Poldark!

[RumplesGirl]

Poldark 1×03

Or: Nobody Like the Poor. Except Ross. And Ross Likes Them A Little Too Much

Since the series is only 6 episodes long, episode three obviously had to be the turning point and it proved to be such when several “big” meaty plot points occurred. The most significant of these, obviously, was the (rapid fire fast) relationship change between Ross and Demelza. Ok, maybe not Verity and her Sea Captain fast, but rather fast (also, girlfriend keeps a picture of Sea Captain in a locket. Oi vey. I know where this is going). But behind the big plot points there were some serious social and economic considerations, which I must confess I’m finding more intriguing than the inter personal relationships, though more on that in a bit.

Ross is a “people’s person.” He likes the poor, he likes the down trodden, he likes those that are labeled as “other” by society, the society to which he technically still belongs and used to claim as kin. However, now he is more comfortable working alongside them, down in the muck–and often shirtless! Not that I’m complaining about the shirtless Aidan Turner. Boy is ripped, perhaps unrealistically so for Revolutionary England, but High Drama does as High Drama is wont to do (which is to say that Darcy dives into a lake in a white t-shirt and Poldark has Batman’s body). However, Ross’s attitude toward the low born is to his credit and makes him stand in contrast to the other Poldark’s, the ones only concerned with carrying on the family name, not paying their servants proper wages, and semi-forcing themselves on to their wives in a jealous rage (Francis can go bye bye now, k thanks). The gatherings of the Poldarks are dark (pun not intended), dreary and stuffy–literally as they take place indoors because the outdoors are for the low born and those who cannot afford to live in a house with SIX drawing rooms (not an exaggeration though I don’t actually know how many drawing rooms THE Poldark’s have). Contrast to this, of course, is the outdoor, life giving, airy, and colorful celebration that Ross witnesses. Everything about it is inviting, whereas he is made to feel awkward in the Poldark’s home. Theme: family and home are what you make it, not that to which you are born, important for both Ross and Demelza.

Elizabeth continues to bug in a way that is confusing. Any woman who is almost raped by a jealous husband instantly earns my pity and sympathy but then she goes and gives the most heavy handed metaphor so far: cornflowers fade, lovely though they may be. AKA: “You wanton strumpet! I see what you are about. But you are a weed, and I am a LAAAAAAADY and therefore better than you! Now move out of my way, you common hussy!” Also, feel somewhat sorry for Geoffrey Charles because I get the feeling Mama is going to cling to him and make him into a mama’s boy which will only further incite Francis’s wrath. Ain’t gonna be a pretty home situation is what I’m saying here.

Speaking of a non elegant home situation: Papa-Demelza (does he have a name…I could just call him Drunkard. Yeah, let’s do that) shows up because he HATH FOUND THE LORD AND HE IS JUDGING YE! Oi  vey, again. I’m glad Drunkard is off the hooch, but man…re-born and judgmental people annoy me so much. He is convinced that the only reason Demelza is with Poldark is cause they be fornicating (biiiiiiiig theme of the episode: everyone thinks Poldark is plowing that field already). It couldn’t possibly be because you were an abusive butt, right Drunkard?

