Coupling

After last week's failure for Junior Patrick, things between he and Sally are particularly tense. After quite some to-ing and fro-ing, the pair come to a conclusion: the only way to resolve the issue is to have sex.

We find out what was really going on in the previous episode...

Sally can't resist the idea of Patrick the human tripod any longer. She suggests that they finally get it together. Bizarrely, and for the first time in his life, Patrick finds himself unable to perform. Sally is convinced that she has become repellent to men, and confronts Patrick in a desperate attempt to reclaim her self-respect. Either he admits that she is hideous, or he admits that he is impotent. Patrick suggests a third way: they should just have sex.

Both have terrible second thoughts. Sally worries that she is putting Patrick through agonies just to boost her self-esteem. Meanwhile, Patrick struggles with 'The Melty Man' - the embodiment of impotence. Both of them realise the unthinkable: the real problem is that they actually care about each other. Patrick is triumphantly standing to attention, but Sally has slipped out of the flat without saying goodbye.