S05.E06: Episode 6

[dubbel zout]

Ross fights for Ned’s life as Demelza uncovers betrayal and the young lovers take flight for a future together.

[dubbel zout]

I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Ned (the disemboweling and drawing and quartering is excessive, to be sure—way to be petty, Milord!), but he just couldn't shut up when it was necessary. The trial was rigged from the start, but Ned might have gotten a lighter sentence if he hadn't been so insistent.

Kitty is the one I feel sorry for. What will become of her?

[HoodlumSheep]

Ned finally did something right! Proud of him for not running away.

• Tess. Just stop. Please. Stop. Ugggghhhhhhh. I wanna strangle her.
• Not entirely sad about losing ned. I'm glad there was no last minute save. I feel bad for kitty though. And at least they didn't go through with all that gutting, etc. Stuff.
• Nice move by jeffy boy and cecily to stop the wedding. First by mentioning ross and then claiming what predicament george would be in (that luckily turned out to match his fears about valentine/elizabeth/ross). Personally i never thought george was into getting remarried anyways. His uncle was the one that kept pushing him about the subject and i know he thought of the advantages marrying her would bring him (and he wanted to see jeffy boy suffer a little)...but his heart never seemed really into it, imo. 
• Bond villain merceron has revealed himself to ross...most excellent. Can't wait to see what goes down next now thst he's revealed himself.
• I honestly feel like bc it's ross...he should be able to climb out of that hole pretty easily, but i guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

My mom and i keep arguing over merceron and hanson. Lol. I keep saying 'the bond villain' in which she responds 'the girl's dad!' And i respond 'no, the one with the falcon (?)!' It really doesn't help that they're both brown-haired, middle-aged white guys that are literally interchangeable. 

[howiveaddict]

42 minutes ago, HoodlumSheep said:

Ned finally did something right! Proud of him for not running away.

• Tess. Just stop. Please. Stop. Ugggghhhhhhh. I wanna strangle her.
• Not entirely sad about losing ned. I'm glad there was no last minute save. I feel bad for kitty though. And at least they didn't go through with all that gutting, etc. Stuff.
• Nice move by jeffy boy and cecily to stop the wedding. First by mentioning ross and then claiming what predicament george would be in (that luckily turned out to match his fears about valentine/elizabeth/ross). Personally i never thought george was into getting remarried anyways. His uncle was the one that kept pushing him about the subject and i know he thought of the advantages marrying her would bring him (and he wanted to see jeffy boy suffer a little)...but his heart never seemed really into it, imo. 
• Bond villain merceron has revealed himself to ross...most excellent. Can't wait to see what goes down next now thst he's revealed himself.
• I honestly feel like bc it's ross...he should be able to climb out of that hole pretty easily, but i guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

My mom and i keep arguing over merceron and hanson. Lol. I keep saying 'the bond villain' in which she responds 'the girl's dad!' And i respond 'no, the one with the falcon (?)!' It really doesn't help that they're both brown-haired, middle-aged white guys that are literally interchangeable. 

I get them mixed up also.  Off topic, but is anyone watching Press that comes on right after? Is there a forum for it?  It's a really good modern drama.

[Magnumfangirl]

1 hour ago, HoodlumSheep said:

My mom and i keep arguing over merceron and hanson. Lol. I keep saying 'the bond villain' in which she responds 'the girl's dad!' And i respond 'no, the one with the falcon (?)!' It really doesn't help that they're both brown-haired, middle-aged white guys that are literally interchangeable. 

Plus, their clothing is similar.  There's way too much resemblance between them.  Who exactly is Merceron anyway?

[Zella]

I wanted to feel sorry for Ned in this episode, but of course he had to wait until they had escaped the cell before telling Ross no. Seriously, dude, you couldn't have done that before you snuck halfway out of the prison? I was glad--for Kitty's sake--that the executioner didn't go full Braveheart on him, though. 