But this leads us to: she-bang she-bang. A few passing thoughts: first off, I find the relationship to be fast. I know, I know, @Slurpeez is going to hit me with a broom. The show has spent so much time focusing on just Ross and his need to protect and care for the poor (and his lingering feelings for Elizabeth) that the interactions between him and Demelza have been surprisingly sparse (and even as a non-book reader, I knew they’d end up together. I mean…this ain’t trope breaking literature by any stretch). They’ve had some interactions, and what they’ve had has been good, I’ll grant. A few longing look, a few good conversations, a few hints that they regard each other highly. But Ross comes home drunk, kisses his maid who has put on a fine dress, and next thing we know…well he’s plowing a field. *ahem sexual metaphor is obvious ahem* I guess what I’m trying to say, in my not so elegant but snark filled way, is that it was a bit too fast and reeks of a TV producer knowing that he only has 6 hours to tell a sprawling epic when they really need 12 hours in order to flesh out both characters as individuals (meaning giving them both more than one or two defining traits. Ross  = haunted and cares for the poor; Demelza = poor but kind), Ross’s care of the poor, and the relationship between the two (not to mention all the B-plot stuff of Elizabeth and Francis, Verity, the other Poldarks, and whatever is going on with the well-to-do-obvious-antagonists-whose-last-name-is-long-and-thus-I’m-forgetting-it) if they want me to buy that it’s a great love story, as it clearly is going to be set up as (again, not trope breaking literature here). The fact that this episode ends with them getting hitched made me both laugh hysterically (Poldark looks like he knows he’s just made a giant mistake) and go “eeeeek” because holy moly, that was fast! (‘You can no longer be my servant but because I have deflowered you, and because I am a Byronic Hero of the highest magnitude, I must keep with my archetype and wed thee!’) I know they can’t really “date” or “court” but no one apart from Elizabeth knows about them and everyone already suspects, so whyyyy the marriage? (oh right, Ross is honorable) Anyway, it does set up some comedic gold for next episode, I’m sure. I just hope they make me believe that these two are more than just ships that passed in the night and then had to face the consequences of their…pulling into harbor.

Misc thoughts:

–still love the music, especially the opening theme

–the harlot returns and is dressed in red. Not subtle, costume department.

–Demelza keeps getting prettier.

[Josephine]

I think you brought up a highly valid point, RG. Time is passing so fast in this series. Last week Elizabeth found out she was pregnant and this week she gave birth to Geoffrey Charles. They went from speculating to reopening a mine in a week. Time is going so fast but it’s not coming across that way on screen.

I did have some comments about historical correctness as I was watching. Elizabeth has the baby in her room? She lives on an estate. Her social position in that time would be that she had a nanny and a wet nurse to look after the baby, who would relegated to the nursery. Realistically, she wouldn’t be that hands on of a mother as to have her baby in the bedroom with her and her husband.

I also wondered how Demelza got that gown on if it tied in back We know how she got it off. 😛

Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.

[Slurpeez]

To address the apparent time jump, it’s not really that fast in the story itself. As pointed out above, almost 9 months have passed for Elizabeth to have had her baby. It seems fast to the audience given that it’s only three episodes in, but what we’re getting are snapshots of the Poldark family.

As I noted last time, the rivalry between Ross and Francis is being underlined and the gulf between them growing. As Charles Poldark, the ailing patriarch of the clan, is quick to point out to his pampered, sniveling son and unworthy heir, Francis,

“Learn fast. If your cousin continues to pay descent wages, we’ll soon have no one left at Grambler. Take a leaf out of your cousin’s book. Does he keep his distance? Does he watch from afar? Or does he roll up his sleeves and toil alongside his men? Which do you think will yield the better result?”

Ross is capable, hardworking and a leader — everything that spoiled, pampered, and aloof Francis is not. Whether Francis is that way by his own nature or by his upbringing, Francis relies too heavily on his inherited fortune and birthright. Francis has gotten by on the name of Poldark, having never really worked an honest day’s labor in his entire life, for which Charles can only have himself to blame for raising his son with such unchecked privilege. Francis has always lived in his father’s shadow, and has met with his dad’s constant disapproval. Now with his father’s failing health, Francis is scared to death of becoming a responsible heir. He seems psychologically incapable or perhaps just unwilling to take up his father’s mantel and become a worthy Poldark patriarch.

Francis’ cousin, Ross, on the other hand is a fit heir. He’s inherited his father’s dilapidated farm and closed mine only to reopen and revive them by his own industry. The two cousins are a foil of one another. Ross by nature is strong to begin with and made stronger in the face of adversity. The war hardened him, but it also prepared him to be a leader of men. As a former army captain, he possesses the quality of inspiring his men by rolling up his sleeves and working beside them. He breaks bread with commoners, he cares for them in their distress, and he provides for them. Ross attends the outdoor wedding of his tenant and friend Jim and provides him with a roof over his head. Ross intercedes for Jim when he’s harshly punished for a minor offense of poaching food to feed his family. Ross is certainly a man of the people, unlike his stuffy cousins and social climbers like the Warleggan bankers, who seek only to profit from other men’s misfortunes.

