Crap things happening in real life is one thing. This Is England '86 may be grittier and more realistic than almost anything else on the box, but it's still a piece of dramatic art; created, not found and documented. Messages form, get conveyed and absorbed, even ones not intended by the program makers. That's the nature of television. I don't want an unrealistically upbeat ending either (and knowing Shane Meadows we probably won't get one), but I hope Mick does himself in. Combo shouldn't be allowed to be made into some sort of flawed hero figure.