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shallownessStrictly Halloween results
Well, I got spoiled…by iPlayer, but it was clearly time for Simon to go.
Brendan got to show off/be Janette in the opening pro dance, which was nice for him, but it was very atmospheric and cool as a whole.
Tess, Claudia, Shirley and Darcey went for black, although Darcey WENT FOR IT, split wise.
Ah, Mollie and AJ aren’t that popular, then. I just thought it was me who mostly found them blah.
Davood thinks he and Nadiya have just done a couple of illegal lifts. HA! No.
If they couldn’t have Kylie (c’mon, I can’t have been the only one who thought that as ‘Better the Devil you know’ played), let’s have Steps. And they were great in their very Steps way.
Shirley critiquing Claudia’s posture got a bark of laughter out of it, Claudia didn’t quite know how to respond, because it was true, and I think it would be the kind of thing to bug someone like Shirley who has spent her whole life in dance and I’m sure this won’t be the last of it.
Poor Jonnie. I assumed they were going to torture him from the finger-thrumming on the railing and then his body language became more and more withdrawn. But Simon being in the bottom two was entirely fair.
Even if I hadn’t known the result, I would’ve skipped the routines, because it was only going to go one way (however Mollie and AJ will have to fight their blandness somehow for her better dancing to be rewarded over the weaker two ladies). Simon made a very articulate and gentlemanly speech.
Over the weekend, I got caught up on Victoria!
2.6 Faith, Hope and Charity
The previously bit didn’t fully prepare us for all the social reform of this episode. Penge was against toilets!
Victoria was obviously ignorant of Irish history (as of so many things), but the stupid rhinoceros (Trevelyan) from the Government thought he should rub her nose in it and, later, answer questions she was addressing to Sir Robert. (Also, given that I wasn’t sure which baby’s christening was being referenced, maybe mentioning overpopulation was not the best of arguments for doing nothing about the famine.) I think Victoria very much enjoyed getting to kick him out.
Skerrit seemed to be growing into her position, although this was Miss Cleary’s episode of the downstairs characters.
Apart from poisoning him, his doctor seemed a good chap in warning Ernst off infecting anyone else with the syphilis. Victoria’s blindness about Ernst/Harriet is EPIC.
Meanwhile Drummond was grumpy that his womanly fiancée couldn’t even be a decent politician’s wife. Pah, I still felt most sorry for her.
Dr Traill was very noble and right to stick to his conscience and higher authority, but bore a bit of false witness about his wife thinking the same.
Yes, have a screaming fit at being used as a prop to make a point, Princess Alice. The whole fierce mother line of argument moved me less than doing the right thing. Huh, Victoria had an ‘acknowledging our past’ convo with Peel, even if it wasn’t laden with the UST that came along with these conversations with Lord M. Given the snippet of his speech, I expected a new Prime Minister soon.
It was suggested the Moustache has grown as a person (offscreen). That Miss Clearly’s family lived in Schull deserved a ‘fancy that!’
I didn’t love the treatment of the lament over the final scenes, I think it should probably just have been unaccompanied singing.
For parts of this episode, I thought it would have been a better way to tell the story by making it wholly about Robert Traill, rather than fitting it into the overall ‘Victoria’ story. But then I was a bit grumpy, because difficulties with the adverts made me have to watch this episode in two parts.
2.7 The King Across the Water
Or Victoria goes to Scotland like Downton Abbey did, bringing along an ill-assorted group of people (Harriet directing her grief and guilt at Ernst and having really silly ringlets) while Albert out-manoeuvred Liesen.
Downstairs 1 (a ceilidh, where Skerrit danced with a tall Scot), upstairs 0 as they listened to terrible poetry in a hall full of antlers, although the castle was gorgeous. No wonder Victoria insisted on ‘seeing the countryside’. A glance of brief longing at simple lasses laughing at their seemingly uncomplicated lives, and she wanted to ride back. Albert had his good sense of direction, and the Duke gave that as much credence as he should have. Cue Scottish mist, and a bit too much of Sir Walter Scott’s Scotland for Victoria.
Victoria both did and didn’t like being treated like any old wife, while everyone else freaked out that they were missing.
Would the servants want Lord Alfred and Drummond to turn up at their ceilidh (with their unknown tagalong)? And sure, they’d be fine with men dancing together! Wilhelmina’s more ambivalent response to seeing the kissing was a bit more realistic, especially as Florence was her friend.
I expected them to decide to set up a residence in Scotland there and then, but there was mainly Victoria and Albert missing their ‘freedom’ and playing at being normal (and totally pretending their fantasy hadn’t involved ditching their kids.)
