Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Poldark is finally back, my loves. We can finally return to the very soapy drama of late 18th century Cornwall, complete with steamy affairs, wind-swept cliffs, and a burn victim with a hook for a hand. (I saw this new character and thought, “Ah, Cornwall!” in much the same way Indiana Jones sighs for Venice in The Last Crusade.)
Yes, Poldark is indeed back with two full hours of drama. Rather than provide you with a blow-by-blow account of every single glare exchanged betwixt Ross and George, and George and Aunt Agatha, and Aunt Agatha and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth and Ross, and Ross and the sea, I’m going to try to tackle this super-sized episode in somewhat manageable sections. Starting with a plot device I called “The Moon of Melodrama.”
Oh boy, guys. I love this show, but woof.
I get that in order to push forward with the major plot points of Season 3, Poldark first had to tie up the loose ends of Season 2. To that end we got an interrupted wedding night, two death beds, one difficult childbirth, and a prophecy of doom all converge at the same time as a lunar eclipse. You and I aren’t afraid of lunar eclipses, my brilliant readers, for we have scientists to tell us what they are and when they are coming. However, in Cornwall, they only have their eyes, their ears, and their superstitions. The grim shadow moving over the moon, followed by an eerie blood red cloud, even put the fear of God into noted happy agnostic Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson).
Demelza prays for deliverance, but this moment — and this double decker of an episode — is all about how life sucks for Elizabeth (Heida Reed). She married George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) not only as a means of financial salvation, but also as a slight to Ross (Aidan Turner) after he knocked her up during their illicit encounter last season. Now she’s very unhappily pregnant and has to deal with Aunt Agatha’s constant digs about the child. Since George is still totally oblivious to what’s gone on, Elizabeth has to figure out how she can deliver her baby and make it look a month premature. I’m not saying she was hoping to be thrown from a horse in the opening scenes of the show, but she did make quite a dramatic show with the vase and the staircase.
The gist is this, just as Elizabeth is about to give birth to Ross’s lust child, both Demelza’s mean old father and Caroline’s (Gabriella Wilde) doting rich uncle are dying. The doctor is naturally at wealthy Ray Penvenen’s house, so Geoffrey Charles gets the bright idea that they call upon the only other man of medicine in town: Dwight Enys (Luke Norris). [takes a gulp of air before continuing] Dwight is only on shore for 24 hours of furlough, and in that space of time he has eloped with Caroline in a secret ceremony crafted by Ross and Demelza. So when the Warleggans come a-knocking for Dwight’s help, it interrupts his wedding night. Demelza’s no fool, so she anxiously watches Ross’s reaction shots through all this. She knows that he may be moving past his feelings for Elizabeth, but that baby is most likely his. While Dwight helps save Elizabeth and her ostentatiously-named son Valentine, Ross accompanies Caroline home to Ray’s deathbed, which gives Ross time to watch Aunt Agatha get manhandled by Warleggan goons from the bushes, all while she delivers this creepy prophesy: “That child of yours. Cursed he be. Born under a black moon and no good should come to him.” Yeesh.
Oh, and none for Demelza’s mean old dad, who dies, leaving her hot brothers bereft. They make one of those shell-shocked deathbed vows that you know they’ll regret later: to go and become ministers.
It’s a lot, guys. It’s a lot of plot to play out under an ultra-spooky lunar eclipse. The super forlorn Elizabeth seems about as pleased with these developments as I do.
In the morning, Ross works through his feelings by going all Chariots on Fire on the beach, making him the second hottest rage runner on PBS this year (after Grantchester‘s Sidney Chambers).
Ross’s solution to all that has transpired is classic Ross. That is, it is noble in its intent, but can’t possibly work. He visits George at the new ugly-as-sin Warleggan Bank in town and offers his rival a deal: So long as George takes care of Geoffrey Charles and Aunt Agatha, Ross will do his best to never cross paths with him again. We know Ross is serious because he downs a shot on it.
