Rivals is a lot of things, but it’s never pretended to be anything but a love letter to the late Dame Jilly Cooper’s Ruthshire Chronicles. In its adaptation of the second book in the series (Riders is the first, Polo is the third), Rivals has become a phenomenon for its glamour, gossip, and glorious romance. At the heart of it all is the swoon-worthy romance between Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean).
If you’ve read Rivals and ventured deeper into the expansive Rutshire world, you will know that no characters appear more consistently across the series than Rupert and Taggie. They are the heart of the books, in many ways. As the world expands and other characters and stories move forward or backward, Rupert and Taggie remain right where they are.
For that reason, Rivals fans should look forward to the hotly anticipated second half of the show’s sophomore season. No spoilers here, of course. The wait is well worth it. After all, Rivals fans will be well aware that the first six episodes really lean into the push-pull of Rupert and Taggie’s relationship, affectionately known as RuTag. There’s a real, honest fear in Rupert that he is incapable of love – one that Taggie, in a moment of hurt herself, validates at the end of the polo-centric season premiere in Part 1.
He truly believes that he can’t get close to any woman because he will break them. In his defense, he’s seen that with Helen, and he’s so deeply afraid those ripples will ruin his relationship with his daughter, Tabitha, and son, Marcus. Essentially, there are a lot of complex, character-driven choices wrapped up in Rupert’s decision to keep his distance from Taggie. The issue is that he can’t. He can’t help but do what he can for her, to be around her.
That means fixing his hair on the way to the White Elephant to get the dish that Taggie accidentally messed up while gazing at Rupert on the TV. It means giving Taggie his undivided attention – while Cameron, his girlfriend, is in the room – when she comes to his house after saving his beloved horse. It means going out of his way to get her a birthday present that he knows she’ll love because everyone else has abandoned her on her 21st.
Rupert can’t help but show Taggie that he cares through acts of service because he can’t bring himself to say the actual words attached to his feelings. Doing that would mean letting Taggie in and accepting love. For what he believes to be both of their well-being, Rupert must do his best to keep her at arm’s length. But feelings are unavoidable and undeniable. Just in that first part of the season, he can’t hide the look on his face – the affection in his eyes – when he watches how well Taggie gets on with his kids.
All the while, Rupert is actively changing for the better because of his relationship with Taggie. It hasn’t all changed overnight, of course. But there’s an active, intentional effort from him to at least try to be and do better. As he helps Taggie be bolder in her self-defense and prioritization, she’s helping him, too. Taggie has such a strong moral compass and such a sense of goodness and a belief in hope. All of which have become corrupt or jaded in Rupert over the years for reasons that extend well before the events of Rivals.
Taggie, though, wears her heart on her sleeve or, rather, in the palm of her hand because she’s always willing to extend herself to everyone and everything. I often think about how, in Part 1, Declan tells Taggie, “You’re too good to those birds,” and Taggie responds, “I like how busy they are. Work so hard at surviving.” Her perspective is like a breath of fresh air in the rather breathless franchise race that is Rivals. It’s also that for Rupert, though. From the second that she pushes back against him burning the brush in that very episode, she has challenged him to look at and live life differently.
Just because Taggie is different from the other female characters in this show doesn’t make her (or them) less important or impactful. Part of the beauty of this show is that the ensemble has such resounding depth. No woman in this show is the same as the next. They’re unique and shouldn’t be pitted against each other. Like Rupert Campbell-Black is a rather iconic hero (on both the page and on TV now), Taggie O’Hara is a heroine in her own right.
MORE: Rivals Season 2, Episode 6 Review: The Storm That Changes Everything
Her empathy and kindness don’t make her boring or her romance with Rupert a bummer; they make her brave and their love story bold. So, to assume that Rupert and Taggie aren’t at the core of Rivals is a disservice to the character and story-relevant ripples of this romance.
It also zaps some of the joy out of the expectation of what’s to come in Rivals Season 2 Part 2. (Again, no spoilers!) Even as this show has taken some divergences from the source material, the core of it has remained. For that reason, it would be rather silly and strange for Rivals to sidestep or underserve such a defining romance as Rupert and Taggie’s.
Yes, it is taking its sweet time to turn their will-they-won’t-they romance into something real, true, and solid. However, in that time, Rivals is building this dynamic that challenges both characters and serves as a reminder that love is powerful and worth it all in the end. Just think of how rewarding it will be, after all the scenes mentioned here and beyond, to see Rupert and Taggie choose themselves by choosing each other.
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