Brenda (Jacqueline King), a marriage counsellor, is faced with multiple challenges. Firstly, in the form of a married couple that cannot stop fighting in their sessions. Secondly, she meets a new friend, Nita (Valerie Gogan) that pushes her outside of her comfort zone. If the show tries to say anything, it is done in such a British and minimalist way that it's practically imperceptible. We keep waiting for something interesting or a conflict to start the action, but alas we are not given that pleasure. The show focuses a lot on the counselling itself, which in the end is not that important. If the relationship between Brenda and Nita were focused on more rather than the after thought that it is, then perhaps this show wouldn't have the issues it does.
If the colour beige was a show, Jon Canter’s Spoons would be it
The characters are all one-dimensional; they don’t have any particular depth and any growth is imperceptible. If anything, it appears like the Canter chose four British stereotypes and forced them to interact, resulting in this play. Brenda herself is an incredibly vanilla character, and although that is the point, it is an incredibly strange choice for the persona of a main character. Her entire personality revolves around the fact htat she's incredibly closed off, which makes it very difficult to empathise with her. By the end, she is meant to be more ‘fun’ because of Nita’s influence, but the fact that we don’t particularly see much of a change in Brenda’s behaviour, in the end, it just doesn’t make sense. It just happens. The relationship arc between Brenda and Nita is underdeveloped and doesn't reach a point where we could believably say they are anything more than friends.
This is an incredibly poorly written show. Even though I will not get those 50 minutes of my life back, you hopefully will be able to save yourself from watching Spoons. Incredibly slow, this show is not worth a second glance.
If the colour beige was a show, Jon Canter’s Spoons would be it.
