S02.E07: The King Over the Water

[humbleopinion]

Mrs. Skerrett rebuffed the Scottie Hawttie because the chef and she have renewed stirred up (see what I did there) feelings for each other since his return.

Realistically, her chance of seeing the Kilted Cutie anytime soon is remote.

Lezhen was a wedge between Victoria and her mother and is becoming a wedge between Albert and Victoria putting them on opposite sides from each other about parenting decisions...

[magdalene]

Mrs. Skerrett has to be extra careful guarding her reputation.  I doubt writing as an unmarried woman to a male who is not a family member would do that reputation much good. Plus, what does she - and we - really know about the Scots hottie other than that he is good-looking and made pretty brazen sexual advances towards her? For all she knows he could be spoken for or already married with lots of children.  Also, even if this holiday fling went anywhere - would she really give up her career and move to Scotland for him? 

With Francatelli at least there is the possibility - since they both work in the same household - that if the relationship got to the point of marriage they could ask for the queens permission to marry.  Maybe Victoria would permit it to hang on to the both of them?

[iMonrey]

My issue with Francatelli is that he over-reacted to Skerrett's refusal to run off with him. He wasn't really offering her anything - he didn't even formally propose marriage to her. He just wanted to leave and expected her to drop everything and go with him and when she said "No thanks" he not only gave her the silent treatment but was kind of nasty to her too. I don't get the sudden change of heart. He seems kind of emotionally unstable to me.

[LittleIggy]

18 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

He has my every sympathy!

Is BK a particularly unpleasant person? I seem to recall hearing he demands to be addressed as Sir Ben, but I don’t know if that is true.

[Badger]

16 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Is BK a particularly unpleasant person? I seem to recall hearing he demands to be addressed as Sir Ben, but I don’t know if that is true.

It isn't true.  From what I understand, someone addressed him as "Sir Kingsley" and he corrected them and said it was "Sir Ben."  

[Anothermi]

6 hours ago, humbleopinion said:

Realistically, her chance of seeing the Kilted Cutie anytime soon is remote.

I'm liking how "Mrs." Skerritt has been written. Sure, she was away from home - on holiday if you like - and was open to new things - like invitation to party by a very attractive man. BUT, despite thoroughly enjoying herself with him, she was completely aware that something was still active between her and  Francatelli and that, enjoyable and flattering though it was, her reactions to the attentions of Kilted Cutie were probably hormonal, at the very least, and not backed up by anything. (yes. I know she would not see it as hormonal - perhaps "losing my head" - but all in all it's the same thing).

What she did, by not granting permission to KC to write to her, was give him the respect of honesty. She did not string him along. She knew she was not emotionally available and refused to pretend she was "just in case" he was the better bet because that's no way to treat anybody.

Edited February 14, 2018 by Anothermi
clarity

[kwnyc]

Mrs. Skerritt has some character development this season. Her standing up to Penge about him being such a bully marked a change in the below-stairs hierarchy. Nobody else defended him, and no one remarked that she spoke out of turn. Now that she's clear of her "deep, dark secret" she feels like she can have some say in the way things are run.

[my3sons]

My favorite part of the episode was when the elderly man asked Albert what they did for a living.  Albert replied he owned a factory, to which Victoria chimed in, "It's my factory, actually.  He helps me with the paperwork."  

[Anothermi]

2 hours ago, floridamom said:

I'm a bit confused as to what is drama here and what is historical fact...like did Queen Victoria and Prince Albert actually get lost overnight? Did they actually visit Scotland as portrayed?

The PBS website puts up background info on this (and other) series. Here is a link to a podcast interview with Daisy Goodwin on that very question!

[TaurusRose]

On 2/13/2018 at 7:52 PM, iMonrey said:

My issue with Francatelli is that he over-reacted to Skerrett's refusal to run off with him. He wasn't really offering her anything - he didn't even formally propose marriage to her. He just wanted to leave and expected her to drop everything and go with him and when she said "No thanks" he not only gave her the silent treatment but was kind of nasty to her too. I don't get the sudden change of heart. He seems kind of emotionally unstable to me.

That’s harsh. Emotions aren’t logical and each person reacts differently to rejection. 

10 hours ago, my3sons said:

My favorite part of the episode was when the elderly man asked Albert what they did for a living.  Albert replied he owned a factory, to which Victoria chimed in, "It's my factory, actually.  He helps me with the paperwork."  

I liked Albert’s reaction to Victoria’s correction. They really are a cute couple.

[Meredith Quill]

Mod Note:

If you have a query or want to answer a query regarding real-life events vs the show please post it in the history chat topic; all that sort of thing belongs in there.

Thanks.

[EyewatchTV211]

Like many others, I enjoyed the Hunky Highlander or whatever we decided to call him. I'd be fine with Mrs. Skerritt getting together with Francatelli, but I was not disappointed when the Hunky Highlander made his moves. 

I wonder if I can find that other show that he was on for a time. He needs to get cast in some other show on a consistent basis besides Lifetime's usual silliness with the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle romance. 

[movingtargetgal]

I used to watch my grandmother darn my grampie's socks.  She always had that "darner"? in her sewing box.  She gave me the sewing box before she died.  She also gave me some wonderful sewing magazines from the 1920's that her mother had given her.  Watching this show made me want to find her sewing box.  I looked through it this afternoon and shed some sad/happy tears.  

[AuntiePam]

Maybe it went without saying, but I was waiting for Victoria or Albert (or the Duke) to send someone to the croft with a thank-you gift for the couple's hospitality.  Unless it would have been considered insulting . . . ?

[Mindthinkr]

3 minutes ago, AuntiePam said:

Maybe it went without saying, but I was waiting for Victoria or Albert (or the Duke) to send someone to the croft with a thank-you gift for the couple's hospitality.  Unless it would have been considered insulting . . . ?

