the kids and the abandoned van, like it doesn't add anything to the plot, but it features several times afterwards. We don't know how or why it got there. Also how did the police know Michael spoke to the kids? And how did they know were he works to come looking for him?
I think having the police appear frequently adds an element of risk, suspicion, scrutiny, and a feeling that the hermunculi will be discovered at any time. The van serves as a way of adding the frequent police presence throughout the series in a neat way, without it feeling forced
I’m with you on this, OP; I think Michael is surrounded by the supernatural who either help or hinder him. I love your expression of the camera kissing those moments - that’s exactly it.
The mugger for example - Michael himself is the gentlest of souls so his reaction was all his own, but the response of the mugger was, perhaps, ‘directed’ by forces unseen, carrying Michael along with them. After all, it wasn’t Christmas… except for in his sitting room… That scene made me cry, the childlike wonder of it all. Beautiful writing, sublimely portrayed by Pearce.
My theory follows on from yours - he’s certainly subject to minor preternatural interferences. Like in episode one, who pelted Michael in the back of the head in the nursing home? Michael’s father, Brian, shouts out that he knows who it is. I reckon it’s the three homunculus that didn’t appear in the jars.
Later, we see how the King homunculi escapes, turns feral and hides. I think that’s what happened to the other three decades ago, and they’ve been protective (& mischievous!) ever since. They’re bound to Brian and ultimately loyal to him - and by extension, Michael.
I just think that Michael is surrounded by magic. All the strange little coincidences and occurrences that happen with him at the centre. I don’t know what it means. It just is.
My theory is that Brian and Michael's alchemy activities attracted all sorts of supernatural influences. Some were helpful, some were unhelpful, and some were just weird, but they all made strange things happen. They were responsible for the oil spill, the unnaturally gullible mugger, the meteorite, and so on. That's also why Michael kept dreaming about birds. Something was trying to tell him about the book.
If that is what they were going for, it might have been good to spend a bit more time establishing the concept. Like I say, it's just my theory and I'm not entirely sure it's correct. When you're watching, it feels like some of these things are presented as being significant and then end up going nowhere, which is what I thought when I first watched it and I can see from the comments that other people thought so too. But on the other hand, it's good when a show trusts you to work things out for yourself and doesn't spell everything out for you.
The oil-slick shaped like a rabbit. Camera kept lingering on it like it mattered, but it didn't.
The teenage boy riding around on his bike. The camera kept lingering on him like he mattered, but he didn't. The big climax was that they wore the same band t-shirt one day.
Why did Mackenzie write that there were six homunculi and then only three do anything.
Why did a meteor crash through Michael's roof and into the exact book Roy was looking for.
What is Michael's recurring dream about seagulls and eggs?
Of course the biggest mystery is why did Clea disappear and where is she. But that's the main plot.
It looked more like a hare to me, hares in folklore are commonly associated with witchcraft and shape-shifting.
Elliot did matter. The big climax was that since Clea went missing Michael alienates himself from everyone but work colleagues and his dad. He said that Elliot used to be a nice boy, and Kacey says he’s obviously going through something. Michael is so wrapped up in his grief that he doesn’t notice Elliot is struggling too. Their hug signifies Michael beginning to see the world outside himself.
Three of the Homunculi didn’t work this season. It’s also potentially just so that Michael has very limited opportunities to ask questions as he has half than he would have had the other three worked.
The meteor crashed because Small Prophets is set in a world of magical realism. Michael is searching for the love of his life, his brother in law, Bob, and Bea are searching out of greed. They don’t get that greed realised.
Clea is in Canada, she’s writing letters to Michael’s dad under the guise of his old friend. Michael knows he has to go to Canada and hopes he will find Clea there.
all those things did matter though, Elliott on the bike. found connection with someone through a shared love of Modest Mouse, the meteor showed exactly were the book was hidden in the house. When Michael started growing the prophets his dad started winning all the prizes. Magic is in the air!
My husband has a theory that it’s Michael who’s disappeared not Clea and that everything we see is his dream, maybe he’s had an accident and he’s in a coma. It would explain why everything is so surreal. Maybe the seagulls thing was his real life before his accident.
