Great expectations

Great expectations

Frayed edges, cracks and tears. Several relationships are at breaking point. Including Soof and Sacha’s, and Kasper and Josien’s. Fortunately Kasper and Soof are happily divorced together. Even if Dies and Bing’s learning mentor begs to differ. The boys will have to repeat their year if their grades don’t improve. He suspects that Soof and Kasper have created an unstable home environment by carrying on living in the same house after their divorce. And spoiling the boys out of a feeling of guilt. Children need confidence and stability. Soof and Kasper share a moment of doubt about their parenting skills, only to conclude that they really feel they’re doing quite well as parents, with their close-knit family. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt to be even closer. By having dinner together every Sunday, for example. And they’ll arrange for tutoring for the boys. Meanwhile, Sasha prefers to stay at Vlinder’s, that’s something they’ll have to do something about, as parents.

Soof decides to reassign tasks at the restaurant to allow herself to spend more time with her kids. But in giving Joy more responsibilities, she hurts Hansje’s feelings. Soof has misjudged her, she thought that Hansje would appreciate simply being a mother and a grandmother. But For Hansje, this confirms she’s dispensable.

When Kasper goes to visit his daughter, she hides from him. Vlinder tells him Sasha has the flu. And that she herself is available to tutor Dies and Bing. Great idea. When the boys set eyes on Vlinder, they are suddenly really enthusiastic about the extra lessons.

Kasper and Josien run into each other at work, which only adds to their confusion, There’s the pain of their breakup. And Josien has found she’s pregnant. Kasper is at a loss how to deal with this. He hints at an abortion, which really hurts Josien’s feelings and she leaves.

Soof invites her daughter to the family diner, but she fails to persuade her. Soof talks to Jim. Sasha has called in sick, likely because she feels embarrassed. At Soof’s request, Jim agrees to talk to her.

Food vlogger Didier is planning to seduce Soof with a bottle of wine and his divine body, but she’s not in. But Kasper is. He sees him moving the lamp he’s designed.

Didier has a commercial idea, he wants to use the lamp in a photoshoot he’s doing for this magazine, to help give Kasper’s design a boost. Kasper accompanies him and gets a taste of the food vlogger’s free and unconventional lifestyle. Allows himself to be persuaded to have a nice stiff drink. Kasper is still shaken up by Josien’s pregnancy and what this means for his future, so he keeps filling up his glass, while Didier plies him with love and life lessons.

Soof apps Kasper to remind him about the family dinner, Soof and Hansje are waiting at the dinner table, but no Sasha, and no Kasper. As soon as Kasper answers his phone, Soof realizes he’s out of his depth. She’s over the limit, so she charters Mick to go and pick up Kasper. They find the two men off their faces, ranting and raving about women. Soof notices how Mick mans up to the situation. Back home, she puts her ex to bed and has an open and frank mother-daughter conversation with Hansje, who tells her that the situation with Sasha is bound to resolve itself, that she does understand Soof’s choice for Joy in the kitchen over her own mother, and that Soof needs to choose for herself. Soof wastes no time and makes her way over to Mick, to finally give it a go with him. Joy can smell it on her, the next day. Soof has had sex. She’s humming and remarkably relaxed. But not for long, because Kasper, after a second gettogether with Didier and fortified by a glass of whiskey, shouts from the rooftops that he’s going to be a father once more.

He discusses it with Soof, on a bench in the garden. They will have to face a situation that is painful for them both. How will they deal with it, not only as parents, but as ex-partners? And what about their kids? Soof is strong, reassures Kasper he’ll be a good father. She’s okay with it. No. She’s not okay at all. She cries, later, in Mick’s arms.

The next day she looks up Josien, she wants to do this right. To ensure they can all see eye to eye. Josien is touched, Soof is brave. Meanwhile, Jim and Sasha clear the air, with the result that Sasha is ready to go back to work and returns home. Soof is overjoyed to have her daughter home again. Now they can finally have their family dinner, albeit in a slightly broader setting than Soof expected. Josien and Kasper announce that they’re back together. And that they are expecting a baby.

As Soof serves the meal, prepared with love and a silently bleeding heart, her mother and daughter see how Soof struggles. Frayed edges, cracks and tears. By sanding them down and applying coats of gloss, you create a new, solid foundation. Josien and Kasper are back together. Sasha has returned home. But Soof still has a lot of sanding and glossing over to do to recreate her own solid foundation.