Some point is now
Apr. 13th, 2015 08:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessPoldark episode 6 (yay, there's going to be a second series)
I sort of feel that last night’s episode deserves a blow-by-blow recap (yes, even more tl:dr than normal), because there was plenty to snark at. With love, obviously, but there was one moment where we had a slo-mo coat flare as Ross...walked down the street. It wasn’t even a dramatic moment!
We had Francis fail abysmally at scything. First mistake: it needs to be post-coital and Francis clearly hadn’t had any since being dropped by Margaret (who I always took to be a prostitute, so no shock there). It needed to be shirtless too (and it’s all right that it wasn’t). Third, he hurt himself. To rub it in, Ross, owner of The Scything Scene, was around.
Francis had maybe a couple of scenes where he wasn’t horrible, so I was entirely on Captain Andrew’s side that Verity needed to just tell her brother she was getting married and leaving for Lisbon. Francis was never going to be in a good mood about it (although it would be one mouth less to feed). Like many of the characters, his dimensions barely get higher than one. (The moment where his women pointed out that their problem was the man of the house was hilarious. Did it prick his self-pitying bubble? No.)
Oh, so what George meant by ‘more refined tastes’ was Elizabeth. That sort of came from nowhere, although she is also a woman linked to Ross and Francis. I hope she can see through him, I suppose.
I felt so sorry for Ginny (sp?), walking in on Ross and Demelza making out (even as I was all ‘Squee! They’re making out’) when her husband was feverishly dying in jail. It all ended rather tragically for her. In fact, Ross and Demelza were by far enjoying the strongest marriage this week.
Oh, Mrs Roving Eye, don’t you be glaring at Demelza for giving you good advice. Also, don’t mess with her, because even if you’re psycho enough to harm yourself to get into the doctor’s good graces, I’d still back her.
I was looking forward to Demelza and Ross fighting at the ball, because I suspected I’d be foursquare on Demelza’s side, even if she didn’t have the rights of it. But I thought she did have the rights of it. Ross did sort of abandon her, although again, he trumped Francis by actually listening to Elizabeth’s chiding and left the cards room for a bit. She was definitely right about not all vice belonging to the upper classes, even greed and callousness. (And there’s no need to make Jim a folk hero, ROSS, he did break the law, and though poverty was a factor, he was better off than some who didn’t break the law.)
In fact, I thought that Ross, guilting nearby Demelza with his conversation with Mark was a smidgin pushing it. Granted, she did meddle in resuscitating Verity’s romance – but it’s a compliment to him that she wants everyone happily married – not that he knows that. All he knows is that she’s not going to spill Verity’s confidences, which is hardly unfair. Eh, maybe he suspects there’s more to it, but blah blah trust your wife. (Total suspense fail thanks to them showing Ross reading the letter in the trailer for the next ep.)
Meanwhile, Demelza could (should?) have guilted Ross about his responsibilities, if not to her, to Julia sooner. It took Verity to do so.
I may have underappreciated the shirtless scene because I was too engrossed in Ross being kind of noble but very stupid where the law is concerned, AGAIN. Sure, I got his motivation (coded very masculinely) he’s doing the paternalistic thing of taking on responsibility for ‘his’ people, and driven by his heart, and perhaps guilt for seeing his daughter grow up and not being poor, but there must have been less stupid and illegal ways of going about it. And the stupidity continued with the drunkenness, which predictably, won’t have helped save him. (What a constitution. If he’s not going to get an actual hangover, I can’t see how there won’t be legal ramifications.)
And I wasn’t minded to swoon, because while I think that Demelza’s view of making things fair in your own circle is too narrow, beyond lecturing the magistrate about them, what is Ross doing for the other men in a wretched state at Bodmin jail?
But on to happier things, my fave bit was Demelza applying herself and practicing steps in the great outdoors. No wonder Ross wanted to buy her a new gown and jewellery. She and Elizabeth played up pretty well at the ball, although Elizabeth doesn’t have the Staircase thing going on, and the line about her father being overparticular about the company he keeps was an excellent swipe.
Also, she’s learning to play a keyboard!? Just keep right on, Demelza Poldark, because you’re being awesome.
I loved her for sitting with Ross first when he was drunk and then when he was gambling. I don’t think she was approving of what he was doing, but she was going to sit by him (which he’d probably have tried to veto before, and Elizabeth has never sat by Francis while he’s gambled away their fortune. Those two were doomed by their social conditioning). That she was willing to put up the jewellery rather than something more valuable in the long term, was great (on the face of it. Really it just delayed the inevitable, but my main thought during most of that scene was whether Ross was sober enough to be able to see what the cards he was holding were) and her exclamation when she found out how much Ross had spent on her was adorable. As was the gift giving. He’s got better at that. Plus it was a sign of how well the smelting company was going for now, before the Evol Bankers do their Evol.
