Following on from one of the boldest moments in modern-day television last week, Cucumber had to deal with the fallout impeccably well if it was to continue as a stand-out series of the year.
Luckily it did that. Grief is not an easy emotion to capture. It's one that comes in many forms for many different types of people, and with the show's lead character Henry Best (Vincent Franklin), it's something that he's not quite sure how to deal with.
Perhaps blaming himself for pushing partner of nine years Lance Sullivan (Cyril Nri) away despite his constant insistance of: "it's not my fault!", he looks for clarification in Lance's sister Marie (Adjoa Andoh), who's cold and calculated in her means of keeping the money the pair had accumulated during their life together. Before his death, Lance had of course taken all of the cash out of the joint bank account and put it into his own - all perfectly legal - and now Marie intends to use it for her daughter's education fees. It's a sharp moment and cuts deep - though Henry is not without his many, many flaws, you can't help but want him to succeed.
Early on in the episode we see Lance's funeral underway, with Henry's friends rallying round him and he under the impression that everybody's constantly watching, waiting for him to explode into a bumbling wreck of sorrow and emotion. Refusing to do that, Henry instead finds distraction in his friends and an interesting anecdote about growing older and growing hairs on the shaft of your penis.
Each storming to the toilets to find out if it's true, the viewer's soon confronted with an explicit full frontal scene to illicit the laughs - comedy much-needed in an episode following such a brutal murder last week. It's not long before Henry's friend Cliff (Con O'Neill) decides to help him out however, blocking off the toilet doors so that he can have a cry and show his first signs of emotion in private.
Back at the flat, and Freddie (Freddie Fox) and Dean (Fisayo Akinade) are hoping to improve Henry's mood. Finding a new guy they're all majorly attracted to through networking and dating app Grindr, the hunt is on for the handsome Aiden (Dino Fetscher).
Freddie offers to sleep with Henry alongside Aiden in a "one night only" offer, and as they head out into the night, eventually ending up on Canal Street, we're again greeted with some brilliant moments of comedy, followed by honesty, tragedy and raw emotion.
Finding Aiden a little later on wandering the streets, the handsome Welshman offers Freddie a night to remember if he ditches his friends, but is declined. Freddie's changed for the better and in bonding with his flatmates, returns alone with Dean and Henry to their home.
Despite not picking up Aiden, after hearing Henry's wails in the night, Freddie walks out of his bedroom in his tighty-whities and goes to lay down next to Henry. Everything Henry has been hoping for, yet he declines. Freddie's not the only one to have changed, and with their blossoming friendship, it's the right decision not to taint that with meaningless sex.
With a slightly disjointed narrative it could be criticised, but in doing that the show symbolises the strange moments of grief. The show this week is once again, for me, one of brilliance. Ending on a high note with Henry moving Dean and Freddie into his old shared home with Lance (following a strange turf-out from their shady landlord at the flat), he gets his revenge on Marie in the greatest way possible and organises a huge party. Smiles all around - but will they last into the series finale next week?