S04.E01: Episode 1

[nodorothyparker]

Episode Synopsis:

As the Poldarks look to rebuild their marriage, Ross watches Cornwall suffer under the power of Truro's MP, George Warleggan. The prime minister calls for a new election, and Hugh is set to rival George in the upcoming vote. A corn riot erupts in Truro with dire consequences while Demelza's infidelity leaves her torn between her husband and a lovesick Hugh.

[nodorothyparker]

Annnd, we're off.  Gloriously overwrought melodrama cranked up to 11 aside, I love the show's cheeky opening nod to what the main draw really is:  A shirtless Ross frolicking in the waves and then slowly emerging still shirtless to look around and brood a bit still sans shirt.

The episode really hit the ground running in picking up right where last season left off.  Cornwall's still in turmoil, times are still hard, George is still an ass doing his best mustache twirling villainy.  At every turn, Ross is being forced to face the real-time consequences of refusing to take on any of the leadership or ruling roles that have been offered him on a silver platter.  Sure, he can give impassioned speeches, as he does again here, about how everyone should do the right thing and be merciful, but in rejecting the authority that would allow him to enforce those words and ceding it to George, it's just words that can be airily waved away.  The last minute reprieve at the mass hanging was this show at its sudiest soapiest best, but it was also a costly lesson to Ross about trusting other influential men to do the job he's been insisting up until now that he doesn't want to dirty his hands to do.

I appreciate that the show isn't glossing over Demelza's dalliance with Hugh, but that it's smartly avoiding it become the huge high-pitched mess that it made out of Ross and Elizabeth with lots of shouting and ultimatums and dramatic stewing and thrown crockery.  There's something positively mature in the way that Demelza and Ross are each addressing it and what it means going forward.  That doesn't make the service to set Agatha's grave marker with all the participants assembled any less hilariously awkward though.

[Pogojoco]

Oh, Demelza- I know Ross has been a complete donkey (though a very, very fit and pretty donkey) but I cannot with Hugh and his poetry. 

 

It is so soapy and hilariously awkward. 

[purist]

Fantastically snarky review by Viv Groskop of episode 1 in The Guardian. Sample quote:

Quote

“There are three further lines to my poem: ‘And if this day be all. Proud is my heart’s recall. Proud is my funeral pall.’” Oh, you drama queen. I am not aggrieved for Armitage that his health is uncertain. His poetry is awful.

I agree with her singling out the performance of Tristan Sturrock as Zacky Martin in this episode. He was great.

[nodorothyparker]

That is wonderfully snarky.  I think I'm going to refer to George as Evil George as if that's his full name from here on out.  Just because.

I love the reviewer repeatedly referring to Jago as "the one who sounds the most Cornish" because while for an American I'm usually pretty good at deciphering the different accents, I couldn't make heads or tails out of most of what he said on initial viewing.  So maybe it's a blessing the character ended up hanging?  Every time the actor had a line it gave me greater appreciation of a line from one of the later Outlander books where one character asks another of a minor Cornish bit player groom:  "Did you actually understand anything he said?"  "Not a word."    

[Zella]

Because of the Guardian reviews, which are fantastic and something I always look forward to, I can't help but call him Evil George, then I have to back track and explain who I'm talking about to other people. (Although after last season, I also watched Blandings, and I now have a really hard time not thinking of Jack Farthing as Freddy, the world's most delightful male airhead.)

Truthfully, Evil George is my favorite character, and I am eagerly anticipating more evil shenanigans from him this season. 

Zacky broke my heart in this episode.

The hangings were surprisingly dramatic to me. I actually gasped aloud when it finally took place.

I am enjoying Ross and Demelza finding their way back to each other more than I expected. Truthfully, Demelza has really annoyed me for the past season or so, but I liked her again in this episode.

I just can't with Hugh and his terrible poetry and boy band hair.

I was irrationally excited to see Horace and Dwight being pals for a little bit. 

Edited October 1, 2018 by Zella

[TiredMe]

I simply cannot imagine Demetria being attracted to that child when she has shirtless brooding Ross. I missed the slo-mo horse riding along the cliff/beach so much. Lol

i Agree that the hanging was soapy dramatic but I was still on the end of my seat and Zacky tore my heart out with his sobbing. 

