Thank you ever so much! This blog was originally set up as a place where people can come and look for arguments against the “Branson hate” and/or helping people understand such a complex character as him better. It’s great to know that it’s actually doing just that!

I agree, I think people are misinterpreting his passion and determination for Sybil as aggression. He’s not the kind of person to let someone or something slip right out of his hands. He’s a politician, and politicians try and persuade people to come round to their way of thinking, and I think people have interpreted that as anger and hatred. I also agree that he was probably a bit angry at her family for trying to make her go back to her life before the war, and of course he’s still quite angry and emotional towards the aristocracy and upper classes after what happened with his cousin. That’s what I think the “slopgate” issue was. He was just experiencing grief and anger towards the English army for his grief and that was a dangerous mix that led him to react like that. I think that because that happened, and then because of that argument in the garage the next episode, people started to think of him as an aggressive, and sometimes evil man, which is completely unfounded when you take a step back, look at what he’s going through and the bigger picture, and put yourselves in his boots.

Thanks again for your response! It means so much!! I’ll leave you with a quote from Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”