Once again, not enough Jud and Prudie, and where, pray, has Demelza’s dog gone? But at least we had the return of the Portent of the Week.
Revenge 4.11 Epitaph
And so another conspiracy to hide the truth about a killing in the Greyson Manor is born.
I don’t know if it was actor boredom or running out of places to take the character, but losing Daniel for Victoria is HUGE and spins the character off into a completely new direction.
The way Emily was telling their story could have been more convincing, but of course the poster child for mental health and admitting weakness wasn’t going to admit that.
They dodged bringing Charlotte back, but I got a moment where I could correct the characters with ‘Half-‘.
I really liked the way David stepped up and stood up to Victoria – in her grief, she’s conveniently forgotten that she’s also done most of what she was rightly accusing him of – and then both Victoria and Emily, when he dumped Victoria on Ems. A real father putting his foot down on a recalcitrant daughter moment in OTT circumstances there. Victoria’s bitter, vengeful version of capitulation by telling Margiuax the story was the truth was pretty good too.
In the middle of everything, Emily did manage to pull off the interview in the station, using partial truths to fight, um, the evidence. The recovery from the bombshell about the baby to bringing in Daniel shooting Emily in season 3 was great from Emily – and Jack, with a better grasp of what it all meant, listening in! – and a good performance from Van Camp.
Coming after Victoria realised Louise might be useful again, the scene of her hallucinating Daniel was interesting. But not as jaw-dropping as David telling Emily that he had been going to kill Victoria, which may or may not be true. But I can’t think that, with him calling Emily Amanda now, he is faking siding with her – and yet, what he set up in Miami was cold.
Daniel got a good send off, especially in the Emily flashbacks, because of course she was at the funeral, ban or no, although I’d have liked her to be oldskool incognito with a wig and glasses. I’m not sure whether Victoria laying a full-blown red rose on Daniel’s grave was appropriate or not, but what Louise was wearing definitely wasn’t.
And although the Chief tried to be a player, Malcolm Black needed to make an entrance. (Ha, Officer Ben isn’t going to make detective for a while yet, then.)
Much better than usual because the stakes were much higher and a nice send off for an original character.
I sort of feel that last night’s episode deserves a blow-by-blow recap (yes, even more tl:dr than normal), because there was plenty to snark at. With love, obviously, but there was one moment where we had a slo-mo coat flare as Ross...walked down the street. It wasn’t even a dramatic moment!
We had Francis fail abysmally at scything. First mistake: it needs to be post-coital and Francis clearly hadn’t had any since being dropped by Margaret (who I always took to be a prostitute, so no shock there). It needed to be shirtless too (and it’s all right that it wasn’t). Third, he hurt himself. To rub it in, Ross, owner of The Scything Scene, was around.
Francis had maybe a couple of scenes where he wasn’t horrible, so I was entirely on Captain Andrew’s side that Verity needed to just tell her brother she was getting married and leaving for Lisbon. Francis was never going to be in a good mood about it (although it would be one mouth less to feed). Like many of the characters, his dimensions barely get higher than one. (The moment where his women pointed out that their problem was the man of the house was hilarious. Did it prick his self-pitying bubble? No.)
Oh, so what George meant by ‘more refined tastes’ was Elizabeth. That sort of came from nowhere, although she is also a woman linked to Ross and Francis. I hope she can see through him, I suppose.
I felt so sorry for Ginny (sp?), walking in on Ross and Demelza making out (even as I was all ‘Squee! They’re making out’) when her husband was feverishly dying in jail. It all ended rather tragically for her. In fact, Ross and Demelza were by far enjoying the strongest marriage this week.
Oh, Mrs Roving Eye, don’t you be glaring at Demelza for giving you good advice. Also, don’t mess with her, because even if you’re psycho enough to harm yourself to get into the doctor’s good graces, I’d still back her.
I was looking forward to Demelza and Ross fighting at the ball, because I suspected I’d be foursquare on Demelza’s side, even if she didn’t have the rights of it. But I thought she did have the rights of it. Ross did sort of abandon her, although again, he trumped Francis by actually listening to Elizabeth’s chiding and left the cards room for a bit. She was definitely right about not all vice belonging to the upper classes, even greed and callousness. (And there’s no need to make Jim a folk hero, ROSS, he did break the law, and though poverty was a factor, he was better off than some who didn’t break the law.)