Is it bad that my fav scene  was the cute pug barking? 

[j5cochran]

I'm glad that Ross and Demelza are beginning to trust one another again, after all of the mess with Elizabeth and with Hugh.

However. . . Demelza, gurl, Ross took away your chance to say goodbye to your brothers before their horrific death.  He deserves anything you want to do to his delightfully shirtless but nevertheless thoughtless body. Let the crockery be thrown!!!

[HunterHunted]

12 hours ago, TiredMe said:

I simply cannot imagine Demelza being attracted to that child when she has shirtless brooding Ross. I missed the slo-mo horse riding along the cliff/beach so much. Lol

Ross is Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites. He's sanctimonious, smug, entitled, withholding, and imperious. Like the entire world is begging him to run for office, but he's like "I don't wanna be the man." But he thinks he can stroll into court or the town square, speechify, and get his way. You choose him over George because George is petty, vindictive, and mean. Ross is generally not mean or vindictive, but his entitlement and narcissism means that he sometimes craps all over the people he cares for because he was being extremely thoughtless and self-centered. Ross is hot and sexy, but he's an asshole. He's an asshole in a different way than George, but he's still an asshole.

And tonight when he kept it hidden from Demelza that her brothers were arrested for murder and could have been executed, how did he think that conversation was gonna go if they died? He said he was doing it to protect her, but he was actually doing if for himself because he didn't want to deal with her messy emotions.

I sort of love that George has these aspirations that are always sort of dashed at the last moment. I think his problem is that he always shoots for complete dominance and annihilation. His ambitions are too grand. It took the Kennedys 3 generations to get someone into the White House. George wants it to be him, instead of his children or grandchildren. England has always been more class conscious than the US. Every time he pushes too far, he reveals himself to be a boorish striver, which makes the truly upper class resistant to him.

If he weren't so self-centered and striving, he would have arranged a much better marriage for Elizabeth's poor cousin. Yes, her husband has a name, but he is odious. And as she continues to give her hateful husband heirs, she'll be in a position  to bestow on George's kids every bit of kindness that George offered her. A high tide lifts all boats, but George seems to operate in a very concrete fashion with no nuance or feelings at all. His lizard brain always takes over. This is why karma bites him all the time.

Edited October 1, 2018 by HunterHunted

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, TiredMe said:

I simply cannot imagine Demetria being attracted to that child when she has shirtless brooding Ross. I missed the slo-mo horse riding along the cliff/beach so much. Lol

Hugh is a lot easier to deal with than Ross, even if Hugh's terrible poetry is something she has to endure, heh.

8 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Ross is hot and sexy, but he's an asshole. He's an asshole in a different way than George, but he's still an asshole.

Definitely. Ross wants to have his cake (no office) and eat it too (be influential in local politics). Sorry, Ross, it doesn't work that way. This is one of the things that really exasperates me about Ross.

Aunt Agatha's stone unveiling (or whatever you call it) was hilariously awkward.

Poor Zacky. That was heartbreaking to watch.

One thing this show does pretty well is balance the grim with the joy. Just as I was thinking things were getting way too soapy and unbearable, we find out Pug Lady is going to have a baby, and Dwight couldn't be happier! I think the pug might get jealous, though, so keep an eye out!

[GHScorpiosRule]

43 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Just as I was thinking things were getting way too soapy and unbearable

But @dubbel zout, I would think you would love the soapiness considering that other show fails to make things soapy!???

Got sucked in watching another show last night, so didn’t get a chance to watch this yet. Good to know that there’s shirtless Ross to make up for the things that drive me crazy.

[dubbel zout]

LOL. This show is similar to other shows in that the soapiness doesn't change, i.e., Ross swoops in at the last minute to make some self-righteous speech, George twirls his mustache and wins a small victory but is ultimately slapped back, etc.

I definitely appreciated the opening scene of Ross swimming shirtless in the scene. I was just complaining to my mom that there wasn't nearly enough of that. They want me to stick around for all the Cornish politics, they need to give me shirtless Ross more than once a season.

[Nidratime]

Quote

Poor Zacky. That was heartbreaking to watch.