Skerritt sung about leaving her heart in Scotland, but obviously hadn’t, and the Moustache had changed his mind about cooking for the Queen, even if it involved making up whimsical orders for room service trout.
2.8 The Luxury of Conscience
Albert was having daddy issues, so his kids’ health and the UK premiership were to get tied into all that. As I never studied the corn laws, I kind of kept going ‘is this about Brexit?’
Wilhelmina turned out to be a slasher, and not a great friend to her offscreen friend. Also, I thought gentlemen couldn’t break off engagements in those days, Drummond.
Predictably, Albert turning up at Strangrs’ Gallery didn’t go well, but he was being thwarted by Liesen on the domestic front! Possibly the warning from Penge came at the wrong juncture, structurally.
‘Remember Spencer Perceval.’ The 2017 audience asks ‘Who?’, and I had to look up the spelling, but I guess that was foreshadowing, as I thought it was the vote that would get in the way of the date. Duchess Diana Rigg knowing about the ‘indiscretion’ was a bit of a surprise, but actually, her reaction made more sense that Wilhelmina’s.
I thought Colman gave Victoria the right amount of dignity in her last audience with Peel. Actually, you sensed the character had gone through a deep change after her daughter’s fever, even if V&A were oblivious (even for her) when Peel and Wellington turned up with their grim faces and news.
You know who was missing throughout this episode? Victoria’s mother. She did have an input into how important Liesen was to Victoria and the family influence on her. (Also MIA, Harriet’s children, however old they are, and Lady Peel, who should have been at the funeral.) Anyway, buh-bye Liesen (have Skerritt/the Moustache really settled things in a low key season 2 way?). Bidding her auf wiedershen led to more German than the show usually manages, and Penge seemed truly gutted to lose his household adversary. (So inconsistent!)
Oh, Ernst, presuming upon your happiness! Whatever the footman’s name is, he seemed to have a good idea what the rash meant. The footmen know everything (viz Victoria referring to Leopold being Albert’s father in front of at least one, but he was an extra and so doesn’t count. I bet they knew about Lord Alfred and Drummond too).
Most of what Leopold said all episode was not tactful.
And then they trailed a Christmas episode, and whether I watch it will depend on when it airs, because trying to catch up feels like it’s been hard work for little reward (castles and snark fodder) all season.
Well, I got spoiled…by iPlayer, but it was clearly time for Simon to go.
Brendan got to show off/be Janette in the opening pro dance, which was nice for him, but it was very atmospheric and cool as a whole.
Tess, Claudia, Shirley and Darcey went for black, although Darcey WENT FOR IT, split wise.
Ah, Mollie and AJ aren’t that popular, then. I just thought it was me who mostly found them blah.
Davood thinks he and Nadiya have just done a couple of illegal lifts. HA! No.
If they couldn’t have Kylie (c’mon, I can’t have been the only one who thought that as ‘Better the Devil you know’ played), let’s have Steps. And they were great in their very Steps way.
Shirley critiquing Claudia’s posture got a bark of laughter out of it, Claudia didn’t quite know how to respond, because it was true, and I think it would be the kind of thing to bug someone like Shirley who has spent her whole life in dance and I’m sure this won’t be the last of it.
Poor Jonnie. I assumed they were going to torture him from the finger-thrumming on the railing and then his body language became more and more withdrawn. But Simon being in the bottom two was entirely fair.
Even if I hadn’t known the result, I would’ve skipped the routines, because it was only going to go one way (however Mollie and AJ will have to fight their blandness somehow for her better dancing to be rewarded over the weaker two ladies). Simon made a very articulate and gentlemanly speech.
Over the weekend, I got caught up on Victoria!
2.6 Faith, Hope and Charity
The previously bit didn’t fully prepare us for all the social reform of this episode. Penge was against toilets!
Victoria was obviously ignorant of Irish history (as of so many things), but the stupid rhinoceros (Trevelyan) from the Government thought he should rub her nose in it and, later, answer questions she was addressing to Sir Robert. (Also, given that I wasn’t sure which baby’s christening was being referenced, maybe mentioning overpopulation was not the best of arguments for doing nothing about the famine.) I think Victoria very much enjoyed getting to kick him out.
Skerrit seemed to be growing into her position, although this was Miss Cleary’s episode of the downstairs characters.
Apart from poisoning him, his doctor seemed a good chap in warning Ernst off infecting anyone else with the syphilis. Victoria’s blindness about Ernst/Harriet is EPIC.
Meanwhile Drummond was grumpy that his womanly fiancée couldn’t even be a decent politician’s wife. Pah, I still felt most sorry for her.
