BOMB GIRLS Recap: “Bringing Up Bombshells” (Episode 4, Season 1)

“Bringing Up Bombshells” was the aptly titled fourth episode of Bomb Girls this week and the focus was not only on Victory Munitions making their one millionth bomb but also finding a “bombshell” among the women on the factory line.

But first, let’s focus on the one millionth bomb made by the women on the assembly line. The competition was on between the two different crews (the women in the blue bonnets against the women in the red bonnets) with the blue team – with a little help from their line manager Lorna (Meg Tilly) – coming out the victors.

At the same time, there was a movie crew at the factory, making a – what else? – movie reel about the women working on the assembly line. The producer and director Russell Joseph (Graham Abbey) quickly focused on rich girl Gladys (Jodi Balfour) as his “bombshell” for the reel; but Gladys was not interested in taking on the role because, of course, her parents have no idea she is actually working the factory line and she cannot risk that truth getting out.

In turn, Lorna believes that tough girl Betty (Ali Liebert) would actually be the perfect example of the “working” woman because she is the best worker they have. At first, Betty bulks at the idea – as does the director because he really WANTS Gladys – but eventually they are both talked into the arrangement.

Unfortunately, the filming does not quite turn out the way Betty had envisioned because they dress her up too much – with a colorful top and too much makeup – for a normal factory line worker; and then they shoot a scene of her in front of house that is not her own (creating a fake image). When the finished product is viewed by all the workers at the factory, the director pieced it together to focus on Betty’s assets (and even replacing her hands with those of Edith (Lisa Norton) for a close up of making a bomb) rather than the work itself; and then, adding in a false story of Betty having two children, awaiting the return of her military husband.

Meanwhile, Gladys still has issues with James after learning about his affair with fellow factory worker Hazel. Eventually, she comes clean with him about knowing about Hazel (but hides her dalliance with the airman who she promised to marry when he returned from the war) and he admits that he simply sought out Hazel to become more experienced in order to please Gladys in their marriage. In his mind, he was doing what was right for their intimate relationship; but that ended with Gladys being extremely upset with him and him getting a nasty STD from his “time” with Hazel.

Another storyline that somewhat mirrored the problems between James and Gladys was the fact that Lorna wanted to create a code of conduct between the men and women at the factory because it was becoming an issue in her eyes. Factory manager Harold Akins (Richard Fitzpatrick) didn’t agree with her on the need for the rules until he encountered Leon (Jim Codrington) and Kate (Charlotte Hegele) in what actually was a very harmless moment in the storage room.

Given free range on the code of conduct, Lorna moves into fast-forward but even her steely resolve falls flat when Marco (Antonio Cupo) shows up in the factory’s office to talk to her. They have shared two kisses in the recent past and Marco makes his move on Lorna and, despite her previous objections, she gives in to his passionate kisses right there in the office while the rest of the workers are in another part of the warehouse celebrating the release of the movie reel with a dance.

In other side stories, Edith brings a meal to Lorna’s husband Bob (Peter Outerbridge) as her way of thanking him for writing the letters to her two children, pretending to be their recently deceased father; a truth that she is still hiding from the youngsters. Laced within those scenes is an obvious connection between Edith and Bob that bothers Lorna; but which inspires Bob to write a much over-due letter to his sons who are in Europe fighting in the war and making a kite (the new interest of Edith’s little son Skip) for which he tries to share with Lorna that doesn’t completely end badly but doesn’t bring the long-married couple any closer together.

Lastly, Gladys starts to spread her wings; first by admitting to both Betty and Kate about her dalliance with the airman (though admitting she didn’t go all the way with him but experimenting enough with the young man to prepare herself for her upcoming marriage to James) and then getting carried away with the movie reel director after the big dance, which resulted in James beating up the director. Needless to say, Gladys and James have a long way to go to repair their relationship.

The penultimate episode of the debut season of Bomb Girls will air on Tuesday, October 9 at 10 PM.