formerlyfreedom March 30, 2015 Share March 30, 2015 Prince Liam does his first PR tour as heir to the throne; Queen Helena forces Princess Eleanor to do a PR tour of London. Link to comment
kat165 April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 (edited) Something was seriously wrong with the sound on my showing of this ep. The sound didn't sync to the lip movements & the film kept freezing and skipping. The volume was wonky too. I'm wondering if that's the station or my cable. But about the show, what I was able to gleem from it: I kind of missed the King as he's one of the few characters I actually like. But I also like this actor from seeing him in another series. I liked, as usual, the princess (is her name Eleanor?) and Jasper scenes, but was very bored by the Ophelia scenes, also as usual. I do like Prince Liam. I liked the Queen's idea to help the farmers/cows by trying to presuade the whiskey making guy to change his labeling process. I sort of liked what he said to her. But I definitely did not like the fire of the factory that we saws on the news at the end. So the Queen is an arsonist? Is this suppose to be funny? Does Jasper actually have a crush on the princess? Cause he's hard to figure. I hope I'm not the only one who watched. I am enjoying the location(s) and the British accents. :) Edited April 6, 2015 by kat165 2 Link to comment
catray April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 I seriously don't get why everyone refers to Liam as the "playboy prince." Have we really seen that much to indicate that? So far we know three of the ladies he's slept with (Ophelia, Gemma and the model) and unless he's sleeping with them all at the same time or within hours of each other... is that really so outrageous? He likes to drink beer at pubs and play darts... ok, that's pretty normal for a 20-something. I just don't really see anything that necessarily makes him such a playboy, aside from being rich and young and aimless. I feel like they're trying to pump him up into some irresponsible sexed up kid, but nothing they've shown on screen really reflects that. I don't care about Ophelia's new boyfriend, so I can't remember his name, but I am amused at how he was apparently waltzing around the palace, with NO security accompaniment until Ophelia rescued him. Because that would totally happen in real life. Ted is the worst head of security EVER. It's a little sad that Jasper, who may be a rapist and blackmailer, is actually one of the only ones doing his job, ffs. Why did Marcus steal Gemma's gloves? That was kind of creepy and weird. Don't be creepy and weird, Marcus. I like you! I kind of wanted to slap Eleanor for bitching about having to visit her charities-- I mean, really, what else does she do? But she got better as the episode went on. I've read some comments that this show should have been set in Monaco, and I agree. The royalty of Monaco is definitely a bit more freewheeling compared to the staidness of the British royals and I think would have been a better fit-- or at least slightly less ridiculous, given what we've seen so far. 3 Link to comment
Unclejosh April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 He took the gloves so Gemma would have to touch the unwashed masses. Next scene shows her hesitating to shake someone's hand before opting for the fist bump complete with smirk from Marcus. 6 Link to comment
justawatcher April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 So Jasper's a Dom. That puts a twist on it. The whole rape/take advantage/ no means no might simply be bedroom games. 2 Link to comment
joanne3482 April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 I hope I'm not the only one who watched. I am enjoying the location(s) and the British accents. :) I'm loving all the accents! That's my favorite part of the show. 2 Link to comment
Ms Blue Jay April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 Don't worry, I'm still watching. This episode I found a lot less exciting though. I love Gemma. And I'm pretty much in love with the actor who plays Eleanor. Ophelia is the wooooorrrrrrrrrrrrst. 2 Link to comment