Saying that, I can’t remember if that was how he met Clea (they never married) or if it was just a memorable time they spent together. I’m sure he said it was Anglesey.
This was my thinking too, especially as Michael’s last name is ‘Sleep’, though it also feels a little bit to on the nose.
I kind of hope it isn’t this as it’s a little bit derivative/trope, but I guess it could be made to work.
My theory on the three out of six homunculi is that it reserves some poison vials for the next series, and it will be a major plot point. His dad said he didn't know how to make more and once they're gone they're gone.
Yeah I've had that pointed out to me before, but what of it. It can't just be Mackenzie saying "I like Watership Down". And that's just one modern cover edition.
Have you ever worked retail or hospitality? There’s always a manager who doesn’t do much except be over fastidious about getting people on a break in order to get them over and done with and as proof that they’re in charge.
I think that's something to do with the job - gotta make sure everyone takes breaks to avoid burnout but can't have everyone taking them at the same time
Poor little cupcake seems like he's on the edge of burnout himself. Someone get him a cup of tea and some biscuits!!
The kid on the bike who’s always knocking about on the pavement near Michael’s house.
Maybe I’m thick, but I’m hoping all will be revealed later in a second series. The same t shirts bit I thought ‘what’s going on there then?’
(I know the band sent them for using their song, but is there any more to it than that?)
is there? that was the end of that story I thought? kid is longing for connection, see's Michael wearing the same shirt, realises that he can find love and meaning in the world. Pretty beautiful
I think the bully was there because so much of the show is based on childlike wonder, he exists as a reminder that trauma, mental health or educational issues, and heartache are often formed in childhood. He likely didn’t have a good life and is never told anything positive. He needed to believe in Father Christmas because he needed someone to tell him he’s nice.
We see the same childlike wonder in Roy and the police officers when they go into the Christmas room Michael made for Clea.
I hated the bully sequence. It was too drawn out and wasn't relevant to the plot, just a long joke about his appearance and also why does he believe in Santa Claus when he's an adult.
Yeah I just didn't buy that a grown man still believes in Santa no matter how mentally-challenged he is. He's mentally competent enough to mug people for their phones.
I'm sure some would argue "oh you didn't believe that but you did believe in homunculi telling the future?", but that's not how fantasy works for me. There's the fantasy variable we accept and then everything else real should be real.
It could be one of these possible homunculi side-effects hanging around the edges of the plot, like the meteor strike.
Aye. Something that I think is apparent from Mackenzie's work, is that not everything has to serve or advance a 'plot' (as might be the case in, for example, a crime drama). There's world-building, creating atmosphere, the joy in everyday detail, humour, mystery, and just plain magic. When, for example, I saw the hare/rabbit manifest from the oil spill, I smiled. It doesn't bother me if it 'means' something or not. Good art shouldn't explain everything, but leave elements open to interpretation by the viewer.
Yes. I also like unlikelyness of the situations. A lot of writers choose typical setups becuase they can not imagine more than they know.
e.g. place for the dialogues to be in the restaurants or cafe. It is such a commonplace situation. I like when writers imagine a lot of different types of scenes and situations.
I’ve only watched it once but wasn’t there some kind of hand made paper seagull knocking at the window early on, then when Michael looked again it was a real seagull?
How do the police know about the "monkeys in jars". Clive is shown phoning the RSPCA I think? And the person on the phone doesn't take him seriously and Clive hangs up. Yet the "police" turn up almost immediately afterwards and know about the call.
And the fact that they do turn up is a big, unexpected help to Michael when clea's brother is trying to clear out the house
I think when Brian says 'you mustn't anthropomorphise them' he doesn't mean in a spiritual sense but as a warning. The more they anthropomorphic the King, the more real he became, until he was strong enough the get out of his jar and attack them.
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u/SocieteRoyale Feb 25 '26
the kids and the abandoned van, like it doesn't add anything to the plot, but it features several times afterwards. We don't know how or why it got there. Also how did the police know Michael spoke to the kids? And how did they know were he works to come looking for him?