I so enjoyed George's changing moods during that almost wedding--from smug assholery to deflated. 

I keep confusing Hanson and Merceron. I can recognize Hanson's voice when he is talking, but I would have difficulty differentiating between them in a police lineup. 

[HoodlumSheep]

8 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Who exactly is Merceron anyway?

He's a magistrate (i looked it up :P).

All i know is that he has something to with the law and jail stuff. The one who gives the orders i think.

[purist]

Agree about confusing all the dark-haired, middle-aged white guys. This is Merceron, the magistrate with powerful connections (played by Tim Dutton).

And this is Hanson, mahogany merchant and Cecily's father (played by Peter Sullivan).

Another similar-looking dude is William Wickham, the one who has enlisted Ross as a spy, but I couldn't find a photo of him.

[nara]

12 minutes ago, purist said:

Agree about confusing all the dark-haired, middle-aged white guys. This is Merceron, the magistrate with powerful connections (played by Tim Dutton).

And this is Hanson, mahogany merchant and Cecily's father (played by Peter Sullivan).

Another similar-looking dude is William Wickham, the one who has enlisted Ross as a spy, but I couldn't find a photo of him.

Would it kill them to dye the hair of one of these guys or slap a wig on him? 

[Possum]

I can see why some are getting these dark-haired guys mixed up.  Although I've seen shows with Peter Sullivan, I don't remember him in any of the roles.  But, he does have this smug little smirk that gives him away.  I've seen Tim Dutton in many other shows and can easily pick him out.  Anthony Calf, who plays William Wickham, has been in tons of things I've seen.   One of his longest running roles was as DAC Strickland in "New Tricks".

[Possum]

I did not enjoy much about this episode and was happy when it ended.  From the courtroom scene to the ending of Ned, it was way too dark for me.  I'm tired of bad girl Tess and Demelza always giving her the benefit of the doubt. The only thing that I really liked was the chapel scene.  Geoffrey Charles got some good zingers in on George, and Cecily showed herself to be a strong, intelligent woman.

Poldark now knows who is his real enemy, so let the games begin.

[dubbel zout]

19 minutes ago, Possum said:

I'm tired of bad girl Tess and Demelza always giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Ugh, I know. I really hope Demelza's brother doesn't fall for her "I want to repent" act, but we know they're both stupidly gullible.

[dargosmydaddy]

22 hours ago, howiveaddict said:

Off topic, but is anyone watching Press that comes on right after? Is there a forum for it?  It's a really good modern drama.

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/101210-press/?tab=comments#comment-5726784

[Haleth]

12 hours ago, purist said:

Another similar-looking dude is William Wickham, the one who has enlisted Ross as a spy, but I couldn't find a photo of him.

Now see?  I thought that was Merceron. These guys all look alike. And for a while I thought Cecily’s father was the tall, dark haired lord who was a sometime ally of Ross’s in previous seasons. 
Anyway, I’m glad the Ned (RIP) storyline is done. Now let’s dispose of Tess and I’ll be happy. 
I jumped when Ross got clocked on the head. 

[dubbel zout]

19 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Now let’s dispose of Tess and I’ll be happy. 

I might—might—enjoy Tess's machinations if they weren't so totally obvious. A little subtlety would go a long way. I guess that's what Uncle Cary Warleggan is for.

[Zella]

48 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I might—might—enjoy Tess's machinations if they weren't so totally obvious. A little subtlety would go a long way. I guess that's what Uncle Cary Warleggan is for.

Hehe Now I wish Pip Torrens had a dual role and played both Cary and Tess. 😂

[Jacks-Son]

Shit, my DVR pixelated the shit out of the last 5? minutes and then jumped to the end with nothing but noise in between.  The last scene I saw was Zacky, Drake, and Demelza, discussing what they should do about the men Demelza spied carrying large sacks onto boats.  Now, it seems that Ned died??  Fuck!!  I'll have to see if another streaming device managed to catch the complete episode.