No, when it didn’t happen this episode I let it go, thinking that the writers would at least give us a quip about remembering those kind folk and a little something that they sent (lol...maybe new socks so the lady wouldn’t have to spend her nights darning and since she gave the Queen her darning tool) but alas. Surely manners would dictate. 

[kwnyc]

They missed a nice scene there: it wouldn't have been right to send the old couple money, as they offered the hospitality of their home and were not an inn. But a nice present: a cow, or bolts of cloth, or something useful to the crofters, would have been good to hear about.

[Kohola3]

3 hours ago, kwnyc said:

But a nice present: a cow, or bolts of cloth, or something useful to the crofters, would have been good to hear about.

Plus what a boon it would have been for the bragging rights alone!  "We had that nice young queen and her handsome husband spend the night in our bed".

Nowadays, they could sell the bed on eBay for a bundle.

[humbleopinion]

AirBnB- Sleep where The Queen and Prince Albert laid their crownless  heads, used the chamber pot, ate fresh trout out of the frying pan...Have a Royal Night of your own...

[TiredMe]

I loved the lightness of this episode. Doesn’t hurt that I enjoyed seeing Blair Castle which I visited during a bucket list trip to Scotland less than two,years ago. The back part was covered in scaffolding but I loved visit. The property is beautiful. 

[TiaLou]

Quote

And I may have missed it, but why is the Duchess blaming herself for her husband's death? That wasn't clear to me. And, if Ernst didn't have the clap, would it have been a problem for him to marry her?

I think Harriet blames herself because her husband knew she was in love with Ernst, so he (the husband) deliberately chose to ride an unbroken horse which was risking his life ... basically he killed himself, and she feels it was because of her.

Ernst could have married her if he wanted ... Leopold wanted to arrange a politically expedient marriage, which Harriet would not have provided, but at the end of the day Ernst could have told Uncle Leopold to sod off and could have done whatever he wanted to do.

Count me in with the earlier poster who wondered why Victoria and Albert didn't even mention missing their children while they were lost on the moors. When they talk in the little bed about how wonderful it would be to just get away from it all, I thought ONE of them would say something like, "and if we just had the children with us." But no. Vicky, Bertie and Alice were forgotten.

I don't think that couple would have had any clue who V&A were, not until the soldiers showed up in the morning. No photographs, no magazines or newspapers, etc. They might not have been literate. (Well, maybe he was.) What I wonder is, would it have been realistic for the two old people to both speak English? I sort of expected that Albert was going to knock on the door of this cottage and be faced with someone who only spoke Gaelic. When the husband spoke English, I thought, oh, well, for sure the wife won't speak English ... but quelle surprise pour moi. I admit I am not that well educated about languages in rural Scotland in the first half of the 19th century. Perhaps everyone knew English; I thought there was a chance that some folks, especially older ones, did not.

Edited March 24, 2018 by TiaLou
clarification

[Roseanna]

On ‎24‎.‎3‎.‎2018 at 3:05 AM, TiaLou said:

I think Harriet blames herself because her husband knew she was in love with Ernst, so he (the husband) deliberately chose to ride an unbroken horse which was risking his life ... basically he killed himself, and she feels it was because of her.

In the context of this show, yes. But even if it was suicide, it was his choice, maybe even a noble gift of love to give her freedom. (A sensible man loving her wife would have understood that feelings come and go and whatever Harriet felt for Ernst, she chose to stay with her husband which was in the long run meant more.)

Irl, the aristocratic marriage wasn't about love but about fortunes and heirs. After the couple had produced an heir and a spare, also a wife was free to have affairs (which Harriet even didn't have).

[Roseanna]

On ‎24‎.‎3‎.‎2018 at 3:05 AM, TiaLou said:

Count me in with the earlier poster who wondered why Victoria and Albert didn't even mention missing their children while they were lost on the moors. When they talk in the little bed about how wonderful it would be to just get away from it all, I thought ONE of them would say something like, "and if we just had the children with us." But no. Vicky, Bertie and Alice were forgotten.

I think it shows well that Victoria isn't a maternal person. To her, having children was a duty. Thus, "how wonderful it would be to just get away from it all" meant forgetting her duties as Queen and mother.  Only alone with Albert she can imagine herself to be free. "If we just had the children with us" would have shattered the illusion for they must have also a cook, a maid, nurses etc. Despite the romantic end of the episode, Victoria could never manage all household chores by herself.    

[Nolefan]

On 2/12/2018 at 3:22 PM, CousinAmy said:

When Victoria and Albert were snuggling in the cottage, halfway dreaming about never going back, the writer seems to have forgotten that they have children. They are written as two young livers, meanwhile, isn't there half a football team waiting for the?em back in the nursery? (I have no idea how many children they have at this point.) 

I think Victoria and Albert thought it was the honeymoon they never had, and as you said, they were just dreaming. Why wreck the fantasy with any part of reality? I also  think that a part of Victoria would be perfectly happy with Lehzen raising the kids and she would just secretly visit every once and a while and drop off the additional babies that are born. And I think Albert was shown as being feed up with the fishbowl of palace life at that point, and he was just going to enjoy the fantasy and savor the alone time with Victoria because he knew it wouldn’t last long.

On 2/11/2018 at 11:05 PM, humbleopinion said:

When Handsome Kilt Dude aka Hunky Highlander asked if he could write to her...how could you not swoon.....

As for the Hunky Highlander

Spoiler

A part of me is wondering if this guy is John Brown. I was suspicious as to why his name was never mentioned. I thought the reason could be to leave the door open in that regard. Also, some drama could be created with a potential future love triangle with Victoria and Skerret. 

I LOVED this episode!