Being a man who cares neither for social status nor fortune (except to provide for his family and workers), it’s little wonder that Ross would be drawn to a woman like Demelza, the daughter of a poor, common man. She is the total opposite of his former sweetheart, the aristocratic Elizabeth, who spurned Ross for being poor, despite loving him in her own way. Demelza, by contrast, isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and work hard alongside of Ross, whom she clearly is in love with. She cuts entire fields by hand in a day, cooks and keeps house and gets more done in a day than the other servants. Not only is she beautiful, loyal, and charming, but she is a woman of infinite value to Ross. She is a woman who is meant to be noticed, as the other gentlemen of the county are quick to pick up on. Ross is no fool to recognize these good qualities in her. He may desire her, but he doesn’t desire to enter into an illicit affair with her or to dishonor her. Despite himself, he is captured by her beauty and her character. Her low status isn’t what keeps her from him, but his own broken heart. His choosing to act upon his passion for her is a form of catharsis, a moment not just of lust, but of beginning to open himself up to a woman very unlike the woman who rejected him. Demelza isn’t just some ship passing in the night, but a woman who is very much the equal female counterpart of Ross Poldark. So his decision to marry her is not just some passing whim, fancy, or mistake that he’ll soon come to rue. It’s true that he didn’t have to marry her, seeing how he could have just made her his mistress, but that is not the sort of disreputable man that Ross is. Rather, he chooses deliberately to marry her, because already she is something much dearer to him than a servant. She is a woman he greatly admires and esteems.

To speak more to Ross and Demelza, I think their relationship being fast-paced is the point. It’s meant to take us, and Ross, by surprise. The relationship couldn’t easily progress from employer/employee to boyfriend/girlfriend to engaged. Couples back then went from the first profession of love to proposal all in one breath of air (e.g. read every Jane Austen book ever written). The fact that Ross seduced Demelza (or perhaps it was the other way around) just meant that in Ross’ mind, he was honor-bound to marry her (not to mention that he already admires her greatly and is himself a man of the people. He doesn’t have much regard for status or social norms). Ross couldn’t very well leave a girl he’d taken in to fend for herself with her reputation in tatters or send her back disgraced to her hyper-religious father. Whether or not that was a good idea to marry his kitchen maid, well you’ll just have to watch and see. Maybe it’s not groundbreaking literature like it would’ve been in the 19th century, but it’s in the same vein as Jane Eyre in which Mr. Rochester seeks to marry his governess (which did heavily push the envelope in its day).

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[Slurpeez]

disregard

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[RumplesGirl]

Poldark 1×04

Or: Let’s Give Them Something To Talk About. A Little Mystery To Figure Out

Or, Part Two: IN WHICH WE ALL DIE AND I START SHIPPING IT EVEN THOUGH I REALLY SHOULDN’T AND SLURPEEZ, MACY, RANISHA AND I ALL HAVE FEELINGS WHILE JO SITS ON A RAFT PRETENDING WE DON’T EXIST.

I told myself no shipping. I may have failed.

Ok, so this was definitely the best episode so far. It actually course corrected several issues I’ve been having all along, mainly that the relationship between Ross and Demelza was never given room to breathe and be explored outside of a few moments in private and then they suddenly found themselves in bed and then in church. Normally, Ross’s story is centered on his family, Elizabeth, and his mine while the budding supposed romance was tangential. However, this week we finally saw Ross and Demelza as a real couple and it works. It works quite well, actually.