Dr Traill was very noble and right to stick to his conscience and higher authority, but bore a bit of false witness about his wife thinking the same.
Yes, have a screaming fit at being used as a prop to make a point, Princess Alice. The whole fierce mother line of argument moved me less than doing the right thing. Huh, Victoria had an ‘acknowledging our past’ convo with Peel, even if it wasn’t laden with the UST that came along with these conversations with Lord M. Given the snippet of his speech, I expected a new Prime Minister soon.
It was suggested the Moustache has grown as a person (offscreen). That Miss Clearly’s family lived in Schull deserved a ‘fancy that!’
I didn’t love the treatment of the lament over the final scenes, I think it should probably just have been unaccompanied singing.
For parts of this episode, I thought it would have been a better way to tell the story by making it wholly about Robert Traill, rather than fitting it into the overall ‘Victoria’ story. But then I was a bit grumpy, because difficulties with the adverts made me have to watch this episode in two parts.
2.7 The King Across the Water
Or Victoria goes to Scotland like Downton Abbey did, bringing along an ill-assorted group of people (Harriet directing her grief and guilt at Ernst and having really silly ringlets) while Albert out-manoeuvred Liesen.
Downstairs 1 (a ceilidh, where Skerrit danced with a tall Scot), upstairs 0 as they listened to terrible poetry in a hall full of antlers, although the castle was gorgeous. No wonder Victoria insisted on ‘seeing the countryside’. A glance of brief longing at simple lasses laughing at their seemingly uncomplicated lives, and she wanted to ride back. Albert had his good sense of direction, and the Duke gave that as much credence as he should have. Cue Scottish mist, and a bit too much of Sir Walter Scott’s Scotland for Victoria.
Victoria both did and didn’t like being treated like any old wife, while everyone else freaked out that they were missing.
Would the servants want Lord Alfred and Drummond to turn up at their ceilidh (with their unknown tagalong)? And sure, they’d be fine with men dancing together! Wilhelmina’s more ambivalent response to seeing the kissing was a bit more realistic, especially as Florence was her friend.
I expected them to decide to set up a residence in Scotland there and then, but there was mainly Victoria and Albert missing their ‘freedom’ and playing at being normal (and totally pretending their fantasy hadn’t involved ditching their kids.)
Skerritt sung about leaving her heart in Scotland, but obviously hadn’t, and the Moustache had changed his mind about cooking for the Queen, even if it involved making up whimsical orders for room service trout.
2.8 The Luxury of Conscience
Albert was having daddy issues, so his kids’ health and the UK premiership were to get tied into all that. As I never studied the corn laws, I kind of kept going ‘is this about Brexit?’
Wilhelmina turned out to be a slasher, and not a great friend to her offscreen friend. Also, I thought gentlemen couldn’t break off engagements in those days, Drummond.
Predictably, Albert turning up at Strangrs’ Gallery didn’t go well, but he was being thwarted by Liesen on the domestic front! Possibly the warning from Penge came at the wrong juncture, structurally.
‘Remember Spencer Perceval.’ The 2017 audience asks ‘Who?’, and I had to look up the spelling, but I guess that was foreshadowing, as I thought it was the vote that would get in the way of the date. Duchess Diana Rigg knowing about the ‘indiscretion’ was a bit of a surprise, but actually, her reaction made more sense that Wilhelmina’s.
I thought Colman gave Victoria the right amount of dignity in her last audience with Peel. Actually, you sensed the character had gone through a deep change after her daughter’s fever, even if V&A were oblivious (even for her) when Peel and Wellington turned up with their grim faces and news.
You know who was missing throughout this episode? Victoria’s mother. She did have an input into how important Liesen was to Victoria and the family influence on her. (Also MIA, Harriet’s children, however old they are, and Lady Peel, who should have been at the funeral.) Anyway, buh-bye Liesen (have Skerritt/the Moustache really settled things in a low key season 2 way?). Bidding her auf wiedershen led to more German than the show usually manages, and Penge seemed truly gutted to lose his household adversary. (So inconsistent!)
Oh, Ernst, presuming upon your happiness! Whatever the footman’s name is, he seemed to have a good idea what the rash meant. The footmen know everything (viz Victoria referring to Leopold being Albert’s father in front of at least one, but he was an extra and so doesn’t count. I bet they knew about Lord Alfred and Drummond too).
Most of what Leopold said all episode was not tactful.
And then they trailed a Christmas episode, and whether I watch it will depend on when it airs, because trying to catch up feels like it’s been hard work for little reward (castles and snark fodder) all season.
