Return to Paradise ‘romance’ is better than Neville and Florence
We're ready to ship them!
If there is one thing that Return to Paradise makes abundantly clear it’s that Detective Inspector Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) has not returned home for a second chance at love. She is all about the job: sleuthing the case at hand while trying to unmask who has framed her back in London are her top priorities.
In fact, being back at Dolphin Cove literally puts her in a bad mood all the time. That’s not hyperbole – those exact words came out of her mouth in the previous episode AND YET, there is just something about the chemistry between her and her jilted ex-fiancé Glenn (Tai Hara) that shouts otherwise.
Ever since Mackenzie has been back in Aus there has been a magnetism between them. While others are frequently treated to her impatience and irritation at the state of her life, there is a calmness specially reserved for Glenn. That he brings out a more open side of Mackenzie is instantly obvious; Frankie can attest to that.
He too moves with grace around her which is no easy feat given that she ditched him ahead of their nuptials and hadn’t spoken to him for six whole years until she returned to Dolphin Cove, tail between her legs, hoping to lie low while the dust in the UK settled. Her return didn’t even come with the courtesy-apology package, at least not initially.
While Glenn does keep her at an emotional distance, he is respectful, kind and that’s not all. In the few moments of shared screen time the air between them is thick with unspoken feelings and unresolved tension already building up this sweeping will-they-won’t-they narrative.
Their connection is only part of what makes their romance more inviting than Neville (Ralf Little) and Florence’s (Joséphine Jobert), however.
The Death in Paradise couple’s romantic arc was hardly lacking in tender, swoon-worthy moments: their first meal together led to real intimacy when Neville shared his own journey of grief to help Florence with hers.
It was arguably the first real spark between them, followed up by his many attempts to decipher whether or not their growing bond was more than friendship. The two tottered on that tantalising precipice, which finally resulted in a yes at the end of the season-13 finale when they sailed off into the sun together. Despite it being a long time coming, however, it was anything but perfect.
After finally deciding to leave Saint Marie to go on a voyage in search of a true, romantic connection, Neville did a complete U-turn on his plans when Florence admitted to having (lukewarm) feelings for him. While it was clear that Florence did care about him in the romantic sense, she herself admitted that she didn’t know exactly what she wanted, just that she liked being there with him.
Still, that was enough for him to backslide into old habits of doing what was comfortable instead of really taking a chance on the unknown.
The emotional power dynamic between the pair always felt unbalanced: he cared too much and she cared too little (at least where romance was concerned).
A similar thing seems evident between Glenn and Mackenzie. While she certainly appears to have a great deal of feeling for Glenn, she cares more about her career and the prospects of a bigger life outside of Dolphin Cove.
Glenn on the other hand cares deeply for Mackenzie. Despite now being in a long-term relationship, his feelings for her (when not shooting out of his eyes like cartoon love hearts) are evident in his actions.
He cares whether or not she’s taking care of herself, there’s a playfulness in their exchange and he holds no grudge despite the extent to which he has been hurt.
But Glenn’s graciousness belies an imbalance of power that leaves him on the losing side, so when Mackenzie is quick to demonstrate jealousy when she learns of his five-year-anniversary camping trip, Glenn is even quicker to remind her who left who.
He sets her straight, not cruelly but directly, which paves the way for a beautiful scene at the end of episode three in which Mackenzie wells up with emotion and confronts her departure six years ago.
For all her efforts to ‘draw a line under things, to set things straight, to move forward’ it is clear that there is still unfinished business for the both of them. The scene is charged with emotional tension and it becomes easy to root for the pair of them because, despite Glenn previously being hard done by, he isn’t pitiable.
His secret pining for Mackenzie also doesn’t feel painful to watch because it’s reciprocated, unlike Neville – who anguished over his feelings for Florence, only for it to be half-heartedly met.
Are we overly protective of Neville? Sure, but that doesn’t negate the fact that something about Neville and Florence’s ultimate union undermined their whole journey together.
So far Mackenzie and Glenn seem on a better track for success… Assuming they get together eventually. Will they? Won’t they? Who knows? At least it’s an arc fans can comfortably and securely get behind.
Return to Paradise airs Fridays 8pm on BBC One. Beyond Paradise and Death in Paradise both air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
