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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.
[adrotate group="5"]"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
I think that if Merida is related to anyone, her being the daughter of Zelena and Robin Hood makes the most sense. Come on, her red curly hair and her mad archery skills…
"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
Found it:
Robert Carlyle: The way that Eddie and Adam write, things kinda, you know, it changes from week to week…
"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
Did he really say that? In what context? What was the interview question? Is it on camera?
"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
If it hasn’t happened by now, then it likely won’t ever happen in canon. But, hey, this is a place to vent and post what-if AUs about SF. Emma is in love with the same pirate who was romantically involved with Rumple’s wife. The ick factor of such a revelation would be (and is) high. If Emma were still being written true to form (and not this notEmma! we now see), Emma’s reaction of revulsion would be golden!
What I’d most like to see (but probably won’t) is Henry try and save his mom the way Baelfire tried to save his dad from the dark one curse. But this time, I’d like for Henry to succeed whereas Baelfire failed to save his dad. What I’d most like is a TLK from Henry to Emma, which sets her free from her curse. I’d like for family love to be what saves Emma in the end. Remember when family love was considered to be just as important as romance on this show? Yes, I’m probably dreaming, a pipe dream since the TLK that many hoped to see for Rumbelle will likely go to the pirate and that other ship. *sigh*
"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
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
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
EdR [about MRJ leaving]: “The unfortunate did occur.”
Me: *silent sobbing*
"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
Where to begin? Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed watching this series. Episode two sets the tone of the rivalry between several characters:
-Ross Poldark and George Warleggan
-Elizabeth Poldark (nee Chynoweth) and Demelza Carne
-Ross and Francis Poldark
-Francis and Captain Andrew Blamey
-Ross and Verity vs Francis and Charles (when it comes to Blamey)Rivalry is both subtle and obvert in this episode. The duels of gentlemen were commonplace among the upper class during the 18th century, especially when it came to the “honor” of women. Verity, the lonely spinster, is the woman whose reputation is at stake. Whether or not Verity showed good sense in accepting the pursuit of Blamey is one thing, but whether Francis was foolhardy to challenge a navy captain such as Andrew Blamey is another thing indeed. Worse, Francis is showing he is not worthy as a new husband that he would risk his life so carelessly without regard for his new wife and unborn child. The hotheaded Francis is quickly disproving his competency as heir to his father’s estate and mine. Lacking his cousin Ross’ experience in the army, the assailable Francis shows poor and reckless judgement in picking a fight with an experienced man-at-arms. Francis, too impetuous, green, and incapable, shows he is ever inclined to be taken advantage of– something the conniving banker like George Warleggans is quick to assess.
George Warleggan is the son of a self-made man whose family’s less-than-honest banking tactics have a way of being the ruin of old, proud and prominent mine owners (as the start of the episode shows). The cunning Warleggans are shrewd-yet-dishonorable men whose methods of money-lending have led to the closing of mines all over Cornwall. Only Ross’ Uncle Charles’ mine, Grambler, remains open. Yet, as George is quick to pick up on, Francis is weak and no fit heir to Grambler. “These ancient families lack backbone.” George Warleggan is resentful and jealous of the family name Poldark, yet proud of his own father’s wealth. Though he may show a twinge of guilt about not extending a loan, his father is quick to remind George that they’re in the business of profit, not sentiment. As George soon discovers, however, not all men who share the family name of Poldark are cut from the same cloth.
Ross Poldark is everything his cousin Francis is not: a capable, honest, and business-savvy man of the world who is eager to prove himself. Ross has both the family name behind him, as well as the drive of the Warleggens to succeed. Yet, unlike the Warleggens family, Ross cares about the plight of the common man, and seeks to provide for his poorer tenants like Jim. Ross is a man of action who cannot afford to sit back and be idle like his cousin. Having seen war, been imprisoned, and orphaned, Ross is not entitled like his cousin, Francis. True, both cousins share the esteemed and ancient family name of Poldark, but Ross has inherited an estate in ruins, unlike Francis, whose father, Charles, still looms ever present over an in-tact and still profitable mining industry. Like Francis, Ross is passionate, but unlike his cousin, Ross shows far more regard for others and more common sense. He sets out to forge his own destiny. Ross cannot afford to be idle like Francis. He must earn his bread, for despite his privileged name, he is a man who is landed but without income.