When the episode opened, I had no idea who that fellow was walking along the docks, watching the local grain get loaded on the ship for export. Time must have really passed since I don't remember Zacky's kid being so big. Ultimately, he was nothing more than the Poldark version of a Star Trek "red shirt" who is sacrificed for the sake of a dramatic plot line!

[SongbirdHollow]

21 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

 

I definitely appreciated the opening scene of Ross swimming shirtless in the scene. I was just complaining to my mom that there wasn't nearly enough of that. They want me to stick around for all the Cornish politics, they need to give me shirtless Ross more than once a season.

I attended a screening of this episode at a local theater last weekend and when Ross emerged from the ocean the ladies in the audience had quite the reaction. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, SongbirdHollow said:

I attended a screening of this episode at a local theater last weekend and when Ross emerged from the ocean the ladies in the audience had quite the reaction. 

Like this?

 

[nodorothyparker]

This is my absolute favorite of any recap of this episode I've read so far, even if just for this paragraph:

Quote

Later, Hugh and Demelza have a one-on-one about how they “disquiet” each other.  He drops a couple more lines of poetry on her butt, and she asks him what they mean.  He says if he can’t fuck her in the weeds again, he’ll die.  Dude, you won’t die.  Your life will just suck, like your poetry.

Oh, and you're welcome.

[GHScorpiosRule]

37 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

 

Oh, and you're welcome.

 

[HunterHunted]

I really hate George, but I find him to be such a fascinating character that I wish the show would delve into him a little more. I loved the scene from last season where he shows up at Lord so and so's house to talk about his election prospects only to be left in a room to wait, overhear that Lord whatsit is entertaining Ross and Demelza, and is planning on running Ross for office.

It's clear in the first season that Ross and to a lesser extent Francis were, during their school years, constantly throwing it in George's face that he was a jumped up blacksmith. I think George has never understood how the Poldarks can treat their employees and the people of Cornwall with such paternalistic benevolence, but be such condescending pricks to him and constantly remind him of his station. I think George has never understood the balancing act of the landed gentry and aristocracy. Those people of a lower station are absolutely necessary for their "social betters" to ensure that higher status people had money their pockets and food in their bellies. All of those regular folks could have saved their meager coins and left for elsewhere in England, America, Canada, or Australia. Like if you want to keep eating, don't treat these people as trash or disposable. People who have starved to death can't work your mines or grow your food.

George has such displaced shame and rage that he'll happily screw over the Cornish people to get back at Ross, not realizing that the entire class system is what he actually has a problem with. So he keeps being greedy, striving, and short-sighted locally in hopes that each new deal or score is his ticket to the bigs in London. He never realizes that the actual aristocracy, monarchy, and people in power need a person who can consistently keep the people of Cornwall relatively happy and satiated in the off chance that copper, tin, grain, and what have you are needed for the defense of the England or English interests. George isn't that guy.  When he makes decisions, they often end up in riots and bloodshed. And that's why people keep turning to Ross to be a leader in the community. 

If George was ever capable of empathy, it has long been snuffed out. I've also got to think that rumors of the last days of Granny Poldark must have trickled out of Trenwith. There has got to be some feeling that "our kind of people" don't do this to people in our same social class. And that's got to blowback onto George.

I'm kind of reminded of the Brooke Astor scandal. It took years before her grandson and society friends stepped in because they didn't want to believe it or publicize it. And by years, I mean anywhere from 4 to 6 years. And while they noticed something was up, they did nothing about it until 2006. However, right as the guardianship suit was commencing, Astor's grandson had heard through the high society set that the De La Rentas,  Kissingers, and Rockefellers were planning something similar. All of this is to say that people in the social set where George aspires to be have likely heard tale of George's horrible treatment of Agatha Poldark and are spreading the gossip around.

[Hyla]

16 hours ago, Zella said:

Zacky broke my heart in this episode.

The hangings were surprisingly dramatic to me. I actually gasped aloud when it finally took place.

That was a difficult scene to watch. Especially when Ross leapt into his last minute speech and Zacky seemed to dare to hope his son might be spared. Kinda figured one was getting the follow through though and it wouldn't be either of the Carne brothers. 

3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Definitely. Ross wants to have his cake (no office) and eat it too (be influential in local politics). Sorry, Ross, it doesn't work that way. This is one of the things that really exasperates me about Ross.