Callaphera April 6, 2015 Share April 6, 2015 I'm beginning to think that, while Jasper may have drugged Eleanor's drink the first time, there isn't actually any sex or sex tape floating around. He seems to get off on the control of her and while the "blackmail sex" is questionable, I think that's basically his game. Eleanor assumed there was sex, waking up next to him the next morning (and we were led to believe the same, since it's Eleanor), and she took his word that there was a video but she's never seen it and neither have we. Not even a little clip of it. I'm officially Team There's No Video/She's Gonna Own His Ass One Day. The "Take your dress off. Do it slowly" routine from this episode is what tipped me to that side. Dude likes the control. He probably has some sort of end game in mind, because it's a soap and there's always an end game, and I do wonder if it's going to come out that the Queen is involved in this somehow. Speaking of... I loved the Queen having the distillery burnt to the ground. Cheesy and kinda telegraphed when distillery dude was snarking at her, but definitely a high five moment for us when we saw the news report at the end. I like evil Queen, especially sipping from the bottle of booze afterwards. I was hoping for some pay off from the servant girl checking out the gun in her purse in this episode, but I guess not. I hope they didn't drop that. Sadly, the Liam/Ophelia thing is the part that I care the least about. Gemma is entertaining at times, but I really don't care about their little triangle (rectangle with the new guy?). If every episode was the Princess and the Queen going at each other, with bonus ditzy twin cousins, that would be my dream show. 6 Link to comment
NorthstarATL April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 I'm beginning to think that, while Jasper may have drugged Eleanor's drink the first time, there isn't actually any sex or sex tape floating around. He seems to get off on the control of her and while the "blackmail sex" is questionable, I think that's basically his game. Eleanor assumed there was sex, waking up next to him the next morning (and we were led to believe the same, since it's Eleanor), and she took his word that there was a video but she's never seen it and neither have we. Not even a little clip of it. I'm officially Team There's No Video/She's Gonna Own His Ass One Day. The "Take your dress off. Do it slowly" routine from this episode is what tipped me to that side. Dude likes the control. He probably has some sort of end game in mind, because it's a soap and there's always an end game, and I do wonder if it's going to come out that the Queen is involved in this somehow. Speaking of... I loved the Queen having the distillery burnt to the ground. Cheesy and kinda telegraphed when distillery dude was snarking at her, but definitely a high five moment for us when we saw the news report at the end. I like evil Queen, especially sipping from the bottle of booze afterwards. I hated the show at first, and then I began to "hate watch", and became intrigued by the Jasper/Eleanor dynamic. As some have conjectured, I think it's a combination of "Taming Of the Shrew" and maybe "Fifty Shades" (which I am only familiar with as an outline, so I may be off there) , as he seems both interested in "humanizing" her and perhaps dominating, while, for all her protestations, she seems to be calling the shots on a larger scale, in that she can end the whole thing quite easily. So it's a game, and a game we don't see on every other show, and is about the only thing that is "original" about the series. But I definitely did not like the fire of the factory that we saws on the news at the end. So the Queen is an arsonist? Is this suppose to be funny? I was glad she did it. She's clearly the "evil" Queen of the series, and has made threats to several characters since the show started, all of which seemed to have no backing. The brewer overstepped, and we got to see just how dangerous she actually can be, which adds teeth to her threats, and makes her a more serious character. 2 Link to comment
Francesca007 April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 I'm easily entertained by soaps so I am liking this show. Well anything but Ophelia and Liam....zzzzz. It's like watching two kids working at American Eagle flirting. I am very interested in Jasper. What's his deal? What's he after? 1 Link to comment
kat165 April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 Good point about Jasper actually doing his job which no one else seems to be doing. Okay, maybe at times that guy (Marcus?) who follows Liam around. I don't like Ophelia. She is not "refreshing" & she does not remind me of Kate, a more down to earth "commoner". She's kind of smug & I'm always glad when her scenes are over. I wish they would have gotten a more likeable actress because I think we are supposed to like her, but I don't. I laughed when Jasper had to hand the puppy out the window. I've always thought Jasper was lying about the sex tape. This show would have worked better in Monaco, but I'm glad it's not because then I wouldn't be watching it. 3 Link to comment