Though both Poldark cousins take risks, they have very different tactics when it comes to making bets. Francis is a compulsive gambler who makes unwise bets and sinks into needless debt. Ross, on the other hand, isn’t a man of cards but of investment. Ross is determined to restore his father’s closed mine for in Cornwall, “mining is in the veins…’tis the bread of life.” Ross is motivated, willing to challenge the perceived notions of his day, and willing to help his good friend, Jim, who has neither family name nor fortune to elevate him. It’s true that Ross also can show a reckless abandon, such as when he hires a prostitute after being spurned by Elizabeth, but these flaws of impetuousness are tempered by very admirable aforementioned traits. As a former captain of the British army, Ross knows how to lead and how to inspire men. Not only does his name open doors to him in the upper branches of the community, but Poldark is also in touch with the common man. He is compassionate and understanding of Verity. Ross is also someone who is calm under pressure–something he learned on the battlefields of Virginia and which enabled Ross to save Francis’ life. Ross proves he puts family responsibility over any hard feelings Ross might have against Francis for marrying Elizabeth.
The women of the show also have an increasingly prominent role in the story. Though often seen at the margins, as women often were confined to the homestead in the late 18th century, Verity might be understood in light of her upbringing. As an unmarried daughter of a wealthy gentleman, Verity is in a delicate position. She cannot be expected to leave home without a husband, but nor can she earn her bread. She must remain at her father’s home, overseeing the household. As a spinster over the age of 23, she is a rank below her brother’s new wife, Elizabeth, and surely, Verity, plain as she is declared to be, cannot have much hope to escape the drudgery of her confinement through marriage. Though certainly of age, she cannot hope to overrule her father or her brother, for that matter, for he is to inherit and she is not (however better an heir she might in fact be). Is it any strange wonder that Verity jumps at the chance to be wed–whether or not the captain’s telling of his tragic background be true? It is a surprisingly quick courtship, but I suppose they fear disapproval. As it happens, the captain’s story of his first wife’s unintentional manslaughter rings true. Perhaps it is their loneliness, their mutual disappointment in love, that causes them to rush forward. Not to mention that the captain’s infamous history makes hims a less-than-desirable suitor in the eyes of Verity’s family. She is a Poldark after all, and cannot be expected to marry just anyone, even at her “advanced” age of 27 (or thereabouts). There is also that little thing about the captain killing his first wife to consider. Only Ross, who has also been convicted of a crime and lost a great love, seems willing to look past the mistake to try and understand the Captain Blamey’s true motives and help Verity.
As many high-born women of her day, Elizabeth shows she is ever the dutiful daughter and daughter-in-law who puts family expectations before her own heart. She is the quiet stoic type, ever a true lady who bears her disappointment in silence. She hardly ever reveals her true thoughts. Does Elizabeth still love Ross, the man to whom she was secretly engaged before he went to fight in the American War? Does she really love Francis, as she claims? She becomes engaged to Francis during the war when Ross is presumed dead. He returns in time to stop the wedding, but Elizabeth appears to spurn Ross (despite her apparent joy at his return), and she instead marries Francis. Why does she do this? After all, both men carry the coveted ancient family name of Poldark. And Elizabeth was after all the sweetheart of Ross before she was ever engaged to Francis. Yet, it would appear that Elizabeth had publicly declared her betrothal to Francis yet kept her prior understanding with Ross a secret. Therefore, as a woman, she is under a certain legal obligation to proceed with the marriage to Francis, lest her father’s good name and her reputation be ruined. Her father would then be expected to pay a sum to Charles Poldark for a broken betrothal. Moreover, Francis has his father’s wealth to inherit whereas Ross’ father has died penniless and his estate in shambles. In the eyes of Elizabeth’s family, Ross does not seem quite as good a catch as he might once have, being barely able to keep a roof over his head. A great lady like Elizabeth cannot be expected to go from riches to rags. Yet, something tells me Elizabeth may regret her choice of husband.
Then there is the loveable and surprisingly strong-willed street urchin Demelza, the daughter of nobody in particular, whose large, impoverished family have left her uncared for and in literal rags. She has no where else to go except to Ross. His compassion on a poor young woman prompts him to take her in and to employ her as his kitchen maid, providing her shelter and food. She knows her place, and her place is beside him, as she is quick to point out. Ross is the first person who’s ever paid her much heed, and as such, the young Demelza is, of course, drawn to him. Perchance she may in fact, also have taken a fancy to her her handsome, young and very unmarried benefactor who literally rescued her. He provided her with a home and sense of belonging that she’s been lacking all of her life. And despite barely being able to afford to keep a roof over his own head, Ross brought Demelza a beautiful cloak to boot–the nicest garment she’s probably ever worn let alone owned. She, in turn, is ever capable, loyal, quick-to-learn and not afraid to get her hands dirty. I look forward to their budding relationship, whether as master-servant, or as something more?
"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
