Roar Episode 7 The Woman Who Returned Her Husband Explained- Complacency Can Kill A Marriage

Roar Episode 7 was the most life-affirming of the episodes as it reinforced the idea that it takes two to tango and complacency makes us lazy. Anu(Meera Syal) is unhappy. Her daughter has grown up and has an exciting career in the art world. Anu and her husband Vikas(Bernard White) are at a premier where Anu looks wistfully at her daughter and angrily at her husband. They soon return home, where she makes him dinner and delivers it to him while complaining about having to leave the event. Anu tells Vikas she wants more adventure in life, and she is tired of caring for him constantly. In response, he reminds her she forgot to bring him a fork.

This is a common problem with couples who have been together for decades, particularly couples who married prior to the ’80s when gender roles began to change. Then, it wasn’t so much that men demanded that their wives care for them(although some did); it was just how it had always been. Most men in this age group didn’t have a great deal of life skills and depended on their wives to clean, do laundry, and make dinner. This is especially true for Asian families.

The next day at brunch, Anu admits to her unhappiness. She feels trapped instead of fulfilled by marriage. She says she is sixty years old and has never done anything but attend to his needs while he ignored hers. One of her friends suggests that life isn’t about happiness but enduring, while another advises her to return her husband because life is too short. That night she digs out her husband’s warranty. The cashier congratulates them on thirty-seven years together at the store even though it is now over. He tells Anu Vikas will be refurbished and put back onto the floor for resale. Lastly, the cashier tells Anu that out-of-country purchases before 1986 must be exchanged only and not returned.

Anu next tries out an agreeable younger man who is handsome and doting, but he views her as a surrogate mother, and she returns him for a third husband who is a fitness nut. He works out constantly and criticizes her use of fat in food, so she returns him as well. While at the store, she sits with Vikas, who says he could help her make better choices. He knows who is lazy and weird. They have a comfortable rapport that speaks to years together. Vikas also admits that they weren’t always great together, and he should have made some changes over the years. Anu realizes she should be looking to herself for happiness instead of for someone to give it to her.

Shortly after, Anu sees Vikas across the street with her neighbor. She has purchased him, and Anu obsessively watches them as Vikas changes his clothes and attitude. All of a sudden, he is helpful and excited about adventures. Unfortunately, this bothers Anu so much that while distracted one day talking to her daughter, she backs into her neighbor and breaks her leg. She apologizes profusely and says she isn’t used to driving since Vikas did most of the driving for thirty-seven years. This is true of everything about their marriage.

Shortly after, Anu goes shopping and sees Vikas back at the store. She is confused that her neighbor returned him because he had changed so much for her. They finally talk about the things both of them dud to contribute to their unhappy marriage. She was controlling and critical of him, and he gave up and did nothing instead of trying to change anything. As a result, they fell into patterns and roles that eventually strangled them. Boredom and complacency made them too comfortable with their life in Roar Episode 7. It wasn’t that either was a bad partner, just that they forgot to care about the other person and only looked at themselves.

Finally, Anu decides to take Vikas back, but she isn’t purchasing him. She is stealing him because the message is marriage isn’t about a transaction but an agreement. They had forgotten that over the years. They both understand they took each other for granted and promise to do better for each other. He worries she deserves more than a bargain-basement model. She tells Vikas she isn’t buying him but stealing him, and it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t have a receipt because she has no intention of returning him.

The real-life struggle of couples who have been together for a long time is displayed in Roar Episode 7. Both Anu and Vikas neglected themselves and their partners, and it was only after they examined their own failures and recognized the value of time together do they forge a new path forward. This new path includes things both people need to be happy and grow. Roar Episode 7 is about not taking those you love for granted and learning to ask for what you want instead of giving up. It is a fable to constantly strive to grow as a person and as a happy couple.

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