TV: Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart blog tasks

Language and close-textual analysis

1)
Narrative:
In Co-owner of a Lonely Heart, there are multiple narratives. One includes the connection between April and Corikinus -  the king of the shadow kin. Another includes flower petals that feed off blood and multiply endlessly. In the Underneath, one of Corakinus' followers tries to cut the link between April and Corakinus but ends up making the bond stronger so he is killed by Corakinus.  April then realizes she can now summon swords like a shadow kin. April has an outburst in class and Ram finds her near her locker after she had broken it in anger.  He takes her home and they end up having sex in April's bedroom. Corakinus is linked to April and so also has sex with Kharrus, one of his subjects who is helping him. April's mum catches them and discusses what had just happened. Ram leaves and April is about to go after him but meets her father outside. Her father had just been let out of prison for nearly killing April and her mum in the car accident/ suicide attempt that had left her mother paralyzed. April becomes mad and two swords appear in her hands. She threatens her father with them in a fit of rage. Ram comes back to calm her down and she lets her father go. Corakinus and Aprils minds connect and she now knows where he is and goes on a quest to find him. The episode ends on an enigma as the audience is unsure whether or not she defeats Corakinus. Ram goes after her. The other narrative revolves more around Ms. Ames, Miss Quill, Charlie, and Matteusz. Charlie shows Mattuesz the 'cabinet of souls'. Later on, he reveals that it can wipe out an entire race and bring back an entire race in the hands of a hero. Miss Quill overhears this and becomes infuriated with Charlie because he was able to wipe out the shadow-kin this whole time. Ms Ames meets with Miss Quill and reveals that she knows her true identity and Charlie's and that she is able to remove the animal in Miss Quill's head that stops her from using a weapon and she warns her about the invasion of the flower petals that have come from a bum hole of space and time and have the capability of wiping out the human race.

Character: 
April is presented to be the hero character type because she goes to the Underneath to fight against Corakinus. Ram is made out to be a false hero as he follows her. Ram and April's romantic relationship is developed through Ram being there to comfort April and their sex scene. Charlie and Matteusz' relationship is tested when Charlie reveals the cabinet of souls to him as Matteusz questions Charlie's morality. April's relationship with her mother is the stereotypical relationship between a teenager and a parent shown in teen dramas. This is shown by April's mum telling her off for having sex with Ram. When April is enraged by her father though, she seems very protective of her mother, switching the traditional roles of a parent and a child. April's dad is presented as a villain in some scenes because he creates the disequilibrium in the episode when April reunites with him outside of Ram's car. However, it is later shown that he only had pure intentions.

Iconography: 
The flower petals on the dead squirrel and April's eyes glowing orange when Corakinus takes over. The flower petals emphasize the horror genre and April's eyes changing color are a convention of Sci-Fi.

setting:
The camera is constantly moving to catch the audience's attention at every moment even though in most scenes there was only a single shot instead of multiple. There is cross-cutting between April and Corakinus in their sex scenes to show the link between them and the effect of sharing a heart with April has on Corakinus.


2)The equilibrium is April sharing a heart with Corakinus because this is a normalized plot point by episode 4. The disruption is when April comes into contact with her father after he has been released from prison because he enrages her. It could also be Charlie introducing Matteusz to the cabinet of souls. It could also be when April's dad returns and she threatens him with swords. The recognition is when April doesn't hurt him. The new equilibrium is not shown but it will be in the second half of the two-parter.


3)Ms. Ames is the father figure character because she gives Miss Quill important information and offers to help her get the animal out of her head. (i wrote more about subversion and reinforcement in question 1).



4)Action codes are created using a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. An example of an action code created by diegetic sound is when April says 'he knows where I am' an example of Action codes with non-diegetic sound would be the dramatic music that is used to increase the suspense and to build up to the next episode. Enigma codes are created by the episode's unanswered questions like whether or not April will get her heart back or if the petals will take over the earth.