GaT April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 "You seriously won’t believe how big these little scissors feel to me now!" LOL, that was a cousins worthy line, but they weren't in the episode this week, so it's an automatic down vote for me. Did the queen really have the distillery burned down? I think they're going too over the top with the queen & Cyrus, they've gotten to be ridiculously evil. And why does the queen want Gemma (who I despise) to marry Liam? I don't get it except for maybe she sees herself in her. Liam is the future king, when does he grow a pair, or do his mommy & uncle run his life from now on? I thought Ophelia's hair looked really good. 1 Link to comment
CarBe1 April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 (edited) I found Eleanor's drug use really sad in this episode. Previously, she just seemed like a hard core party girl but now we know she is a straight up addict. I am afraid of how dark the show will go with her before she pulls out of it. I am sticking with my theory that Robert sent Jasper to help Eleanor, to keep her from spiraling out of control even further. Jasper seems pretty capable in a military way - he took charge in the car crash, he knocked the swimmer out with a neck pinch - so he and Robert know each other from the military. The show was super secretive about how Robert died so from that I believe Robert was in military intelligence. Jasper owed Robert some huge debt and is taking care of Eleanor as repayment. Their sexual relationship is a side effect of pure attraction. I find their relationship the most interesting on the show, probably because the two of them are playing a dark game you don't often see portrayed on TV series. It's obvious she finds being bossed around a turn on, otherwise she wouldn't keep sleeping with him. She tells herself that he coerces her - even though he asks every time if this is what she wants - and therefore doesn't have to admit to herself that she has feelings for him. This way she can remain emotionally detached. As he reminded her last week, she can always push the panic button so they are mutually into their game. Edited April 7, 2015 by CarBe1 4 Link to comment
Callaphera April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 Good point about Jasper actually doing his job which no one else seems to be doing. Okay, maybe at times that guy (Marcus?) who follows Liam around. Yes and no, in my opinion. He does his job, but in this last episode it made me cringe a little. Eleanor was at a drug rehab, sitting in a chair across from one of the patients. That never should have happened. And then, when said patient out and out asks her about her drug use, Eleanor actually answers her. I know he's a security guard and he's not a "handler" like the older guy she didn't want to come. But she's the Princess and you'd think that he'd at least know to get her ass up and out of that chair the second the question crossed the patient's lips. The second the girl was asking "So, why do you do drugs?", there should have been a cartoon cloud of dust where Eleanor was sitting as they were headed out to the car. I thought it was interesting and kinda clunky, because now we can probably expect another scene with the Queen brandishing a newspaper with her daughter's quote all over it, rather than her crotch this time. That was about the only interesting thing about the drug rehab scene to me. Link to comment
Bees April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 Okay so I'm not the only one who finds Ophelia and Liam an immensely boring couple. I actually kind of like him better with Gemma. I did like her with the Nick guy. He seemed alright. Of course, since he seemed like a decent guy, of course Ophelia is going to say "Nope" I liked how Helena took Liam's advice instead of Liam taking Helena's advice as to "Be interested" rather than "Act interested" with her approach to that small village. It was really sweet to see her go with the little girl to that farm to say hello to her mother and then make the efforts she did to help that farm....though she may have gone a bit too far with the burning of the distillery. However, it still wasn't pretty glorious. Also loved the scene with Liam and the guy who wants to make boots and Liam then wearing the boots and giving a shoutout to the guy. That was really nice. Liam really does have the charisma to be the next king but is very unpolished. He's a lot like his father in that sense (I think King Simon is great personally). Eleanor kind of bores me but I liked how the last stop was to the drug rehab center and her talking to that girl in that exercise. I like to think that was a wakeup call for her even if her trip to the Old Folks Home while on X was kind of amusing. And the scene where they had to give the puppy back as kind of funny too. Anyways last point is this -- is it just me or are they trying to set up something happening between Gemma and Marcus? Something about the conversation just seemed to point to that to me. Link to comment