In fact, I thought that Ross, guilting nearby Demelza with his conversation with Mark was a smidgin pushing it. Granted, she did meddle in resuscitating Verity’s romance – but it’s a compliment to him that she wants everyone happily married – not that he knows that. All he knows is that she’s not going to spill Verity’s confidences, which is hardly unfair. Eh, maybe he suspects there’s more to it, but blah blah trust your wife. (Total suspense fail thanks to them showing Ross reading the letter in the trailer for the next ep.)
Meanwhile, Demelza could (should?) have guilted Ross about his responsibilities, if not to her, to Julia sooner. It took Verity to do so.
I may have underappreciated the shirtless scene because I was too engrossed in Ross being kind of noble but very stupid where the law is concerned, AGAIN. Sure, I got his motivation (coded very masculinely) he’s doing the paternalistic thing of taking on responsibility for ‘his’ people, and driven by his heart, and perhaps guilt for seeing his daughter grow up and not being poor, but there must have been less stupid and illegal ways of going about it. And the stupidity continued with the drunkenness, which predictably, won’t have helped save him. (What a constitution. If he’s not going to get an actual hangover, I can’t see how there won’t be legal ramifications.)
And I wasn’t minded to swoon, because while I think that Demelza’s view of making things fair in your own circle is too narrow, beyond lecturing the magistrate about them, what is Ross doing for the other men in a wretched state at Bodmin jail?
But on to happier things, my fave bit was Demelza applying herself and practicing steps in the great outdoors. No wonder Ross wanted to buy her a new gown and jewellery. She and Elizabeth played up pretty well at the ball, although Elizabeth doesn’t have the Staircase thing going on, and the line about her father being overparticular about the company he keeps was an excellent swipe.
Also, she’s learning to play a keyboard!? Just keep right on, Demelza Poldark, because you’re being awesome.
I loved her for sitting with Ross first when he was drunk and then when he was gambling. I don’t think she was approving of what he was doing, but she was going to sit by him (which he’d probably have tried to veto before, and Elizabeth has never sat by Francis while he’s gambled away their fortune. Those two were doomed by their social conditioning). That she was willing to put up the jewellery rather than something more valuable in the long term, was great (on the face of it. Really it just delayed the inevitable, but my main thought during most of that scene was whether Ross was sober enough to be able to see what the cards he was holding were) and her exclamation when she found out how much Ross had spent on her was adorable. As was the gift giving. He’s got better at that. Plus it was a sign of how well the smelting company was going for now, before the Evol Bankers do their Evol.
Once again, not enough Jud and Prudie, and where, pray, has Demelza’s dog gone? But at least we had the return of the Portent of the Week.
Revenge 4.11 Epitaph
And so another conspiracy to hide the truth about a killing in the Greyson Manor is born.
I don’t know if it was actor boredom or running out of places to take the character, but losing Daniel for Victoria is HUGE and spins the character off into a completely new direction.
The way Emily was telling their story could have been more convincing, but of course the poster child for mental health and admitting weakness wasn’t going to admit that.
They dodged bringing Charlotte back, but I got a moment where I could correct the characters with ‘Half-‘.
I really liked the way David stepped up and stood up to Victoria – in her grief, she’s conveniently forgotten that she’s also done most of what she was rightly accusing him of – and then both Victoria and Emily, when he dumped Victoria on Ems. A real father putting his foot down on a recalcitrant daughter moment in OTT circumstances there. Victoria’s bitter, vengeful version of capitulation by telling Margiuax the story was the truth was pretty good too.
In the middle of everything, Emily did manage to pull off the interview in the station, using partial truths to fight, um, the evidence. The recovery from the bombshell about the baby to bringing in Daniel shooting Emily in season 3 was great from Emily – and Jack, with a better grasp of what it all meant, listening in! – and a good performance from Van Camp.
Coming after Victoria realised Louise might be useful again, the scene of her hallucinating Daniel was interesting. But not as jaw-dropping as David telling Emily that he had been going to kill Victoria, which may or may not be true. But I can’t think that, with him calling Emily Amanda now, he is faking siding with her – and yet, what he set up in Miami was cold.
Daniel got a good send off, especially in the Emily flashbacks, because of course she was at the funeral, ban or no, although I’d have liked her to be oldskool incognito with a wig and glasses. I’m not sure whether Victoria laying a full-blown red rose on Daniel’s grave was appropriate or not, but what Louise was wearing definitely wasn’t.
And although the Chief tried to be a player, Malcolm Black needed to make an entrance. (Ha, Officer Ben isn’t going to make detective for a while yet, then.)
Much better than usual because the stakes were much higher and a nice send off for an original character.
