Beyond the Lights (2014)

This was a pretty good film, even if no new ground was broken.
Noni Jean (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is going to be a huge R&B star, if her mother, Macy (Minnie Driver) has anything to say about it.
Noni has other plans which include letting herself off her hotel room balcony just after winning her first Billboard Award, fortunately, kind-hearted cop Kaz Nicol (Nate Parker) is there to rescue her. Noni recovers well from her suicide attempt, though, of course, her momanger (mom/manager) tries to spin it as her getting involved in politics, as if his job isn't stressful enough. Which it is.
In the meantime, Noni has struggles of her own. Her label wants to push back the release of her album, despite her already having three hits with her public boyfriend, the jerkface known as Kid Culprit (Colson Brown). Noni isn't that happy about the whole thing, though she wishes to write her own songs, while her mother is furious, livid in fact.
Macy controls every aspect of her daughter's career. After an interview, Noni goes to eat and despite Macy being on the phone, she reaches over and pulls a piece of food off her daughter's plate so she won't eat it, as it isn't Macy approved. During a photo shoot, the photographer tells Noni to take off her jacket, so she would be topless, Noni looks to Macy for approval and Macy doesn't hesitate so the jacket comes off.
Fortunately, Noni develops feelings for Kaz and gets him to be her bodyguard, even though he already has two jobs: Police Officer and working on his campaign. But he is exactly what Noni needs, something real and someone who will give her unconditional love, though he can't deal when she won't be true to herself.
She gets him to take his first plane flight, something she can't believe he hasn't done before and he is pretty darn scared, not that I blame him. And then, the two escape after her disastrous performance after the BET awards. By this point, she had broken things off with Kid and he didn't take it well and basically assaults her on the stage, thank goodness she didn't let the dancers rip off her jacket like they were supposed to. They go down to Mexico where Noni sleeps for a whole day and pulls out her weave. Then, after singing a haunting rendition of Nina Simone's Blackbird is posted on YouTube, the cameras and her mother are back. Noni returns to Los Angeles and Kaz continues on his path to the election but they are no longer together even though Noni trusted him enough to show him her secret box of lyrics.
Noni believes that Macy is finally on her side. To be fair, Macy hasn't had it easy. She was very young when she had Noni and her parents disowned her because of it. Noni's father was long gone and though Macy did care, everything was only half-hearted. She never even learned to care for Noni's hair properly and first runner up at a talent competition wasn't good enough. She was furious, not at Noni, though Noni probably took it that way as she forces Noni to chuck the trophy.
The label is thrilled with Noni's YouTube hit and wants to release Noni's record, it is ready to go after all, but Noni wants to add her own song to it but that would take too much time. Macy forces her hand, which includes the drafted termination that was supposedly accidentally sent, firing the guy she didn't like and buying them some time. Noni is thrilled and even decides who she wants to produce her song (Ryan Tedder) but Macy says that would take too long. The album must be released now while it has momentum. Noni can't believe that after everything, her mother still isn't on her side. Claws come out on both sides and finally, Noni fires her mother. She starts rebuilding her career on her own, and she will finally be calling the shots.
Kaz has his own battles, including trying to get a woman to leave her horribly abusive husband and after the guy shoots at Kaz, it will happen, though not the way he intended. He decides that politics are not his future as his father needs to be satisfied in his own life. His father takes it alright, much better than Macy.
Noni comes clean and admits that the paparazzi actually got the story right. Her leap was a cry for help and that is help that she is finally getting. She also returns to London for the first time in years where she gives a performance without Macy hissing in her ear constantly.
To her surprise, Kaz boards a plane and is there for her performance and admits that he loves her and this time he's not taking it back. Noni doesn't have time to disgust that as she must perform and she sings the song her wrote and brings Kaz on the stage and makes out with him to the crowd's delight. And, for the record, she loves him back.
This film mostly works because of the solid performances from Mgatha-Raw and Parker with Driver giving good support. If they weren't as good as they are, the film wouldn't work. The set is also great as the far too sexy costumes Noni must wear. The songs are also great. The film is the the perfect vehicle for Mgatha-Raw. It is as though the part was written specifically for her, which isn't a problem, though it is impossible for me to imagine anyone else in the role.
Now, as I am the nitpick queen, I have a few: When Noni is performing in London, and Kaz shows up, how is he allowed backstage to see her? And after his unexplained trip, he doesn't get in trouble at work, that must be nice. But props to Kaz for bringing his dog when he and Noni escape to Mexico.
Ultimately, this film was good but I would have liked the end to have an epilogue to show that despite the odds, Kaz and Noni stayed together and Macy and Noni worked out their troubled relationship, and would finally act like mother and daughter. Oh well, things can't be perfect. Grade: B+