BooBear April 7, 2015 Share April 7, 2015 (edited) I found Eleanor's drug use really sad in this episode. Previously, she just seemed like a hard core party girl but now we know she is a straight up addict. I am sticking with my theory that Robert sent Jasper to help Eleanor, to keep her from spiraling out of control even further. Jasper seems pretty capable in a military way - he took charge in the car crash, he knocked the swimmer out with a neck pinch - so he and Robert know each other from the military. Yes to this entire post. You are in deep when you are waking up to an IV to get back to normal. I just can't get all a twitter about Jasper having some sort of power over Eleanor. She is the princess of England. All it would take is one word for him to be sent packing. I like the Speculation that he was sent by Robert. What bodyguard gets to be a bodyguard with a shady past without some pass from someone important. I actually liked the Queen burning down the distillery. Sure, she has no official power to make that guy do anything but at the same time, NO ONE, will cross her. I actually wonder if Robert might end up showing up in future episodes not dead. I thought they missed an opportunity by not allowing us to meet him at first but now I am wondering if it isn't because they might have him showing up in the future. Edited April 7, 2015 by BooBear Link to comment
kat165 April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 CarBe1, I'd never thought of that, of Robert having sent Jasper. I love that theory. I wish we could have met Robert. 2 Link to comment
CaughtOnTape April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 Did the queen really have the distillery burned down? I think they're going too over the top with the queen & Cyrus, they've gotten to be ridiculously evil. And why does the queen want Gemma (who I despise) to marry Liam? I don't get it except for maybe she sees herself in her. Liam is the future king, when does he grow a pair, or do his mommy & uncle run his life from now on? We should ask Prince Charles that question. His balls have been in his mother's purse since the day he was born. I don't have any problems with the man, but if we're going to expect them to mirror real life on a TV show I'd say that was fairly consistent. I don't mind Liam and Ophelia. But they are terribly predictable. Cannot stand Gemma. She's not fun or interesting. She's a mean girl who thinks because she's rich and born privileged everything should be handed to her. 4 Link to comment
Shermie April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 I don't mind Ophelia, I think she's the boring commoner to be the counterpoint to,the ridiculously over-privileged royals. Maybe Jasper is a plant by the Queen, and he's actually a Royal from another country meant to be a fix up (in every sense) for Eleanor. Just playing Royal+Royal matchmaker would sent Eleanor screaming in the other direction, but this way it's like it's her own idea. I would love a Royal to convince the public why they are needed. It's one thing for the public to want to keep them, out of tradition or for the celebrity of it, but how do the royals themselves justify their existence on the public dime? 2 Link to comment
CaughtOnTape April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 I would love a Royal to convince the public why they are needed. It's one thing for the public to want to keep them, out of tradition or for the celebrity of it, but how do the royals themselves justify their existence on the public dime? Just the reasons that Helena gave on the show when that guy (was it the Prime Minister?) threatened them. They bring in billions to the country in terms of tourism and merchandise. William and Kate's wedding was an event that made that country millions. 2 Link to comment
TVHappy9463 April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 The underscore for this show is so distracting, it takes away from every scene. Less is more. While the show is a bit much, there are some nice touches. It isn't must watch, it just kind of hangs out on my DVR until I watch everything else. 1 Link to comment
2AT April 8, 2015 Share April 8, 2015 CarBe1, I'd never thought of that, of Robert having sent Jasper. I love that theory. I wish we could have met Robert. I LOVE this theory as well! This show is getting a lot better too since it appears that the cast is committing to the campiness of it all. The casting director also needs a medal for finding an actor who looks so much like Liz Hurley it's frightening. 1 Link to comment