Oh, I did see Supreme Asshole George Warleggan admit that he had no opinion on the evils of the slave trade only that it was essential to the Crown's fiscal survival and that he only argued for it because he was told to by Hanson.  Wow, George, you're a real deep guy.

I also saw Tess slither herself onto Sam's arms.  LOL; girl, Demelza just needs to flat out Bitch Slap you now!

Show, I don't want to see Morwenna "making up for lost time"!.  It's a miracle that she can't get enough of Drake after years of suffering.  Now we know, just kidnap a child and return him, very cathartic.

Note: The PBS app on one of my streaming devices will allow me to rewatch the episode. It appears that I missed a hell of a lot more than the last 5 minutes. I was wondering why scenes shifted so illogically.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Jacks-Son

[Haleth]

9 hours ago, Zella said:

Hehe Now I wish Pip Torrens had a dual role and played both Cary and Tess. 😂

Ha!  Picturing him batting his eyelashes at Ross.

5 hours ago, Jacks-Son said:

I was wondering why scenes shifted so illogically.

The pacing has always been strange with this show.  Too many quick changes to another scene or a random shot of another character somewhere else for no purpose.  (In this epi there was a random shot of Demelza in bed with the kids in the middle of the very tense jail break scene.  It broke the tension.)  Glad you found the streaming epi to get caught up!

[nodorothyparker]

I could only snicker at Wickham? (I'm having trouble telling one nefarious dark-haired guy from another too) telling Ross that he needs more detachment rather than running around like a chicken with its head cut off about Ned yet again.  Um, have you met Ross at all?  Before this very same episode is over he's going to come right up to the brink of pissing it all away in what's likely to be an ill-fated jail break.

And so that's the end we all knew was likely for Ned since he never ever missed an opportunity to blow past all reasonableness or discretion.  His big moment of clarity telling Ross not to torch his life over the jail break when his fate was bigger than that was really nicely done, but I too wondered why he couldn't have that moment until well after they'd been wandering around the prison for awhile and were about to make their escape through the sewers.  Okay, maybe that's why he had it.  Hanging suddenly seemed like the least bad option to wading through miles of London's sewers plus the likelihood of dragging Ross down with him.  I did kind of love Ross making his usual big impassioned speech since that usually pans out for him whatever the trial only to see it fall on deaf ears this time and realize that he had no backup plan beyond throwing Dwight at the court.  Poor Dwight, starting to try to talk Ross out of the jailbreak and then essentially saying "oh fuck it" as he got that Ross was going to Ross no matter what he said.  Is anybody really surprised Ross ended this episode at the bottom of a well after all of that?  I'm more surprised it hasn't happened before now.

George isn't wrong that the British empire was basically built on colonialism and slavery.  I'm not even that surprised that he has no personal opinion about it beyond that but was saying what Hanson told him to say to get him the deal he wanted.  For all his adventures seeking and consolidating political power, he's shown very little interest in the workers beneath him closer to home unless they bothered him with pesky demands to be paid or not killed for their trouble or as the occasional angry torch-bearing mob showing up the gates.  The "vulgars" he interacts with in the community are barely people to him, so I wouldn't expect him to care about slaves he's never seen halfway across the world.  He saves his actual animus for people he personally believes have wronged him like all members of the Poldark family.

While I still don't care about the star-crossed lovers, it seems fairly obvious Geoffrey Charles has had some time to put two and two together on Ross and Elizabeth and George from the digs he was getting in at the chapel and that he must have shared his conclusions with Not the Bride.  George has made it clear from the beginning that he had no real interest in the marriage beyond a business alliance and you could see him also just saying fuck it, I don't have the energy for another round of playing third wheel with a woman who clearly doesn't want me and yet another Poldark.

It's nice that Demelza is so determined to not accuse anyone without evidence, but it seems like if you only have two criminals in your little village and one of them is Tess that it shouldn't be that hard to figure out. 

