Return of the Repressed

"Corpses don't dream."

Writer: Matthew Sweet

Format: Audio

Released: September 2013

Series: Jago & Litefoot 6.02

Featuring: Jago, Litefoot

Synopsis 

Henry Gordon Jagois troubled. He's having disturbing dreams and the waking hours aren't much better...

Only one man can help – renowned Austrian mental pathologist Sigmund Freud. But even Freud isn't prepared for what he will discover in the mind of an infernal investigator...

Verdict  

Return of the Repressed was another great episode to continue my way through the sixth series of Jago & Litefoot! I’m enjoying the continuation of the slightly different feel of this series and this followed on nicely where The Skeleton Quay left off. Jago was still suffering somewhat from the bad dreams and so having him visit a therapist in the form of Freud was terrific. As I expected, Jago’s reaction to talking through his dreams and what they symbolised was amusing as he wasn’t wholly bought into the whole process, but it’s also intriguing that Litefoot isn’t aware of his own memory loss. I’m looking forward to hearing how that plays out in the rest of the series. The idea of a shared dream isn’t new and it’s something that really interests me. I can’t imagine how freaky that might be and whilst I’m not exactly one to dream often at all, having a matching one would be quite a spooky experience! The link of the baboon was a little odd but the story about Litefoot’s childhood was really emotional and provided a lot of sympathy. It sounded horrific for a ten year old to have to feed a baboon rats and then force it back into confinement with a spear. That’s not ordinary for children to experience! It was also lovely to learn about Jago’s family and childhood with a fun flashback cameo of his mother. It was quite sad to think that Jago didn’t really think of his family, but getting some more background on him was delightful. I’m such a big fan. The discussions with Freud formed the basis for the story which was brilliant and it really did serve well for the hour. I feared early on that it might get stale but that was far from the case! Litefoot was clearly suffering from something of the infernal when it came to the relationship he built with the baboon from the botanical gardens zoo! He was fully in belief that he was conversing with it which was just barmy and rather amusing! It would have been the easy choice to have Jago as the one who was talking with a baboon, so it was a fun twist for Litefoot to have this role given his usual superior intelligence. I really enjoyed the focus on dreams and the revelation that Madame Anna was having the same dreams as Jago was very good. I couldn’t buy into her description of her origin but I did like the link back to the series opener with her coming from Lowestoft. That was what Litefoot suspected with the train journey, but the ending felt somewhat anticlimactic. I did appreciate that she was able to help Jago understand his dreams and being in the guise of his mother that’s no surprise, but it did feel like something of an underwhelming finish to what was a really great episode. It could have been much higher ratings wise which is saying something given the score I did give! As a whole, it was a really fun adventure and Freud being the front and centre was a fantastic approach. His giggling about the idea of a baboon conversing was terrific and I really enjoyed his reaction to Jago having gone to the zoo and blurting out all of the symbolism within his dreams. Overall, a fantastic episode! 

Rating: 8/10