Belgravia: The Next Chapter - General Discussion

[Brn2bwild]

I think I missed how the Duke had such a swift change of heart about his son.  One episode he is screaming that his line will end with Peter and he wants him gone, the next he's saying Peter never did anything wrong and embracing him.

That scene on the heath where Peter had a seizure felt over the top.  No onlookers would be screaming that it was a "disgrace" to bring him out when the child was literally writhing in pain.   

The last two episodes were the strongest.  One way I could tell this show was written by a woman is that the conversations and sisterhood between Clara and her (former) lady's maid felt real, and there were some lovely scenes between Clara and Emily.  By contrast, in Downton Abbey, written by Fellowes, I never felt any real connection between Mary and Edith.

[blackwing]

10 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

I think I missed how the Duke had such a swift change of heart about his son.  One episode he is screaming that his line will end with Peter and he wants him gone, the next he's saying Peter never did anything wrong and embracing him.

That scene on the heath where Peter had a seizure felt over the top.  No onlookers would be screaming that it was a "disgrace" to bring him out when the child was literally writhing in pain.   

The last two episodes were the strongest.  One way I could tell this show was written by a woman is that the conversations and sisterhood between Clara and her (former) lady's maid felt real, and there were some lovely scenes between Clara and Emily.  By contrast, in Downton Abbey, written by Fellowes, I never felt any real connection between Mary and Edith.

I think the actual reason for the Duke's change of heart was "season finale, must resolve things nicely".  But in the context of the show, I think it was the conversation/argument that the Duchess had with him where she accused him of sending him off to Switzerland in the hopes that he would be isolated and lonely and would just die.  She accused him of hoping that Peter would die so their second son could inherit the title.  She asked him why they couldn't use the local doctor that was recommended.  She was right.  And he knew she was right.  

I don't understand why these two characters were on the show in the first place.  They added almost nothing to the show because we were not given much background about them at all.  Only that they are friends of Frederick.  The Duke seemed old enough to be his father while the Duchess was his contemporary in age.  He seemed to view the Duke as his father figure without any real explanation as to how or why they were so close.  Maybe the Duke was friends with Oliver and Frederick grew up thinking of him as a surrogate father.  I wasn't invested in their storyline at all and didn't really care one way or the other about the son.

Regarding the difference in writing between Clara/Emily and Mary/Edith, yes, one pair was written by a woman while the other was written by Fellowes.  But I don't think that means that Fellowes can't write for women.  The relationship between Clara/Emily was much stronger than that of Mary/Edith.  Clara/Emily grew up average and middle class, just the two of them and their parents in humble surroundings.  At the start we see that they are close.

Mary and Edith grew up as daughters of and Earl and were raised in luxury with people to attend to their every need.  Their roles were to be used as tools by their parents to make good marriage matches.  Their lives were completely different than that of Clara and Emily.  Plus, Edith was the middle child so was written as the sad sack character.  I greatly disliked Edith, to this day every time I see this actress I can't help but be reminded of Edith and her constant "oh woe is me" face and voice.

I don't think it's fair to say that Fellowes can't write female relationships well.  The relationship between the Dowager Countess and Isobel Crawley was well done.  They started out as bitter rivals and hated each other, constantly trying to outsnip each other.  But by the end of the series (including the movies, after years had passed), they had grown to accept and love each other.  They relied on each other and became the best of friends.  When Isobel was getting married, Violet lamented that she felt like she was losing her friend.  Violet got sick and Isobel took care of her.  The two of them worked together to save Lord Merton from his manipulative son.  These two had one of the best written relationships on the show, it really progressed over the years.

[chitowngirl]

I think it says a lot about this season that we’re at the end of the season, 8 episodes, and we’ve only now just got to page 2!

[Roseanna]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:27 PM, blackwing said:

If Frederick lost all his money to the Marquise, how was he affording it?  He didn't seem to have any other sources of income.  The only assets they had were the house in Eaton Square and a house in Glanville. 

Granville wasn't only a house, it was an estate, so Fredick got a regular income from it: the manor's own land products were sold and the crofters paid the rent for their land they cultivated.

[Roseanna]

On 3/11/2024 at 1:59 PM, AllyB said:

So Clara went back to Fredrick once she heard he'd inherited some money. Romantic!

James told Clara that Frederick had given all his inherited money to the poor which probably convinced her that he had really changed. She had read his letters to her family, but deeds speak stronger than words.

[Roseanna]

Looking back, I think the greatest weakness of this show was the screenscript. All was far too obvious. Especially that the marchioness was a con artist and in addition did her best to destroy Frederick and Clara's marriage.

On the other hand, it was believable that suspecting all people and trying to compensate his insecurity with success Frederick fell to trust in two persons who used him for their advantage.

I liked the end, but was it too optimistic? The show He Knew He Was Right is better and deeper.

 

[Roseanna]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:18 AM, Clawdette said:

I want to grab Clara by the shoulders and shout "Snap out of it!" I get that she's young and inexperienced in the world's ways, but that doesn't excuse disregarding the advice of three people who love her.  Wearing blinders has never been an attractive accessory.

Too harsh on Clara. She was young and loved his husband but he treated her badly and she had nothing to do. So it was understandable that she searched for people in whose company made her good and forget her troubles.

On 2/26/2024 at 7:54 AM, Drumpf1737 said:

Maybe it's Fellowes writing or just the way people communicated at the time but it's maddening that someone hasn't just told Clara to chill out.  If you don't know what the rift is between the brothers just stay out of it until you get more info. She's such a busybody. Ensuring all of her servants could read should have been her focus from the start.

Again: too harsh on Clara. Although her method failed, her motive was right. The reason why she just couldn't let it be, was that she sensed that Frederick's baggage would destroy their marriage. So unless he dealt with his issues and made a peace with his brother, they could never have a good marriage.  

On 2/26/2024 at 9:42 PM, blackwing said:

Clara.... I think she's a kind person but she truly is a dim bulb.  The jerk husband is trying to be nice and reaching out to be cordial and wants her to go to lunch with him, and she won't even bend at all.  

Clara can't play other than she is, so it's undesrtandable that she didn't want to go the dinner to play a happy couple. Plus, it's a good example how a relationship goes worse: one party acts wrongly but doesn't apologize, so the next time the other party declines when asked someting. 

On 3/4/2024 at 10:23 PM, blackwing said:

I despise the creepy doctor but what a weird ending to his story.  I would have liked to have seen Clara dump him outright, but instead we need the excuse that he was Nell's old boyfriend.  I really hope she doesn't go running back to him in the final episode.

[Roseanna]

About the doctor: in this story he was no good - Clara was to him one of many women - and his used his position as a doctor to seduce her. 

However, in another story where Frederick wouldn't have changed, the doctor could have sincerely loved Clara and she would have left her husband to live with him - say, in America where nobody hadn't known that they weren't married.

[AntFTW]

I'm just watching this for the one first time. I held off on watching this for a while. So... all the Fellowes dramas are pretty much the same thing told in different settings, huh?