Ricki and the Flash

First of all, Ricki (Meryl Streep) is not a famous rock star. She gave up her family's respect for a job as a cashier and gets gigs playing in a bar after hours. Yeah, she's definitely not famous. She's only released one record of her own and the band sustains themselves on covers of songs made famous by others.
Then she gets a call from her ex, Peter Brumble (Kevin Kline) who still calls Ricki by her birth name, Linda. Their daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer), is going through a rough patch. Her new husband just left her. So Ricki flies home to the daughter she abandoned and Julie isn't that happy to see her. But Pete kept a huge secret from Ricki, Julie tried to kill herself when her husband, Max (Gabriel Ebert) left her for another woman. This truly shocks Ricki. She tries to help her daughter but her biggest accomplishment is finally getting Julie to clean up and put on real clothes. And though Pete is stiff, stuffy and snobby, he still keeps pot in his freezer and has no problem telling Max off, even in front of his new woman. Max declares that he got married too young but this new woman has kids and a dog. Now, you have two dogs, Ricki savagely informs her.
The family dinner doesn't go well. It is a fancy restaurant but Julie doesn't bother changing out of her pajama bottoms and fluffy slippers which is just great and hilarious for the viewer but painfully sad for the character. Josh (Sebastian Stan), the older son, doesn't even bother to inform his mother that he's engaged to his girlfriend of two years, Emily (Hailey Gates) while the youngest, Adam (Nick Westrate) flinches away from his mother's embrace.
And then Peter's new wife, Maureen (Audra MacDonald) turns up, looking far too perky for having just survived a red eye flight and she and Ricki get into an old fashioned pissing match over everything, including how Ricki has handled Julie, which included letting her miss a therapy session. So Ricki leaves and gets back to her life, though she's bitter and calls out Mick Jagger during one of her shows, saying that society has a double standard, a man can leave his kids and be fine but a mother cannot. Though she might be right away society, she's not right according to me. I don't like people of either gender who leave their families.
Fortunately, Ricki gets some wise words from her band mate and almost boyfriend, Greg (Rick Springfield), telling her that it is not their (her children) job to love her, it's her job to love them. And she does, from a distance.
At least Maureen finally throws her a bone and sends Ricki a super fancy invitation to Josh's wedding and Greg sells his guitar so they can go to the wedding.
Yeah, that's the movie. My problems with it are numerous and that is unfortunate. I really thought Ricki would have finally reconnected with her kids but she really didn't. For that one moment, when she gives Josh the gift of her music, they did, but the holes are still there. And the children are underdeveloped though they each get some good lines now and then, but the boys could have played by cardboard cutouts. I know that's mean, but they don't have much personality, and we don't even find out what they do in terms of careers. And I can't figure out how Pete was ever attracted to Ricki in the first place much less how they had sex three times. Pete also had the worst line in the film when he said that he felt like Thomas Jefferson in Monticello. The reason this is inappropriate to me, Jefferson slept with his one female slave and in this film, Pete's second wife is also African American. That line should be offensive.
Nothing much happens in the film but Ricki finally gets some joy and passion back in her life and all she had to do was have sex with Greg and voila, everything gets and seems better when it really isn't. We have no idea how Julie recovers and moves on from her heartbreak and why Maureen decided that it was important for Ricki to be at Josh's wedding. Thank goodness Meryl is great, of course she is, she's the greatest actress alive right now, but this movie shouldn't have been made. Diablo Cody, who wrote the screenplay, also wrote Juno which was much better than this. Ricki's character shouldn't have been sent away so early, Instead she should have stayed and formed a solid relationship with Julie, never mind if her sagging career suffered. Alas, the movie has already been made. At least Ricki is happy, I don't know if anyone else is, I'm not. Grade: B

Beginners (2011)

This was an odd little film
Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor) is very sad. His father, Hal (Christopher Plummer) has just died and he is in a deep, depressive funk. He is devastated by his father's death but is also still trying to come to terms with how Hal lived his life, devoted to his late wife though soon after her death, he fully came out of the closet and embraced his new identity, getting very involved with gay rights and such. He even gained a much younger lover, Andy (Goran Visnijc) whom he loved very much despite his unfaithfulness. Oliver is neutral to the relationship and after Hal's death, mostly gives Andy the cold shoulder, never mind that Andy is grieving also.
Fortunately, his friends force him to attend a costume party where he goes as Sigmund Freud and people actually seek him out for advice including the actress, Anna (Melanie Laurent). The relationship starts off with such hope and she seems happy though things soon grow stale. She moves in with him but doesn't seem happy. Despite both of them having a bad track record with relationships, they don't work it out so it ends. Oliver, however, then decides to try and fix it and then the film simply ends.
The unspoken star of the film is Hal's beloved dog, Arthur, who even narrates some of the film through subtitles, including stating that Oliver's relationship with Anna never stood a chance. Anna is damaged too, with her father having suicidal thoughts often.
Though the film is lovely, I didn't like the squishy ending, leaving everything up in the air. I also wanted the characters to be happy and they really weren't, except for a few select flashbacks. But McGregor and Plummer were perfect, especially in the scene where Hal reveals that his wife had proposed to him despite suspecting that he was gay and believing that she could fix him. This is the true shock of Oliver's life. Plummer finally won his Oscar for this film and it was much deserved. Also, the writer/director of this film, Mike Mills, should do more work as this film certainly is quite good especially in the mechanics. I just wish that everyone could have pulled themselves out of their grief at the end, but alas, that doesn't appear to be the case. And that's a shame, everyone should be happy. I wish Oliver was able to live his life as Hal was, blissful and full of life. Grade: B+