The main theme of Ross and Demelza is…wait for it…hope. (At this point RG realizes she’s setting herself up for heartache but can’t bring herself to stop). For Ross it’s hope for redemption, hope for a quiet and peaceful life in solitude. Work, taking care of others, quiet moments with Demelza–that’s what he wants. No. It’s what he needs. He doesn’t need the riches and the grand estate. Ross can have the little things. For Demelza it’s hope for a better station but also hope that someone can love her for who she is–wild hair, wild personality, but fragile spirit nonetheless. And they found it with each other. Perhaps they stumbled into it, somewhat blind and groping, but hey…don’t all the great love stories? If it were easy, we’d all have true love (swear I’ve heard that before). It’s about truly finding where you belong in this world. For so long Ross thought it was with Elizabeth and the life he envisioned and the life that was laid bare for him; a set of bullet points that he was expected to check off, one box at a time. How repressive.

For Demelza, her life was a series of moments as a gutter rat, or an unloved and abused daughter to a drunk. Demelza, who would forever be fighting tooth and nail to make some sort of mark that mattered but forever ending up back in the same gutter. Repressive, albeit a different one from Ross’s life. But lo’ and behold, something new came their way and they found home together (yes, at this point RG should stop shipping). Ross doesn’t need that stuffy life, the life of tea parties and proper clothing and changing your dress based on what meal is being served–he can have the seaside and the fresh air and warm pie (not a euphemism) with Demelza. And she…well she can be mistress of a little house with her own servant, be a good wife, and still have her “wild mane” (and maybe tackle a servant or two if need be)

Contrary to this, as they have been all season thus far, are Francis and Elizabeth who are in the worst. marriage. ever. Man. I feel bad for Elizabeth (though I think Francis hit the nail on the head with why she’s helping Demelza). Francis is the worst kind of guy: privileged, spoiled,  arrogant, and forever self-pitying. He thinks he deserves it all but can’t stand what he has so he goes looking for it (love, satisfaction, pride, assurance) elsewhere. Normally in our Red-Whore (who I guess only owns one frock). I kinda hope Francis falls into the ocean.

And then there was Varity, whom I kinda dig in that “let’s hang out and be besties” kind of way. I really appreciated that she went to see Demelza and is the first to recognize that Ross isn’t just marrying his former maid on a whim, that Demelza has been incredibly good to him and that she’s changed him for the better. “You gave him hope” Powerful thing, that hope. Varity *gets* it whereas the rest of the small seaside town do not. All they can do it gossip and chatter and speculate but it’s only the one who has been in love and lost it who really understands what is going on. I only want good things for Varity now. Make it so!

MISC notes

–Still loving the music

–Demelza looked magnificent in her Christmas dress

–BABY

–“Merry Christmas…my love” OK GOODBYE

–“I am your humble servant and I love you” GOODBYE PART TWO

–Pretty singing voice from Demelza, no?

–One criticism (but an expected plot line): of course they found copper. You can’t have the hero and his lady actually be destitute.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Slurpeez]

This episode was the real turning point in the relationship between Demelza and Ross Poldark. Though last week’s episode saw them wed at the tail end, this week revealed the fall out. And it was good — so very good.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[RumplesGirl]

Poldark 1×05

Or: Die, Francis. Die.

The birth of little Julia Poldark was the bright and shiny moment of this weeks episode before it all went to heck in a hand basket–or maybe a better turn of phrase here is down to the depths of the mines.

This week was a focus piece of the differences between societies, multiples ones since to divide this time period and its makeup in a binary fashion is really a mistake; a mistake that Poldark seems to be avoiding, thank heavens. You had the working poor–those who struggled every day to keep food on the tables and when there was none, often became loud, boisterous and this weeks case, riotous. As Demelza puts it, when there are empty bellies, you never know what might happen. You have the landed gentry, such as Ross Poldark who manages his own business and lives off the income it provides. The upper class Poldarks are also an example of this, but of a higher caliber (both in terms of money and society). And then there is the uber wealthy, the “I have a butler specifically to pour me more brandy in my crystal glass” rich. The Warleggens are those and boy are they nasty. George Wargleggen has been a peripheral figure through all of this; he inserts himself into the scenes, normally cast in black and oppressive tones. His dress and visage scream “hello, I am the antagonist” as much as the Whore’s red screams that she’s a lady of the night. Like any ruthless businessman, Warleggen is out for himself; he might claim to be sorry to see Francis ruined but I have a strong suspicion that he couldn’t care less.

