipped to the end of a book and read the last page and then started reading, the suspense of how and when this intrepid writer will shuffle off is slightly lacking. What makes this episode entertaining however is Logan is just as aware of the Grim Reaper as we as an audience are, he has that fearless desire to embrace life rather than wait for death to find him.
What Any Human Heart conveys well in his episode is the lack of dignity in old age – patients in a hospital ward treated more like toddlers in a nursery.
Not consigned to finding God and withering in a hospital bed Logan sets out to effect change by joining a radical socialist group.
Referred to as the “Dog Food Years” Logan is forced to survive off cans of pet food as he finds himself penniless in the 1980′s. Set against the backdrop of Thatcher Britain it would have been nice to see contemporary culture have more of an impact on the story. The only hint we had of the decade was a skin-head loitering on the corner and an audio of Maggie belting out her most rousing speech over the radio. Music or fashion influences could have been better used throughout this section of the series.
What I least enjoyed during this episode was the rather strange Socialist mission to Switzerland. It seemed irrelevant and a bit nonsensical detracting from the story of an interesting life nearing its end.
The feeling of loss Logan feels as he systematically loses the people closest to him was conveyed brilliantly by a suitably vulnerable Jim Broadbent. As the friends that have featured throughout his life die his world closes in. Waking up one morning to find his dog had died in the night was really touching.
As Logan’s life nears the end the line between past and present blur as visions of his youth appear more regularly. I thought this was particularly well done. Despite being a depiction of an unfaltering Atheist Any Human Heart dealt with death in a spiritual way. Mistaking the new woman in his life for Freya (his one true love from previous episodes) shows Logan was now a man ready to leave this life behind and return to his beloved.
Sat drinking wine in the sun hearing Freya’s voice calling to him from the distance Logan stands to walk to her as the heart attack which ends him takes hold. It was a hopeful ending suggesting peace after death without being overly sentimental or sappy.
I thought the final episode of Any Human Heart was a fitting end to this brave, interesting ensemble drama of life, luck and above all love.
What did you think to the series? What was your favourite decade in the life of Logan Mountstuart? Let me know in the comment box below?
Please make sure to read our comment policy before posting a comment.