The title of this episode is very well deserve and that's exactly what I try to recreate with the cover image of this post, at this point in time Miep is loosing it, the pressure is too much to the point she totally expose herself after a pair of German officers in a bike almost ran her over, she starts screaming at the and call them bastards but they just laugh at her. She had so many things on her plate with Kuno staying at their place as someone not welcome by the Nazi Party, Jan working with the resistance taking risky tasks to safe more people, hiding the Frank family who is now so positive that the allies are close to end the war but only Miep and Edith seem to be the only ones realistic enough to understand there is so much more to happen before the war ends, on top of all this there is Tonny Ahlers a man who is looking for Otto to collect on a black mail scheme that has been going for some time and he has connections within the Nazi Party that can come straight to the Frank's door, put all that together for a perfect mix of none stop stress yet there is still more coming to Miep so imagine how she could felt at that moment the German Soldiers almost ran her over with the bike to the point she didn't care anymore, she had to vent out and she did but quickly realize it could be her worst mistake when they stop and one of them pull his pistol. Miep and Jan could probably ran away from Amsterdam when the Germans arrive and be free some where else but they decided to stay, in the case of Miep she couldn't because her passport was revoke by the Germans but then when she married Jan then they could ran away and live a better life away from the war but friendship and patriotism kept them in Amsterdam, the friendship Miep had for Mr. Otto Frank and the love Jan had for his country, those are the main reasons they stay and decided to help those pursued by the Germans.
There are places on earth where you are constantly in danger, serious danger every day you wake up you don't know what to expect, some times there are those who don't even have the chance to wake up as things happen over night, one of those places is prison, in such aggressive environment where most of the time only the strongest and the smart survives you don't know where will problems come from, either the guards or other inmates, sometimes situations that had nothing to do with you but you are confine to a specific space that force you deal with it, war seems the same but with bigger borders, in the case of Jan and Miep the had an entire city but everywhere they go is a danger zone, things change over night either because the resistance did something that alerts the Germans or because allies hit them hard and Germans decided to rush things, just when people thought the war was getting closer to end, the worst part of it come to them and I think this is exactly what will happen to the Frank's in the next episodes, Ahlers is getting impatient and is looking for Otto under every rock he can until he finds him.
I really like how this moment represent how things change when Amsterdam was occupied by the Germans, one night this woman was a recognize musician playing the fiddle with a great orchestra for a large amount of people to came to see her, now she is playing to keep the mood up for all those victims of the war, a theater and now serves as refuge for those waiting to be transport to the German camps, most sick, tired, without hope that things will change for better but she knew she had to keep playing, at least there is one person on that room who still has hope and that's her.
A Small Light will probably go down in history as one of the best Tv Series to transmit the struggles of people in Amsterdam and other places during World War II, all the risks they took to survive and help others, Jan was part of that movement, they had to be ingenious to take advantage of every second, every space, every inch they could to trick the German Soldiers and sneak people, kids and infants out of the city without them noticing there was some one missing, but even Germans also where very smart to the point that they develop this skill set of persuasion, how they walk, how they talk infringes terror on those hiding and running away, most crack right there in fear of what was coming but those within the resistance were brutally brave and had the courage to stand up to the task, here is how a nurse standing across the street pretend to be smoking but the moment the light train comes by she receives a baby through a window and run to Jan so he could take the baby to the country side, then she keeps walking like nothing happen and goes back into the nurse house.
The moment Miep thought things couldn't get worst a set of event come to her very own place, this is what really make things boil up for her
- NSB Agent is now her neighbor - Omnia Trust employees come to collect Jewish assets after Mrs. Stoppleman move out - Kuno is terrible sick, fever and looks like dying making all kind of noises, NSB Agent upstairs - Two nurses working for the resistance are now hiding at her house
All this within less of twenty four hours, next day she had to go work, walk to the office and pretend on the street that everything is fine, I walk every day from home to work, its a fifteen minute walk and I usually think about a lot of things, imagine everything that went trough her mind during the time she took to walk to work.
Things get slightly better for Miep and Jan at home, Kuno was not dying only had an infection because of some acne probably that end up bursting making feel much better, was gross and bloody too, Jan took the nurses and Max out of the city through the local guards transport, some where working with the resistance under cover and help him get all this four resistance members out of the city. This doesn't solve all Miep problems as the heavy duty is still at work with the Franks who are now loud, hopeful, basically out of control since they think the war is coming to an end soon with the allies landing on France, getting closer to the Germans.
Mrs. Frank has also hit the boiling point, she cant even stand her own family anymore, cant stand been confine to the same walls, without properly seen the sun, been outside, its been two years in lock down hiding from the Germans and the war still not over, all of the sudden everyone thinks it will end soon because allies are closer to them but they still need to end it and she cant see that happening any time soon, she feels things will get worst, I have not been in any War but have been lock down for more than two years and I know the feeling when at least if you had an exact date even if its ten years from now you can probably take it and wait but the worst part is not knowing when will it end.
This episode leaves me hanging but I think actually I'm sure this is Tonny Ahlers doing, either Otto pays him or he tells the Germans they hiding at the office building, I think that's what happens next and the reason for the image of a man pointing a pistol at Miep inside the office.
Not hundred percent sure why Boiling Point is the title of this episode, either because Kuno fever or all the troubles Miep went through a single day, its like the war burst at her place in one day bringing all kind of troubles to her door step, every single one of them could get her killed, not even arrested so it was a matter of time before she burst out too and that's what happen when she start yelling at the German Officers who almost ran her over, considering she was caring an illegal radio to the office, not only disrespecting an officer in public but also smuggling a radio to the place she is hiding her friends, it was the perfect combination to get killed on the stop and she didn't care anymore for a few seconds, this was probably a booster to keep on going after she vent out.
Episode 1: @skiptvads/a-small-light-pilot-episode
Episode 2: @skiptvads/a-small-light-welcome-to
Episode 3: @skiptvads/a-small-light-motherland-episode
Episode 4: @skiptvads/a-small-light-the-butterfly
Episode 5: @skiptvads/a-small-light-scheissfeld-season