Unfortunately for Ross, Geoffrey Charles, or young “GC,” has other plans. Namely, GC wants to hang with his cool uncle and frolic on the “BEST BEACH IN CORNWALL!” (His words! Not mine!) He’s got a partner-in-crime in all this, his new governess/Elizabeth’s cousin Morwenna (Ellise Chappell). And now we’ve reached the second major storyline in the Season 3 premiere: the new kids on Cornwall’s block.
I’ve briefly mentioned Demelza’s hot brothers, Sam (Tom York) and Drake (Harry Richardson). (Yes, they do sound like they should be hosting a Nickelodeon show about pranks.) Sam is the more serious, more dutiful one. He’s more committed to the cause left to them by their abusive father. He’s so obsessed with moral righteousness that he launches a slight insurrection in the church. When George and new mom Elizabeth show up late, they discover that instead of waiting for them, Sam and Drake have started their own “kumbaya” service. So now George hates Sam.
Drake is the younger, sweeter of the two. The show introduces us to him skipping to Ross and Demelza’s house. He’s also supposed to be the dreamier of the two. We know this because even Prudie puts the moves on him. However, she’s not his main love interest. Oh no, that would be Morwenna.
When we first meet Morwenna Whitworth, it’s clear she’s going to be in for way more drama than she wants, or deserves. Elizabeth is immediately jealous of her connection with GC, George barely wants her around, and “low-born” Drake has the keys to her heart. He brings her wildflowers and gives her ugly bracelets and opens conversations with great pick up lines like: “Proper waves, eh?” (In his defense, they were on a beach.) The two are clearly going to hook up, or at least, stare at each other a lot. And I like this storyline! It’s fun!
In fact, things pick up a bit in Part II of the premiere. We meet new characters, like old Hook Hand and a super duper rich guy named Sir Francis, and we get the return of Poldark‘s best character, Verity (Ruby Bentall). (Verity’s arrival had me exactly like Aunt Agatha: irrepressibly excited!)
Verity’s arrival shows us just how far into misery Elizabeth has slipped. Both are new moms, but there is a striking scene where Verity enters Elizabeth’s chamber to check on baby Valentine. Elizabeth has just been sitting idly by, staring at her sad face in the mirror. Verity is horrified by Elizabeth’s attitude and Elizabeth fires back with a snipe about Verity’s fertility issues. It’s obvious to us modern viewers that Elizabeth likely has postpartum depression. Her malaise slips into everything she does, including her seeming lack of empathy for when Verity (and Caroline) leave Sir Francis’s big house party early when they learn that the British have suffered a massive naval defeat against Napoleon.
That big house party? It’s an excuse to bring all the power players of the town together. When Ross/Demelza/Caroline get a glimpse of the Warleggan family party, there’s so much tension, you wonder if there’ll be a Britney/Justin-like dance off. Everyone manages to behave themselves, but Ross gets thrown a curveball. Now that Ray Penvenen is gone, the elders of the community want Ross to step up and become a Justice of the Peace. It would mean a fresh start for our rakish anti-hero, but he passes. He is not a man for rules, but for breaking them. Instead, George gets the gig and though he’s thrilled, Aunt Agatha points out that he may not have been first choice. It burns the man. It burns the man so hard.
Ross eventually gets intel to Verity that her dear Captain Blamely is alive and well in Portugal. She leaves with baby to go meet him. But Dwight’s fate is up in the air. The survivors of his shipwreck have been thrown in a French prison. The episode’s end sees Ross taking off old Hook Hand in an attempt to save him, but it might be too late. One of the last scenes in the episode is frenzied view of men falling under a firing squad. Dwight is the last man standing and a musket gets cocked in his direction.
Like, I keep saying, this episode is a lot. Let’s see…did I miss anything?
Oh, Demelza’s pregnant! Ross is happy about it! In fact, the whole issue with Elizabeth aside, it seems they are settling into their version of domestic bliss.
Oh, and Drake and Sam might be young men of the cloth, but they sure know how to engage in some aquatic tomfoolery.
Whatever will happen to our beloved lovers in Cornwall? Will Verity make it to Portugal? Will Dwight survive a firing squad? Will George ever figure out that the kid is not, as Michael Jackson would say, not his son? ‘Til next time!