And then he's walking through the town with Dwight after that awful hanging and he still seems to be on the fence about it. His neighbors are suffering and dying and he could have been doing something about it all along if he'd just give up that righteous, uncompromising ideal of himself.

On 6/11/2018 at 11:38 PM, Pogojoco said:

Oh, Demelza- I know Ross has been a complete donkey (though a very, very fit and pretty donkey) but I cannot with Hugh and his poetry.

I can't stand Hugh. Not only is the poetry bad but he comes across as manipulative and completely self absorbed. Maybe when he first got out of the French prison and saw Demelza on the shore his feelings were kind of understandable, but at this point, I don't see anything romantic there at all. Is his blindness also supposed to be a metaphor? He doesn't seem to see her at all, or have any regards for her marriage or young children.

At least Caroline and Dwight seem to have a healthy relationship in a good place. I'm most invested in them and in Morwenna and Drake realizing they absolutely need to run away together.

[Neurochick]

13 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I sort of love that George has these aspirations that are always sort of dashed at the last moment. I think his problem is that he always shoots for complete dominance and annihilation. His ambitions are too grand. It took the Kennedys 3 generations to get someone into the White House. George wants it to be him, instead of his children or grandchildren. England has always been more class conscious than the US. Every time he pushes too far, he reveals himself to be a boorish striver, which makes the truly upper class resistant to him.

George should just go to the US and call it a day.  No one would have cared who his grandpa was.  He just pisses me off, "they'll never accept you, asshole, so stop being a dick."

Edited October 1, 2018 by Neurochick

[Magnumfangirl]

1 hour ago, Hyla said:

I can't stand Hugh.

Me neither.  I don't get Demelza's attraction to him at all.  He looks like a 12 year old girl and putting the moves on the wife of the guy who rescued you from a POW camp is complete asshole-ry.

Where did Caroline disappear to when Sir Bassett came to Nampara for tea after Agatha's memorial?  She and Demelza were seen rushing back to the house to straighten things up and then she just vanished.  

Edited October 1, 2018 by Magnumfangirl

[HoodlumSheep]

This episode felt so empty without my beloved nana poldark :'( I wish her tombstone would have cracked or something just to let us know she's enjoying the afterlife. I'm gonna miss her witchcraft. Now my only hope of seeing her again is possibly haunting george's dreams or something. Pretty please? I still want her to somehow make george rue the day he ever messed with her.

I know ross' speeches are a ridiculous staple of the show used to fill out our bingo cards nowadays, but i'm just getting tired of them at this point.

Not a single care is given about the teeny bopper poet extraordinaire.

Zacky broke my heart. Was Jago in season one or anything? Because i don't remember him at all.

No Jeffy boy this episode either :'(. Hopefully he's studying hard at hogwarts so he can carry on nana poldark's will. At least take up the tarot cards.

I know this show owns up to some of it's ridiculous antics, but is it necessary to use slow motion every 5 minutes? Slow motion ross walking out of the water, slow motion ross riding his horse, slow motion ross burning some twigs???, slow motion ross riding his horse again, slow motion demelza running to her brothers...it's a bit excessive at this point.

Overall a so-so season opener.

[Hyla]

5 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Me neither.  I don't get Demelza's attraction to him at all.  He looks like a 12 year old girl and putting the moves on the wife of the guy who rescued you from a POW camp is complete asshole-ry.

So is the whole if you don't sleep with me again I will die line.

I don't see any hint of romance in it at all. This guy is just gross and manipulative.

5 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Where did Caroline disappear to when Sir Bassett came to Nampara for tea after Agatha's memorial?  She and Demelza were seen rushing back to the house to straighten things up and then she just vanished.  

I thought she was still there standing to the left of the screen during the tea.

49 minutes ago, HoodlumSheep said:

This episode felt so empty without my beloved nana poldark :'( I wish her tombstone would have cracked or something just to let us know she's enjoying the afterlife. I'm gonna miss her witchcraft. Now my only hope of seeing her again is possibly haunting george's dreams or something. Pretty please? I still want her to somehow make george rue the day he ever messed with her.

I hope they call back to that too! Jeffrey Charles at least should be loyal to her. I hope she has passed her legacy on :)

[Jacks-Son]

22 hours ago, Hyla said:

So is the whole if you don't sleep with me again I will die line.