[Jacks-Son]

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

The pacing has always been strange with this show.  Too many quick changes to another scene or a random shot of another character somewhere else for no purpose.  (In this epi there was a random shot of Demelza in bed with the kids in the middle of the very tense jail break scene.  It broke the tension.)  Glad you found the streaming epi to get caught up!

Thanks!  Still haven't seen the whole thing yet. With Ned's story and all the courtroom shenanigans, I'm unfortunately, not enthusiastic about that prospect. 

The worst of the scene changes, the constant glimpses and sometimes a close up, of Valentine AT COURT!!!  Why the glimpses and close-ups of a small boy WHO SHOULD NOT BE THERE?

Edited November 5, 2019 by Jacks-Son

[nodorothyparker]

7 minutes ago, Jacks-Son said:

Why the glimpses and close-ups of a small boy WHO SHOULD NOT BE THERE?

So he could vocally side with "Uncle Ross" to George, who very snippily responded that he was not Valentine's uncle or any relation at all.  That was likely still fresh in his mind the next morning at the chapel when Geoffrey Charles and Not the Bride played the how will you know I'm not knocked up with yet another Poldark kid card.

[Jacks-Son]

7 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

So he could vocally side with "Uncle Ross" to George, who very snippily responded that he was not Valentine's uncle or any relation at all. 

Probably aired during the scenes I missed.  Thanks!  So his role so far, is to witness George's behavior with regard to Ross' and chime in at critical times?  Tough role for a kid, what is he 5 yrs old now or in the time shift, how old is he supposed to be?

Upon reread of your post ^^, does this mean the 🎶 Dum Dum Dum 🎶 Paternity secret may be soon exposed?  Is this what one poster upthread said was the Game Changer episode?  Never mind, I may just boost up Poldark on my tv schedule.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Jacks-Son

[izabella]

I might care more about Valentine being Ross's son, if Ross ever showed a moment's interest in his own kids with Demelza.  Do we even know their names?

[Jacks-Son]

3 minutes ago, izabella said:

I might care more about Valentine being Ross's son, if Ross ever showed a moment's interest in his own kids with Demelza.  Do we even know their names?

Well, they don't show Ross being around Jeremy or Clowance as much as they are shown with Demelza.  I think Ross does have fun times with the kids, weren't they all shown in bed together and remarking how wonderful the feeling was?  If Valentine is proven to be Ross' bastard child, first off Eww, horrible mind-set (I know a woman who openly raised an out-of-wedlock child as their own, Respect!) then I think Ross would be a BIG boost to Valentine's self-esteem and self-worth.

[dubbel zout]

I thought it was obvious that Valentine was Ross’s son. George might not want to admit it because of the humiliation, and since Ursula is a useless daughter, Val is the only son he has.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

So Kitty's spells were actually Pregnancy, but she chose to disclose on 

Execution day?

Anyway, seeing her collapse into Dwight's arms hit me in the feels.

Anyone catch the look on Caroline's face?

Chile....

[Jacks-Son]

35 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I thought it was obvious that Valentine was Ross’s son. George might not want to admit it because of the humiliation, and since Ursula is a useless daughter, Val is the only son he has.

It was obvious.  All signs pointed to that belief considering Elizabeth and Ross both conspired to hide that fact.  It's just considered a "Well-Known Secret" <wink, wink> in this forum.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Jacks-Son

[JenMcSnark]

On 11/4/2019 at 2:23 AM, Alistaire said:

I found this episode to be exceptionally bad. As an American viewer, I perceived in it too many unsubtle reminders of the U.K.’s current political situation and regarded the hanging as unnecessary, exploitative, and frankly offensive.

I'm American as well and understand your feelings but the sentence and the way it was carried out is historically accurate.  The real Ned Despard met his end exactly like that.  However, I am not aware (not that I've looked very hard) if there was really a frame job against him.  

[seacliffsal]

I fast forwarded quite a bit.  I think at this point I'm just trying to make it to the end of the series.