5)There is binary opposition -humans v aliens- this is shown between the cross-cutting between April and Corakinus to show that although they share a heart, they are actually very different. Another example of binary opposition would be between adults v teenagers, this is shown when April and her mum are arguing about her relationship with Ram.


Representations
1)Ms. Ames subverts stereotypes as she is a knowledgeable head teacher who informs Miss Quill (who also subverts stereotypes as a strong fighting woman) about the dangers of the flowers and that she can get the animal out of her head. April goes on a quest to save her own heart with her newly obtained power of summoning swords on command without relying on the help of a man to help her therefore also subverting the general female stereotype. The stereotype of men is subverted by Ram and his dad's open and loving relationship.

2)The representation of adults in the media is reinforced by April's mum telling off her daughter for being irresponsible by having sex with Ram. The representation of teenagers is subverted because they are responsible, for example, April doesn't want revenge on her father when she threatens him with swords and fights Corakinus' influence.



3)The stereotypes of race are subverted because Ram's dad is an Indian Sikh man and he has a trusting relationship with his son. Matteusz is a Polish man and subverts stereotypes because he is against Charlie using violence to bring back the Rhodians.



4)Matteusz and Charlie are in a homosexual relationship which is regarded as completely ordinary by the other characters, this reflects the diverse nature of modern-day Britain. Also because Matteusz is gay and his family are overly Christian and do not accept him.


5)April's mum is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair but she is portrayed as a stereotypical parent when she is scolding April. This is also emphasized by her saying "Don't let this chair fool you, if you hurt her, I will kill you." This shows that her protective maternal instincts are still there although her disability hinders her slightly. Disabled people are under-represented and one of BBC3's mottos is to reflect modern-day Britain which is a diverse place so Class addresses this by having a disabled character.



Audience
1)Less than 5% of the TV audience watched Class when it aired. It did badly because it was created for an audience that doesn't exist. It is a Dr. Who spin-off, Dr. Who is aimed at a family audience so adults over 30 and children under 13. Class has explicit, violent and sexual content that Dr. Who's family audience could not watch. It aired at 11.30 pm on weekdays on BBCOne when their teenage audience would be asleep to prepare for school.

2)Reformers may enjoy Class because it has representations of groups that are often underrepresented or misrepresented in the media. 

3)
Personal Identity:
There are lockers that are a representation of American school lockers to appeal to the American audience. There is a normal school setting which the Whovians can relate to because the target audience is 15-22 so they are either still in school or have recently left it. 

Personal relationships:
More is revealed about April's background so the audience may gain an attachment to her character because they may empathize with having parents that are not together or having a bad relationship with one of their parents and so they may gain a relationship for her character. 

Diversion (Escapism):
The world of the Underneath, the Shadow Kin, the Rhodians, and the Quill and travel into space and time that is created in Class is a completely immersive world that can help the audience escape from the boredom of everyday life.


4)There are visceral pleasures created when April summons the shadow swords because it creates an action code (Barthes enigma and action codes).


5)The Whovians did not react well to Class because Dr. Who has on an episodic narrative that is ended at the end of the episode or the two-parter so even casual fans can enjoy an episode. This episode of Class, however, has a multi-strand narrative where some narratives take priority over others. The Cabinet of Souls and Matteusz questioning Charlie's morality and the killer flowers are all sidelined by April trying to win back her heart from Corakinus.



Industries
1)To inform, educate and entertain its young audience.


2)BBC3's target audience - 15-34-year-olds - do not watch live or traditional television anymore. They watch things on demand via streaming services like Netflix and Prime.


3)'Class' is a diverse programme, in episode 4, we learn more about April's mum's paralysis but we also learn that it doesn't change who she is which shows the audience about the lives of people with disabilities. 'Class' has little educational value but it does provide the audience pleasure of diversion or entertainment because the world of the underneath, killer flowers and the cabinet of souls are totally indoctrinating. 



5)The trailer pushed the link with the Whoniverse which did not feature heavily in Class (excluding the Doctor's appearance in the pilot and few references to the Doctor throughout the series).