George might be more of an interesting character than I’m him giving credit for, though this isn’t to say he’s good. Oh no. He’s the villain in our little play. But rather, he’s new money. In two generations, his family went from poor to insanely well-to-do. That’s frowned upon in the high classes. For example in “The Forsyte Saga” the family is new money and thus is thought of as being less than those aristocrats who have had money and land and titles going back generations and generations. It doesn’t matter that those old fat cats are losing all their money; they still have pedigree and heritage on their side, whereas these new money upstarts do not. Warleggen is a new breed of man; his family is self made and likely due to doing business differently as Ross said to his new (hot) doctor friend. While I doubt that the show will delve into the inner psyche of George Warleggen over much, it’s an interesting juxtaposition between Warleggen and say, Francis. Francis Poldark and the Poldark family have had their mine for 200 years, or so sayeth Francis in his final speech. They are not as rich as the Warleggens are currently, but they are old money. They can have portraits of all the Poldark heads of household proudly displayed going all the way back to—well, you get the point. It’s likely that George is somewhat aware of this; that in some regards the Poldarks are better than him, that when it comes to society they might be thought of more highly because of their ancestry. I’m not saying this factors into George’s decision to ruin Francis (can there be any doubt that George is out to get him, for whatever reason) but it’s something to tuck away for a rainy day.

The societal interactions between these classes demonstrates the nature of our main cast of characters, but I think also might hint at who comes out of this novel/play well and who does not. Ross will stop and give the poor coins from his pocket, through we are given to understand that he probably cannot afford to do this. Francis (pig!) cares little for his workers and even less about their situation. Francis is myopically focused on his own ego. He will not as for help, though it’s clear that Elizabeth would have some sage advice. He will not stop his own ruin, but instead buys jewels for his mistress and fritters away his mine in a card game. In his final speech, he spoke only of himself and his family and what his dreams were–not of the oncoming problems his workers will face. His final message–the Latin “resurgam”–is a message for himself, “I (Francis) shall rise again” not the more apt “we (he and his workers) shall rise” or even “it (the mine) shall rise again.” And then there’s George Warleggen, whom I don’t think we’ve seen interact with the poor at all.  Ross, like I said some reviews ago, is a “people’s person” and I mean that in all the ways you can take it; he’s friendly and approachable but he’s also a friend to the people–the great yearning, huddled masses. They mentioned France tonight, as in Viva la Revolution. Why do I get the feeling Ross would be fighting on the side of the common people who demand bread (of course he would. His own personal turning point was the American Revolution and seeing those yearning, huddled masses struggling to breathe).

Not only did this episode focus on the societal matters at hand, but it gave us a nice look at some gender constructs as well. We talked about this while watching this episode, but Elizabeth continues to be an interesting character in terms of how the audience approaches her. @Josephine for instance confessed that she rather likes Elizabeth while @Slurpeez and I both said that we don’t hate but we don’t love her either. I still find that I’m conflicted about her. On the one hand, Jo’s right. Elizabeth was raised a certain way. There were expectation of her that were made very clear when she was young–she is to marry well, provide a son and heir, and then live as a great lady, keeping up a house and making sure her husband and children are well looked after and want for nothing in terms of wifely and motherly affection. That is what was expected of her. (Mostly) Penniless Ross couldn’t provide that. Francis could. And at the time, Francis was not yet the heel and cad he has revealed himself to be. She’s a product of society, a society that is repressive for women. Consider for instance Demelza who, when we first met her, is dressed as a lad and about to engage in a brawl to save her dog. Elizabeth never would conceive of such a thing because it simply wasn’t done; it would be beyond reproach. Demelza, poor, un-educated, hungry, and crass though she may have been at the start, is more free in certain regards than Elizabeth. On the other hand, though, to bring this back to Elizabeth and our continued struggle with liking/disliking her…she did make her own bed. She chose Francis in that beginning episode. He almost gave her an out to go and be with Ross but her own upbringing and pressures of society mixed with the fear of the unknown (could Ross ever provide for her? Would they be comfortable? She is, after all, used to a certain way of living) led her to choose Francis Poldark. She got everything in life she thought she wanted–good marriage, husband, child, comfy life (up until now)–and she’s miserable.