I don't see any hint of romance in it at all. This guy is just gross and manipulative.

I've been waiting, like all of you, for Poldark's return and was happy with the episode except for a couple of things.  Yes, Ross, came out of the water dripping wet and that's fine for you ladies and guys, I guess, but what about us Demelza fans.  I'd like an image of her coming out of the surf all wet.  :-)

I see our ongoing hatred of Hugh hasn't waned since the last season.  He's still such an obvious child and now he's a liar also.  I had given him a small benefit of the doubt about his honor (Sorry, that's a lie, the guy has none, but he wasn't a liar before).  He deliberately told a lie and said he was fine and not having medical problems, yet Dwight knows his days are numbered.  This bullshit about how he'll die if he doesn't sleep with Demelza again, should have been laughed at by her.  C'mon, Dude, you expect anybody to believe that.  You're dying anyway, so to say, I'll die if we don't have sex again, is silly. It's silly even if you aren't terminal.  It's just utterly overdramatic and fitting with his schoolboy looks and manner.

The hangings may have not been exciting, but I was at attention, waiting to see how far the show would go.  I think Ross really wanted to protect Demelza by not telling her and keeping open the possibility that he can get a reprieve.  Calculated risk that paid off.  Barely.

They FINALLY buried Aunt Agatha (miss her snark and I miss Verity) and I give Elizabeth credit for apologizing to George and Demelza for the late services.  Fvck George!!  And most especially Fvck Whitworth, the odious one.

I'm finally happy that Prudie realized that by opening her fvcking mouth about nothing, she was directly responsible for the family's nearly broken household and was heartbroken with what she had done.  I think Demelza reacted to Prudie's reveal about what she thought she saw transpire at the church and acted accordingly.  For Demelza to console Prudie and say the chill in the air had nothing to do with what she said. However, she stopped without hearing what Prudie  NOW believes transpired.  She should have come out and said that what she had seen between Ross and Elizabeth was harmless and Ross didn't deserve her and Demelza's disdain.  So should have Ross.  He should have finally said to Demelza what he had imagined in his head last season.  The speech we ALL thought he should have said out loud to Demelza.

Love the show's constant images of Valentine with his dark & curly hair.

I can't believe nobody questioned the guilt of the Carne boys considering the anonymous letter condemning them came from that Master Fvckwad Cudgel (Tom Harry) and was put forth by George Warleggan.  Nobody thought it was odd that George accuses Ross' wife's brothers as criminals, AGAIN!!!!  Their criminal justice system is based on the words of liars, cheats, scoundrels and entitled assholes.  Much like today's criminal justice system.

[Nidratime]

Quote

I see our ongoing hatred of Hugh hasn't waned since the last season.  He's still such an obvious child and now he's a liar also.  I had given him a small benefit of the doubt about his honor (Sorry, that's a lie, the guy has none, but he wasn't a liar before).  He deliberately told a lie and said he was fine and not having medical problems, yet Dwight knows his days are numbered.  This bullshit about how he'll die if he doesn't sleep with Demelza again, should have been laughed at by her.  C'mon, Dude, you expect anybody to believe that.  You're dying anyway, so to say, I'll die if we don't have sex again, is silly. It's silly even if you aren't terminal.  It's just utterly overdramatic and fitting with his schoolboy looks and manner.

One thing we should remember about Demelza is that she met and fell in love with Ross at a young age. He was her first and only love. Ross never romanced her or courted her with flowery language, with declarations of love, that's for sure, but that didn't matter to her at the time. In fact, he seemed ambivalent and she always felt herself second place to Elizabeth. Now, after all these years, a young man comes along and proclaims his love, romances her, writes poetry. He sees no other but her. I can see how that can be enticing and flattering, even though Demelza knows she loves Ross and would never give up her family. For the first time, ever, Demelza's being wooed and romanced, no matter how clumsy some might find it. It's unfortunate it's not Ross doing it but I can certainly see how Demelza could be so flattered. This is not the attentions of a lecherous old coot, which is what she had been experiencing from some of her and Ross' neighbors, but the tragic "love" of a young, heroic, dying man. So, I have to say that I can understand, if not condone.

