Rivals Season 2, Episode 7 drops back into Rutshire amid everyone’s grief of Monica and explores everything that feeling inspires – for better and worse. Relatedly, this midseason premiere, written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins & Laura Wade and directed by Dee Koppang O’Leary, is a piercing reminder that this show has one of TV’s strongest ensembles. I mean, they aren’t the main focus of this episode, but Emily Atack and Rufus Jones floored me in the end.
I also couldn’t help but be struck by Bas saying, “A lady once said to me, “When you arrive in heaven, all your dogs come running across the sunlit lawn to meet you and your favorite dog’s leading the pack.” That belief of the late and glorious Dame Jilly Cooper has stuck with me since I heard her say it. It floored me when I heard it. It felt like a way to toast to Jilly, too, which is spectacularly special.
Really, the main critique of this episode is that there isn’t enough of Cameron. She’s so clearly trying to stay in Rupert’s life where she no longer fits because she genuinely cares for him. But how long can Rivals sustain that when this amazing character calls for more? Otherwise, this episode is an emotional rollercoaster of a return that finds hope in the (sun)light.
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Magnificent Monica’s Funeral
Monica’s funeral is only a fraction of the episode. It deserves its moment – if only for Louis Landau’s performance as Archie. He just bowls me over on the heels of Selina Griffiths grounding the service in Enid’s emotional reading of “When I am dead, my dearest.” With that alone, Rivals is telling these stories inside of other stories – there’s so much more going on just beneath the surface of the words on the page. Then, there’s this shifting power dynamic that comes into play when Archie mentions Tony during his eulogy. You get that in the edit, too, as it teeters between them and hones in on the tension in Tony’s jaw.
It all just crumbles when Archie says, “She was my magnificent mummy.” It’s like a punch to the gut, and Tony completely rejects its (or any) sentiment. Caitlin is the only one sensible enough to comfort him; she’s also the only one who knows what’s unsaid between the father and son. The layers there compliment the stories that poke up in the edit. Rivals cuts to Maud when Archie mentions Monica being good and Rupert when Archie compliments Monica for being a good parent. Even the detail of Rupert sitting towards the back is an intentional choice that supports the narrative. All in all, putting this funeral at the front-end of the episode adequately depicts how emotionally taxing this loss will be.
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Finding Joy in the Wake
As characters seek comfort, Rivals has the chance to highlight some of its romances that live in secret. To that point, only Rivals can set a sex montage – during a funeral – to George Michael’s “Faith,” and it work. Of course, the stakes for Gerald and Charles are different than that for Freddie and Lizzie. This episode puts that into sharp focus with the relevant reminder that this show takes place in a heightened yet real time that includes the AIDS crisis.
The weight of reality sits particularly heavy on Gerald’s shoulders when Hermione says, “Bring it on themselves, don’t they?” Hubert Burton’s performance as that hits Gerald is so good – his panic is palpable. With her parents’ opinions made known, Rivals also finds a nerve-wracking cliffhanger in wondering how Muffy will react now that Gerald has been honest with her.
Meanwhile, Freddie’s total belief in Lizzie is a shining reflection of how this show and Cooper’s books can make me root for an affair. I also love how meta their conversation about Lizzie’s book and its TV adaptation is to this adaptation of Cooper’s book. But I also appreciate the parallel this episode creates between Lizzie and Freddie’s sex scene and the one with Val and Freddie.
The sex always has a purpose of Rivals, and these two scenes really leave Freddie in a difficult place. How present can he be with either of these women he cares about when he’s actively loving them the same way? This affair-driven triangle (square, if you can James, which…) is only getting more complicated.
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Introducing Monica’s Sister, Araminta
Monica’s younger sister, Araminta (Rachael Stirling), has quite the history in the Rutshire world. She’s been mentioned a few times before this episode. But now she has the chance to step into Rivals on her own terms. For example, a line like “I grew up in this house, you know,” makes her returning to the Falconry in this context brutal. It’s also a good choice to have the peacocks on the lawn when Araminta arrives and for her to mention Monica’s love for them when she touches the glass of the hearse holding her sister’s body.
Even the way Stirling delivers “Chin up, Minty” makes it sound like advice a younger Monica, maybe even the version in that portrait Tony clings to, has given Araminta. Rivals also tiptoes into the character’s past with Rupert. Despite the time apart, Araminta can see the connection between Rupert and Taggie – he calls her angel! Araminta names that in her own, very Rivals way (“Have you taken that girl’s virginity yet or are you letting someone else break her in?”).
Araminta’s shared past with these characters fits together most nicely when she joins Enid and Herminoe to sing “I Whistle a Happy Tune.” Additionally, Monica’s death brings in this cat-and-mouse game between Araminta and Tony, where it’s never really clear who’s the cat or the mouse. It’s rare that Tony meets someone who can match him like this. That final scene suggests Araminta is leaving for good, but it feels more like the beginning.
Making It Right with One’s Kids
There’s a genuine sense of closure and a new beginning between Rupert and Helen. Heartbreakingly, Helen believes Rupert never fancied her, and it’s progress that Rupert is more receptive to hearing her. And her with him. He credits Monica for that change in perspective, which also drives him to repair his relationship with Marcus. It’s refreshing to see Helen and Rupert turn to be on the same side during that scene with David Hawkley (Rupert Evans).
It’s sort of a game changer for Rivals to introduce this character who first appears in Cooper’s The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous – the fourth book in the Rutshire Chronicles.
Regardless, amid all of that, Alex Hassell carries Rupert’s grief and knowledge of being there in Monica’s final moments with the hint that it all lies just under the surface of his skin. Rupert only lets it burst out with Taggie. It’s not fair that he speaks to her that way, but it speaks volumes that he expresses himself the most when he’s around her. It suggests that Rupert has that clarity and core – that Helen saw vanish – when he’s around Taggie. That truth is far too much.
Obviously, Rupert pushes Taggie away because of it. Bas does the same before this episode delivers some of the content the first half of the season needed. His being there for Tony, his and Monica’s kids, and Monica’s dogs says a lot about him. But the reveal about Bas’s son peels back that curtain even more. The parallel of Rupert and Bas knowing that they will crack open when they’re around Taggie is a reflection of her being the heart of Rivals, if you ask me.
Is a Truce in the Cards?
It’s evident that Monica’s death causes ripples throughout the characters, but none are more frustrating than with Enid. Yes, the loss of Monica tees up her telling Taggie not to wait for love. But, like Enid saying, “I loved her,” it’s all an awfully bitter reminder of what should have been. For Rupert, he’s there at the end. Hearing her sing that song from The King and I makes me wonder if she’s thinking about Enid or her girlhood or a time when things were simpler and less painful. He also says that he loves Taggie for the first time to Monica.
That confession both dies with her and lives on in her memory. So does the mere chance that Rupert could ruin Taggie like he fears. That amplifies the pressure on Rupert’s shoulders to end this cycle of pain. Predictably, he’s met with complete rejection from Tony. There’s no saving Tony Baddingham. Killing Monica’s beloved peacocks – one of the incessant (to him) reminders of Monica and his role in her death – to the beat of “In the Air Tonight” proves as much. So, as Rivals moves forward, it’s about how these characters can stop him.
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