Then there’s the prostitute who, I think, is the freest of them all. She’s not bound by society in the slightest because society shuns her except when they have need of her. Men can bring her jewels when they are enamored; she’ll whisper words of love and lust to them and then as soon as the money dries up, she can move on. She’s free to do so. The Whore manages to waltz into the Warleggen party, stand aside, make judgements and in the end nothing that is said nor done will affect her. She *gets* men; she can play them, manipulate them, use them and so long as she keeps a tight leash on being able to pull out (oh gosh, pun not intended) when the jig is up…she’s unscathed.

Finally, we have one last concern; that’s the spinster and the idea of making your own happiness (something that very rarely works in this time period unless you’re the Byronic hero and his lady love; looking at your Ross and Demelza). Poor Verity. I have to say, the fact that Mr. Captain admitted that he has a temper gave me pause. A lot of pause, actually. I’m starting to wonder if he really did kill his wife and has been covering it up because he honestly does feel something for Verity. I want her to be happy but not at the expense of a black eye. The fact that he’s reentered the picture more or less proves something I said back when we first met him–eventually Verity is going to run off with him. She’s going to make her own happiness, following in the footsteps of her good friend Demelza. However…will it work? Depends on what you mean by work. Let’s assume, for the moment, that Mr. Captain can control his temper and he and Verity can live a long and happy life together. Great! Too bad, she’ll never be allowed back into society, at least not without being gossiped about and rebuffed by her peers. Lydia Bennett but with better sense.

Misc Notes

–Juliette Grace Poldark (awwww)

–The story of Mark and the actress seems a bit filler but it does demonstrate that there are societies within societies. The Actress thinks that she can rise above her class only to learn that her new husband is not well enough. She’s clearly trouble.

–The new doctor seems nice. What role is he going to play (laying odd on him and the Actress after that dance)

–Still love the opening music (I think I need to say this every week)

–I liked a lot of the many hats this week. I could analyze those, briefly. The working class don’t really wear hats. They wear caps. Keeps your hair out of your eyes and are probably dirtier than sin. Demelza wears simply country hats without too much flourish except when it’s a special occasion. Verity’s hats are expensive but also grab (she wears a lot of grey–she doesn’t want to call attention to herself). And Elizabeth’s hats are the most extravagant of them all, because she’s a lady and it’s expected–and, I suspect she likes them too and what they stand for.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[RumplesGirl]

Poldark 1×06

Or: Worst. Rescue. Ever.

I’m going to admit something. I found myself pretty frustrated by a lot of this episode. Or rather, by a lot of choices various characters were making because of a lot of those choices were straight up bad, even if they were coming from a good intentioned place. I find myself going back and forth on Ross quite a bit. He’s got the brooding Byronic Hero thing down pat, from the dark hair to the dark eyes, to the dark soul, but it’s coupled with a genuine love of the everyman which I find endearing. EXCEPT when it leads him to be a total…*insert your choice word here*. Doing something noble is great; I applaud trying to save a friend from what is truly the most appalling of conditions but I can’t help but think that Ross does these noble actions without fully thinking through the consequences of his actions.