[Zella]

I can understand, on an intellectual level, how she would be genuinely flattered, especially given her own background and romantic history. But I just cannot get over what a drip Hugh himself is. 

[Jacks-Son]

2 hours ago, Nidratime said:

So, I have to say that I can understand, if not condone.

The general consensus of the forum. 

 

44 minutes ago, Zella said:

I can understand, on an intellectual level, how she would be genuinely flattered, especially given her own background and romantic history. But I just cannot get over what a drip Hugh himself is.

Again, the general consensus of the forum and hilarious to boot!!  Demelza is no longer a child, despite her earlier circumstances, and yet she continues to fall for that crap knowing that she truly loves Ross and knows he can be inattentive at times. However, sh*t happens, and lovers have been known to stray, decide what you want to do and stick with it. Ross is showing remarkable restraint, but in truth, all things being equal, he has no leg to stand on, given "that night".  This is where the sh*t comes back to bite you on the a$$.  Considering the times, and what Mark did to his wife years ago when he found out about her and Dwight, Ross is really going against what was traditionally expected to lead to a duel.  Ross has literally been cuckolded by one of the gentry. An immature, dishonest, undeserving man-boy.  Ugh!!  Please show, don't keep this sordid affair going on, I find it most distasteful, NOT because of his youth, Hell, I give him props for hooking up with a fine woman like Demelza.  I just hate their school kids behavior like they're still in grade school with Hugh pulling Demelza's hair.

[olivia1]

Quote

Ross is really going against what was traditionally expected to lead to a duel.  Ross has literally been cuckolded by one of the gentry.

Yes! This has bothered me. No matter what HE did with Liz it doesn’t seem that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander would apply in those days. Even now I don’t think many men or women would be so unforgiving if their partner came in from a romp in the dunes and wouldn’t at least expect them to go for a wash before getting in bed. Ask me nothing... nah I’d be asking plenty. He’s always so nice when he says Hugh the Boy Toy, too.  Not very believable IMO.

[Magnumfangirl]

5 hours ago, olivia1 said:

 No matter what HE did with Liz it doesn’t seem that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander would apply in those days.

Good point.  When is Ross gonna lose it and tell Demelza off, and beat the crap out of Hugh?  Ross being so accepting of the situation sort of comes across as pandering to the female audience (because a man can't get pissed at his wife even when she deserves it).   Demelza chewed Ross out and kicked him out of their bedroom for a while after his night with Elizabeth.  That's much more realistic.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Magnumfangirl

[Zella]

There's no denying Ross is a complete ass, but I feel like Hugh is also a narcissist who is using and manipulating Demelza for his own purposes. To me, he is no better than the shameful way Ross has behaved toward her in the past. I think Hugh sees she has never received that kind of attention, and he then uses that approach because he knows it will work and because it boosts his perception of himself as a brooding artiste, not because he thinks Demelza has been denied that and deserves a romance. 

[Jacks-Son]

7 minutes ago, Zella said:

manipulating Demelza for his own purposes.

Yes, Hugh wants Nookie!  He'll die if he doesn't get any more nookie!  Poor baby .

[nodorothyparker]

Ross is often ridiculously self-absorbed and despite his periodically coming up for air to acknowledge that he does take Demelza for granted, he often goes right back to doing it as he's off to chase his next windmill.  But in all fairness, Demelza did go into their marriage knowing about Ross's Elizabeth fixation and that she was his second pick, in his own words "a distraction" that he came to love nonetheless.  I've always totally bought that Demelza was flattered by the full-blown wooing from a man of their class that she never got and didn't know how to draw the line until they were way over it, just as I can buy that for as much of a self-righteous ass as Ross can be he is self aware enough to understand the role his own inattention played in it.

None of that makes what Hugh is doing particularly noble.  He wants what he wants and he's dressing it up in artistic pretensions to get it because he sees that Demelza responds to it.  Again, all of the people involved are aware that Demelza is a married woman and divorce really isn't an option, so at best he's proposing that Demelza continue a situation that may very well end up with her being socially branded a whore and Ross a cuckold.  Just so he can continue to "fuck her in the weeds."

[Jacks-Son]

4 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Again, all of the people involved are aware that Demelza is a married woman and divorce really isn't an option, so at best he's proposing that Demelza continue a situation that may very well end up with her being socially branded a whore and Ross a cuckold.  Just so he can continue to "fuck her in the weeds."

