As of right now, I don't think S and A are ready to become S/A. S6 was a huge, giant leap in the right direction, but they're not there yet, and I'm reasonably confident that it's going to be Dorothy who points out some home truths about their feelings for each other to both of them because she is a) the only one who knows them both well enough to do it, and b) has enough distance from the dynamic of the Skeldale family to actually see what is going on. I trust the process, I trust the writers, I trust the endgame, and quite frankly I'm putting on the noise-cancelling headphones where the ragers and complainers are concerned.

If anything the CS made me MORE certain that they're endgame, not less. There is far too much subtext about missing what is right under your nose, looking for your other half, etc for it not to be foreshadowing for the upcoming season. Using Dorothy as a catalyst makes perfect narrative sense to me (someone who writes romance novels as a hobby), and I'm not at all surprised they went this route and not disappointed in the slightest that they did. Far from "pitting women against each other", I think we're only going to see just how strong Dorothy's and Audrey's friendship truly is. It's possible I'll eat my words later, I'm well aware of that, but this show has yet to let me down.

The blunt truth is that Donald Sinclair deliberately took his own life with an overdose of barbiturates two weeks after the death of his wife of over fifty years, Audrey Adamson Sinclair. There was more that went into it - he had recently lost both his brother Brian and his longtime veterinary partner Alf Wight, and Jim Wight said that he thinks Audrey's loss on top of all that was just too much for Donald to take - but my point stands; his love affair with his Audrey was lifelong and impossibly profound and I do not believe for one second that Audrey Hall's first name is a coincidence of any kind. There is too much of the real history woven into the characters for it to be anything but deliberate.

Do I wish they'd gotten over themselves this season and got together? Of course I bloody well do. But I understand, to my marrow, why these characters are acting the way they are. They are both deeply, profoundly traumatized - in different ways, but still traumatized - and it is going to take something seismic to bring them together. And I love that, honestly, because real love isn't a fairy story. It's hard and messy and bloody and imperfect, and it is allowed to be those things. The hardship makes it more worth the earning.

They'll find each other. They're inevitable. If you think I'm wrong, fine. You're entitled to your own opinion. But I'm also entitled to mine, and here it is.

Fin.

There needs to be a seismic shift like OP said. I like Dorothy and while the character may have been reintroduced as a plot device, I don't think the character will suffer or be pitted against Audrey. She is far too confident and worldly and she seems to have a genuine love and respect for Audrey plus Siegfried likes Dorothy. I also have the feeling that Dorothy isn't pursuing a relationship with Siegfried because she is madly in love with him, either, more looking for peace after the madness of war. Siegfried contemplating entering into a serious relationship is a big step forward even if it's not for the best reasons, more a response to the opinions of others and his own fears, but that is very, very Siegfried.

A and S have known each other for so long and have a very well established relationship, S06 had some lovely moments of developing the relationship beyond the status quo, but none of them screamed -here's two people who are suddenly going to declare their undying love for one another. I think someone other than A & S needs to recognize their attachment to one another and seeing as no one close to them has ever noticed or mentioned anything (I think Tristan has some inkling) I think an "outsider" is the perfect person to help move things along.

We know what Seigfried is like - he probably thinks he has been incredibly clear about how much she means to him and that talk about the soulmates was him doing his sideways way of seeing if there was any chance. Looking at the S6E4 where Hilda stood in for his fear and she *didn't understand what he was getting at with the metaphor until he explicitly asked if she was coming back.

But Audrey isn't there yet. We know she doesn't read situations with romance the way we (the audience) do. She has seen a problem (Siegfried's loneliness) and is delighted to fix it with a solution and so tells him to stop looking for perfection because this is life. Which. Tbf. Good advice. And that he liked Dorothy before he could again (bad advice though she doesn't know it).

The big point being Audrey isn't there yet. She hadn't had the Realisation, hasn't seen what it means for her life at Skeldale she is just fixing an issue and making her family happy. And he is doing as he always does and following Mrs Hall's advice. Reluctantly.

And she will have to be 100% sure before she says anything. Because it's her family and life and reputation as a housekeeper at stake if it all goes wrong. And the employer-employee is a big thing for them to overcome. They have to KNOW it will work out. We do, ofc, but Audrey hasn't had luck and as someone who has been burned its hard to trust it will work out in the future.

I also think it will be Dorothy to point it out when she has been home a while - idk, perhaps she will watch them hosting a dinner together and tell Siegfried that she doesn't want to be a stand in for Audrey anymore. And she will tell Audrey that the world has changed and she doesnt have to keep punishing herself for her marriage failing.

So, personally, I am disappointed because I am a shipper but I honestly didn't expect it to sail this year. Because Audrey needs her arc. She needs to realise that she could lose him through her own advice - because Dorothy is an actual viable suggestion unlike Diana.

Mrs. Hall, you're a marvel.

"I think it might be quite jolly." "Certainly sounds it."

"Perhaps I do... occasionally wonder if we might expand our horizons... just a little bit."

"Well, ask him, then! It's not just about what he wants, is it?"

Ow! What the hell are you using, bloody vinegar?