For example. You are a brand new father. You are struggling to enter the workforce as a lucrative business to provide for your wife and child. You have cousins who are currently down on their luck and no clear indication that they intend or even can better themselves. Thus you have taken on the responsibility of these family members. In other words, you have a lot of balls in the air and are dangerously close to dropping one should you misjudge one tiny thing. What could you misjudge? I don’t know…walking into a plague ridden cell? Yes, it was noble. Yes, it was well intentioned. It was also fool hardy and rash. Ross even admits to Ennis that he has no plan. They go in willy nilly, guns a’blazing, knowing full well that inside is nothing but death and disease. Do you know who could catch that disease? Your BABY, Ross. I know you think you can be Mr. Social Justice and right the wrongs of the world yourself but maybe you start at home. You took Demelza in, you loved her, you married her…do you really want to leave her and little Julie alone because you are determined to save the universe, one egregiously incarcerated peasant at a time? I’m not hating on Ross but rather pointing out that he does act rashly and without thought of the larger scope sometimes.

The consequences of his actions thus far has stayed within the confines of his little circle–he is drunk and verbally abusive and you can tell that Demelza is bothered by it, even though she too mourns Ross’s friend. The wonderful exchange between them in the kitchens with her trying to be the concerned friend is overshadowed by the almost childlike glee she feels at the sight of the pretty new dress. She knows what Ross has not yet figured out; his class isn’t the only one with irresponsible, petty, and greedy men. Her class has them too. They exist everywhere. They exist in the Justice who serves no Peace. They exist in George Warleggen who is determined to take down the Poldark family, one gambling drunk at a time. But they also exist in Demelza’s father. Ross suffers a bit from a sort of selective myopia. He chooses to see the poor class as impoverished but ultimately good and in need of help. Mostly that is because he has surrounded himself with impoverished but ultimately good people, like Jim and Mark. But he chooses to write off those like Demelza’s father as an oddity and not part of the larger poor class. Demelza’s father isn’t the exception to the rule; he is, sad enough, part of the rule. For every good hearted Mark and Jim, there is a drunk man who beats his wife and children and spends any coin he gets on drink. And that’s what Demelza is trying to tell him. Noble intentions are great but there is a much larger picture.

Ross chooses to go after the Warleggen cousin, the cheater, without realizing that the cheater IS a Warleggen cousin. He thinks he is righting another wrong, this one done to Francis and then to Ross himself. But again, he misses the larger picture that by embarrassing the Cheater, he is speeding up the Warleggen desire to see the Poldark downfall. Rash, brash, and noble. Deadly combination.

I don’t have a whole lot else this week except I have to touch on Verity and Captain. This is doomed love story. Either they run off together and Verity is shunned from society and there is always the looming anger management issues Captain seems to have. Or they never end up together. At this stage, Demelza needs to back off trying to get them together. Hm. She has that in common with Ross, no? Noble intentioned but still quite fool hardy. Just like in telling the Actress (who is now The Hussy) to keep her eye from wandering to the Doctor. She thinks she is helping but ultimately is she only picking at a scab until it festers?

MISC NOTES

–Still love the string music

–“What is wrong with the women in this family?” “The men.” BEST. LINE. EVER.

–Demelza’s dress was lovely

–The quick passing of time is still disconcerting. So in the 6 months or so since Julie was born, Ross formed an entire company?

–We saw the Lady of the Night. She was wearing red.

–Verity had quite a showy hat while walking around with Captain. It’s like she’s coming out of her shell. And of course at the ball, she was wearing a pink feather which was all symbolic of love and happiness and being “out.”

–Can Francis die and take his blisters with him already?

–Elizabeth and George. I smell a love triangle.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[RumplesGirl]

Poldark 1×07 and 1×08

Or: There is much in this world which is monstrous

Cause and effect. Action and consequences. Or, here endth the first season of Poldark. And we’re all a little bit more damaged because of it.

Obviously there is a lot about this episode that bears careful thought and consideration. To heck if I am able to provide that. I must say, on the whole, I’ve enjoyed this series. I think it’s far darker and gritter than most other literature and adaptations of that literature of its ilk. The closest I can draw a comparison to is North and South which likewise deals with the conditions of the poor and the great class struggles.

But North and South didn’t kill a baby so there’s that.