Succinct, and brutally honest.  Well-said!

[Zella]

4 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Ross is often ridiculously self-absorbed and despite his periodically coming up for air to acknowledge that he does take Demelza for granted, he often goes right back to doing it as he's off to chase his next windmill.  But in all fairness, Demelza did go into their marriage knowing about Ross's Elizabeth fixation and that she was his second pick, in his own words "a distraction" that he came to love nonetheless.  I've always totally bought that Demelza was flattered by the full-blown wooing from a man of their class that she never got and didn't know how to draw the line until they were way over it, just as I can buy that for as much of a self-righteous ass as Ross can be he is self aware enough to understand the role his own inattention played in it.

None of that makes what Hugh is doing particularly noble.  He wants what he wants and he's dressing it up in artistic pretensions to get it because he sees that Demelza responds to it.  Again, all of the people involved are aware that Demelza is a married woman and divorce really isn't an option, so at best he's proposing that Demelza continue a situation that may very well end up with her being socially branded a whore and Ross a cuckold.  Just so he can continue to "fuck her in the weeds."

Amen!

[kicksave]

On 10/1/2018 at 11:57 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Like this?

 

Yep...he's hot....very hot!

[Neurochick]

On 10/2/2018 at 10:41 PM, Nidratime said:

One thing we should remember about Demelza is that she met and fell in love with Ross at a young age. He was her first and only love. Ross never romanced her or courted her with flowery language, with declarations of love, that's for sure, but that didn't matter to her at the time. In fact, he seemed ambivalent and she always felt herself second place to Elizabeth. Now, after all these years, a young man comes along and proclaims his love, romances her, writes poetry. He sees no other but her. I can see how that can be enticing and flattering, even though Demelza knows she loves Ross and would never give up her family. For the first time, ever, Demelza's being wooed and romanced, no matter how clumsy some might find it. It's unfortunate it's not Ross doing it but I can certainly see how Demelza could be so flattered. This is not the attentions of a lecherous old coot, which is what she had been experiencing from some of her and Ross' neighbors, but the tragic "love" of a young, heroic, dying man. So, I have to say that I can understand, if not condone.

I agree with this; Hugh makes Demelza feel like the girl she was before she married Ross.  She was never courted, never wooed, so here comes Hugh, who courts Demelza and woos her and Demelza's like, "I love Ross, but I really like this too."  

I also think most marriages at that time were more like George and Elizabeth, quid pro quo, you give me this, I give you that.   Not a lot of courting and wooing eithier.

[Zella]

5 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I also think most marriages at that time were more like George and Elizabeth, quid pro quo, you give me this, I give you that.   Not a lot of courting and wooing eithier.

Yes, it was very transactional. 

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

6 hours ago, Neurochick said:

I also think most marriages at that time were more like George and Elizabeth, quid pro quo, you give me this, I give you that.   Not a lot of courting and wooing eithier.

Yes, it was very transactional. 

You were lucky if you liked your spouse. 

[Haleth]

I know I'm way too late to the party for anyone to read this but this is how I see the situation.  Demelza loves Ross.  She will never leave Ross.  She knows it was a mistake to take a tumble in the weeds with Hugh and will never do it again.  (Two wrongs don't make a right.)  But she is also very kind and sympathetic to Hugh's situation so she will not laugh at his bad poetry or tell him to quit bothering her.  (Plus it is flattering to have a handsome young man head over heels in love with you.)  Hugh is ridiculously immature and the idea that he is capable of representing the area in Parliament is also ridiculous.  Surely Ross will come to his senses and pick up the mantle when Hugh inevitable sickens further?

I'm sure it was authentic but I shocked me that the judge allowed George to arbitrarily change the time of the hearing so the boys were deprived of having anyone speak in their behalf.  How unjust is that?

I burst out laughing at the first scene of dripping wet Ross arising from the waves.  Shirtless of course.  Probably the least subtle thing I've ever seen on tv.  Uh, and thanks.

I really didn't expect the Carne brothers to hang, but that scene was harrowing.  I held my breath the whole time.  The actor who played Zacky was superb.  My heart broke for him as he went from hopeful to horror.  Well done.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Haleth