The Full Monty – Season 1 Episode 4 “Homing” Recap & Review

Homing

Episode 4 of The Full Monty begins with the revelation about Lomper’s secret trip. He had gone to Amsterdam to…wait for it…fetch a pigeon! Well, not just any pigeon. But one of the most legendary racing pigeons in the world. He meets with his mate Vince at the Dog & Gun pub. The idea to is to breed the pigeon, whom he names Lewis, and then sell the eggs to wealthy bidders.

Horse is left stranded on a roundabout after taking his mobility scooter for the disability assessment. He is coincidentally found by Yvonne, Guy’s girlfriend and fiance. She takes him in her car and is happy to have company. We learn Yvonne gets bored at home and wants to start her own business called Botox Rocks.

Lomper is caught in a tough situation as Lewis is taking longer than usual to lay an egg. He goes to the car workshop and asks Bill for one more week.

At the benefits office, Horse responds “yes” to all the questions that the assessor asks him. This leads to him losing his benefits.

There is some hope for Lomper as he finally gets a buyer from South Korea, Sang-Chol. SC is a tech billionaire and will be soon flying into Sheffield to meet Lewis and procure the egg. The amount he is offering will save the cafe and give Dennis and Lomper a comfortable life. Mun-Hee, SC’s translator, also comes with him and they inspect the bird. Since there is no egg, SC asks Lomper to pay for his unscheduled stay at a five-star hotel.

At the Academy, Dilip still hasn’t gotten an answer from Jean about ditching Dave and moving away with him.

Vince has booked an appointment for Lomper to take Lewis to see a specialist. He takes Lewis to the cafe in a cardboard box. Lomper goes to the bathroom temporarily but Dennis doesn’t know about any of it. He thinks it is an ordinary pigeon and shoos it away. Lewis flies out of sight which leaves Lomper feeling scared for the bird’s life.

Dennis learns of Lomper’s dark secrets all at once. Bill, SC, and Vince, all come to the cafe looking for him. Dennis doesn’t know where he is and on a hunch, goes to one of their favourite spots in the city. Lomper is there feeling dejected. He explains the whole gig to Dennis.

Dennis gets really upset with the truth but teams with up the rest of the guys to find Lewis. As expected, the efforts yield no results. The task is even more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack!

Dave, who has been feeling neglected by Jean, buys a new hoodie to impress her. But Jean still doesn’t notice him.

Elsewhere, Horse struggles to get a job as he feels too old and slow to keep up with the pace of the modern workplace.

There are also problems of a domestic kind when Dennis expresses his heartbreak at having to sell the cafe due to the remortgaging. Lomper explains that he felt invisible to Dennis and wanted to be noticed by him. Their marriage had gone dud and Lomper felt it needed some adventure and surprise. That is why he took such a big risk.

Meanwhile, Destiny’s beef with Brian gets bigger as he suggests she move out to another house.

The next morning, Lomper spots the bird at the football stadium through his binoculars. He races to the spot and tries to capture Lewis, who has made a nest high up near the floodlights. Dennis, SC, and Mun-Hee plead with Lomper to get down. But he is determined to right his wrongs. He nearly falls in his bid to procure the eggs that Lewis has finally laid. But he is successful in getting them in his pockets. A hug from Dennis breaks one of them but he has another, which gives them hope for the future.

The Episode Review

Horse has really been made to struggle so much in the series. The poor old man symbolizes all the institutional neglect that systemically affects people like him in real life. Even though the message is spot on, the way it has been told hasn’t been quite up to the mark.

Lomper’s unusual risk tasking was a huge surprise. No one would have expected him to go through all that trouble for a racing pigeon. The world truly works in mysterious ways. The mantle almost got away from him but he saved the day spectacularly in the end.

We also got our first glimpse of Yvonne in this episode. There is an outside chance her arc will get developed with a separate subplot in the upcoming episodes.

Ultimately, this was one of the better episodes in The Full Monty’s season 1, which has been underwhelming thus far.