Is there justice in this world? I think that’s the main question Poldark as a whole is getting at. Can justice–true, honest, high ideal justice–be had? At the end of this first season, I’d say no. I think the show Poldark wants us to understand that justice is a fragile and tiny thing. You can struggle for it, tooth and nail, just like Ross is doing, but in the end there is always something that’s going to get in justice’s way, and for Poldark, it’s money and privilege and greed. It’s no surprise that as the Poldark family star sets, the Warleggens really show their true colors. We knew they were the antagonists all season, of course, but the careful manipulations and machinations we saw in these final two episodes really solidified that they are as close to a sort of evil as we are likely to get in this world. Or maybe it’s money that’s evil. It corrupts. It damages. The Warleggens, like I said a review or two back, were once very poor and recently have since come into money and thus are determined to keep it. Determined to the point where they’ve lost humanity and refuse to act like anything other than business men. The eldest Warleggen’s sneer at the death of little Julia and how that would mean Ross was otherwise engaged…that was just straight up devilry.

Ross and Demelza try to live a good life, caring and providing for those under them; they are generous and kind to the miners, to the poor, to their friends, and to their family who, because of class and culture, want nothing to do with Demelza after the Verity affair. Yet it’s Demelza who goes to care for Elizabeth and her family…and loses her own in return.

Justice. It does not exist in the way we imagine, if indeed at all. Good things are supposed to happen to good people. If this were a story in which justice could actually prevail, then Elizabeth, Francis and little Geoffrey-Charles would recover swiftly, forgive Demelza and Ross, become one big happy family again, along with Verity and Captain and live forevermore in the lap of comfort, away from the Warleggen greedy (and apparently wandering) eye. But alas. It’s not a world where justice can work such magic. It’s a world where little Julia Poldark dies in her father’s arms and we watch Ross shoulder his daughter’s coffin all by himself.

Justice in this world is Mark on the run, Ennis living with the guilt of a dead Karen (hussy!) on his soul and a fractured village who got caught in the cross hairs. Justice is the secret company being bought and sold, brick by hard earned brick, by the Warleggens as they gobble up everything in sight. Justice is Ross Poldark plundering a ship for food and goods, as is normal law at this time, and then being carted off to jail simply because the Warleggen’s put some money in the right hands.

Justice is Demelza trying to help out a friend, the only woman who was kind to her when news of her and Ross got out, and realizing that her actions has long lasting and serious consequences because she could never imagine that two people happy together would be such a domino effect. Justice is Demelza losing Ross’s trust for a short while because of her secrets. Justice is Francis selling his secrets to Warleggen in order to exact revenge on Ross because of all the perceived slights over the years. You know that saying, justice is blind; well in Poldark its eyes are wide open are it casts its gaze where it is told.

And the gaze is yours if the price is right.

So, there are no happy endings, though we do know that Poldark has been renewed for a second series. I don’t have much else to add to this because it was a highly impactful and emotional two hours of show. I think they’ve clearly set up some strings that need to be woven together in S2, like Ross’s trial, George’s intentions toward Elizabeth, and Verity’s future as Mrs. Captain. And hopefully Francis falls off a cliff at some point.

MISC NOTES

–String music. Because tradition.

–The Lady of the Night’s hat was large and wonderful. I want it.

–There were a lot of shiptastic but ultimately sad moments between Ross and Demelza.

–I don’t think George really cares for Elizabeth. I think he is determined to own everything Poldark, and that includes Francis’s wife.

–I still do not trust Verity’s Captain. I am very nervous for her. I think she was taken in by a man who is going to turn out to be quite ill tempered. I don’t forsee good things (because justice in this world…’tis fleeting)

–Really big shout out to Demelza’s actress for how she played her character in the wake of Julia’s death.

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Amy41]

For anyone who loved Poldark THERE WILL BE A SEASON 2.

Should be airing here in the UK at some point during the next 2 months as it was called one of their Autumn shows and then a little while after that should air for you guys too.

Keeper of a few things which I've forgotten but I know I have dibs on them

[Author]

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