xtwheeler April 9, 2015 Share April 9, 2015 I think the actor who plays Eleanor looks like Liz Hurley and Duchess Catherine had a love child. I'm really I'm this for the Jasper scenes. Shallow end of the pool all the way. That guy is just smoking. I love the little dom game he's playing with her. He's competent at his job, too, which is a rarity. I need more scenes of these two pushing each other's buttons, verbally and sexually. Damn. 2 Link to comment
rho April 9, 2015 Share April 9, 2015 I'm beginning to think that, while Jasper may have drugged Eleanor's drink the first time, there isn't actually any sex or sex tape floating around. He seems to get off on the control of her and while the "blackmail sex" is questionable, I think that's basically his game. Eleanor assumed there was sex, waking up next to him the next morning (and we were led to believe the same, since it's Eleanor), and she took his word that there was a video but she's never seen it and neither have we. Not even a little clip of it. I'm officially Team There's No Video/She's Gonna Own His Ass One Day. The "Take your dress off. Do it slowly" routine from this episode is what tipped me to that side. Dude likes the control. He probably has some sort of end game in mind, because it's a soap and there's always an end game, and I do wonder if it's going to come out that the Queen is involved in this somehow. I don't get Jasper's MO. If I had skipped the first episode and heard all the 'I'm releasing the tape' comments out of context, I would probably suspect he was sent by the queen or someone else meant to keep Eleanor in line. He's really my favourite character aside from his misguided blackmail attempts. I would love to hop on board with the theory that it's all a ruse and he made the whole thing up to keep his job. But he actually seems to be pretty fucking good at his job, maybe even better than Marcus, so why would he create an insurance policy his first day on the job? He might be a great guy and a good employee on the surface but he's still a sick weirdo for bringing that up in the first place. But I'm obviously hooked because now I want to know his real motivation, although I highly suspect it will just get chalked up to poor character development. Link to comment
CarBe1 April 9, 2015 Share April 9, 2015 (edited) Yeah, the I drugged you/have a video tape of you storyline is troublesome. Even if Jasper didn't do actually those things, letting her think he did is extremely manipulative at best. Maybe even royally manipulative. What if Jasper is Cyrus's son (after all, we now know Cyrus has a lot of bastards running around the country) and a potential heir to the throne? That fits a little into the Camden orphan story point. In order for the story not to be disgustingly creepy, Liam and Eleanor could not be Simon's kids - maybe they are the product of Helena's affair with Captain Lacey. I swear someone on this board wrote it was hinted that Liam and Eleanor are not Simon's kids but I didn't pick up on that. A storyline like this is appropriately nighttime soap opera over-the-top convoluted. Having some sort of royal blood explains Jasper's rather autocratic attitude when he is the real Jasper behind closed doors with Eleanor. Edited April 9, 2015 by CarBe1 1 Link to comment
justawatcher April 9, 2015 Share April 9, 2015 I wrote that with the secret door to her bedroom and the more than passing resemblance of the captain and Liam if we were being given a little Diana/Hewitt/Harry thought to ponder. 2 Link to comment
Locutus April 10, 2015 Share April 10, 2015 Helena and Cyrus seem to have a backup plan; as if there may be a more legitimate heir somewhere at the other end of the secret tunnels. Link to comment
methodwriter85 April 12, 2015 Share April 12, 2015 (edited) I'm easily entertained by soaps so I am liking this show. Well anything but Ophelia and Liam....zzzzz. It's like watching two kids working at American Eagle flirting. Yeah, I'm not really a big fan of them, but it's a Mark Schwann show, so I expect terrible actress leads who are incredibly stiff on camera. And also the love rectangles with the "relatable" guy as the alternative love interest to the lead. I'm most intrigued by Eleanor and Jasper's relationship. I liked the Dom aspect of it- like Jasper didn't go back until Eleanor told him that she does want this. I do think this was a let-down after the third episode. I think the actor who plays Eleanor looks like Liz Hurley and Duchess Catherine had a love child. My thought during this episode was that they really should have had this actress play Kate in William and Kate instead of Camilla Luddington. As for Jasper, yeah he's hot. I love those big eyebrows and those pinched eyes- they really give him this distinctive look that sets him apart from generically good-looking blond guys. (Hi, Liam!) Edited April 12, 2015 by methodwriter85 Link to comment
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