"Clara Sheller" Season 2 video clip update: The sperm whale, Pt. 1

it makes american t.v. shows with gay storylines put to shame (sometimes it's getting quite pathetic!)... but enought of that (since it has been proven time and time again that German, French, and British shows with gay themes are by far better handled and acted, and treated matter-of-factly than sensationalized) ... i really do hope that J.P. would realize how much better he would be in the arms of Gilles. and i believe gilles feels the same way. (and to top it all of - gilles is drop-dead gorgeous!!!)

and i can't believe that they say that this is the french will and grace... are they nuts?!?! the characters here have so much depth than will and grace (although jack and karen are funnier). puh-lease!!!

The Clara/Gilles/JP triangle seems toxic. JP thinks of himself as God's gift, and assumes he can yo-yo between different lovers because obviously everybody wants him. (I say this because I definitely felt he was trying to subtley hit on JP during his break with Clara.) I don't understand what JP finds so attractive about Gilles. Back in season 1, he had an exotic mysterious air. I get the appeal. But he proved himself to be fickle in love and undependable. Besides, he's married, and attracted, to somebody who has the emotional depth of Jerry Seinfeld. That says something about Gilles. I get that he's hot, physically. I just don't like anything else about him.

For there to be a love triangle where JP and Clara both want the same guy, seems somewhat co-dependant. JP and Clara are a little too enmeshed together, already. I understand that drama comes from making the wrong decisions in love, but I'd rather see JP pursue Pascal or the sperm whale than his BFF's hubby.

Bountiful, the premise of Clara Sheller is not "that drama comes from the wrong decisions in love" but rather that it developes when people are unable to articulate who they love. It's not a new concept; it all has to do with JP's inability to make a decision about Gilles and then communicate it to him. The second season is all about how and when JP comes to that decision and the consequences that flow from it.

Yes, Gilles in the second season is attractive but both JP and Gilles recognise much more in each other than just that. Listen(read the subtitles) to the dialogue between JP and Joseph on the bridge as they discuss Pascal, love and what a true life long companion is. It's more poignant coming from a 60 year old man who has not been able to find his true companion. You always lose something in the translation but the writing is clever, wity at times and most of all touching.

Gilles is not one dimensional, quite the opposite. He is constrained by JP's inability to express his true feelings for him and,therefore, must exist in a no man's land of confusion and disappointment. Perhaps as the remainder of the series unfolds this will become evident.

From what I understand:

Gilles and Clara are not married. They are a couple who live together. I haven't seen the non JP related episodes but I feel like there was mention of them not being married.

I think Clara wouldn't have wanted Gilles if JP and Gilles weren't getting together. She was with anothe rman and semed happy then she came home and found out JP had gotten together with Gilles and BOOM, she wanted Gilles more than life itself.

Gilles has always been in love with JP. JP backed away from Gilles because he was scared (as he told his mother) and because of what Gilles said, JP only knows how to be in love when it makes him miserable. Even when Gilles and Clara had first gotten together, Gilles told JP he would rather have been with him, he wanted him, etc.

I think Clara is fully aware that Gilles was in love with JP when she started dating him and that he may still be in love with JP.

I don't think Gilles is fickle, I think he settled for Clara because he couldn't have JP and therefore will always feel attached to JP. I think the whole point of the conversation in the kitchen was to establish that Gilles was STILL hurt by JP's actions 3 years ago.

JP is the one who is fickle. If someone wants him, he doesn't want them. Though seeing his parents, it makes sense.

I do think that drama is about people making the wrong choices but I also think that love is never as straight forward as , "I love you, therefore I will get together with you and be with you forever"

"Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." (Dorothy Parker)

Well, I will try to keep an open mind about it, especially considering that I don't get to watch the whole show in its original context. I probably did ove simplify Gilles a little bit. I think I would be less quick to judge if Gilles weren't with Clara. JP and Clara have a relationship that feels too close. That is the part that feels codependant. Clara will tell JP the truth over her own husband, and tried to get JP to sneak around and lie for her when she was locked in the garage. So the fact that Clara took JP's lover, and now JP might take Clara's lover, it all seems too intertwined. It just feels odd that JP's love life is so tied to Clara. First he had sex with her and got her pregnant. Now he and Clara love the same guy.

But anyway, I'll see if I can give the show another chance. It definitely is more interesting than most shows on American TV. That's for sure.