Poldark: Season One Recap and Reaction

First of all, Aidan Turner, Eleanor Tomlinson and Ruby Bentall, you need to submit yourselves for Emmy nominations. (If they don’t nominate you, the committee is an idiot, but if you don’t submit, then you are.) Second, if you (the reader) haven’t seen the show yet, then stop reading and start watching. Yes, it’s that good. And bring tissues for the finale. It is superbly acted, and written and the mechanics are breathtaking, with the cinematography as a standout.

I started watching this show because Entertainment Weekly magazine had given the show a good review and I had nothing better to watch on a Sunday night and then I continued to watch it because my mom thought that Poldark would end up with someone different them me, so I had to continue watching it to prove her wrong. For the record, I was right.

Ross Poldark has just survived fighting in the Revolutionary War, on the British side, though he firmly believes that that is the wrong side and says as much. In fact, he’s not even a supporter of the war and only fought to avoid the gallows. Yes, Poldark is a bit of a bad boy having gotten in trouble for brawling and assaulting a custom’s officer, among other things. When prompted by others though, he believes that war is a waste of good men, though he believes the war also helped him finally grow up. But he was injured and most back home believed him dead. His father is also deceased and thus his estate is in ruins. Poor Poldark overhears of his father’s death from others he is sharing a stagecoach with upon his return home. Because of this he goes to his uncle’s house, only to find the family celebrating the engagement of his cousin, Francis (Kyle Soller) to Poldark’s own former sweetheart, Elizabeth (Heida Reed), leaving Poldark heartbroken. And yet, he doesn’t fight for her, something Elizabeth’s mother is only too happy to point out. But because of his arrival, the wedding is moved up, and Poldark does put in an appearance. But he is busy, as he needs to find a way to eat as his estate is in ruins. The property is in tatters, and the two mines he now owns are closed. His tenants are doing even worse than he. In fact, it doesn’t appear that the economy of England as a whole is that good. Still, Poldark is determined to get back on his feet though he no longer cares much about the upper crust society and can relate more to the common man. But he is determined to survive despite the enticing offer from Uncle Charles (Warren Clarke) paying his way to go to London. However, Uncle Charles has his own motivations and it is not just because he wants his nephew to succeed. He wants Poldark away because he worries that Francis is unable to hang onto his own wife.

Poldark has few friends, though his other cousin, the plain but sweet Verity (Ruby Bentall) is glad that he has returned even though she can barely explain how Elizabeth’s attraction changed so suddenly. The local villagers, Poldark’s own tenants, also greet him with a warm welcome and promise to help him despite the need to do the work for free.

Then comes the most awkward meet-cute ever. Poldark goes into the village of Cornwall as it is market day where he rescues a child from being beaten by the hoard of people who are trying to take the child’s dog for a dog fight. It turns out that the child is a girl, to everyone’s surprise. She’s Demelza Carne (Eleanor Tomlinson), far from home and in her brother’s clothes. Poldark takes her into the pub for some food, where he discovers that her father beats her more days than not. His original intention is to send her home, but at the last minute decides to hire her as a kitchen maid much to the disgust of his father’s loyal servants: Jud and Prudie (Phil Davis and Beatie Edney). They may have been loyal to his father, but they are lazy and haven’t done any work on the property in Poldark’s absence.

Side Note: Why do the British shows always have the best meet cutes? Like in Call the Midwife, Chummy (Miranda Hart) met her eventual husband when she nearly ran him over with her bike.

However, things still haven’t settled down. Demelza’s abusive father and his entourage arrive, look through Poldark’s house (though they mustn’t do a good job) for her and then savagely beat up Poldark while the tenants and Jud take on some angry minors from her home town. Though it looks like Poldark will lose the fight, he rallies and wins, but he firmly admits that the girl is probably more trouble than she’s worth. Demelza overhears this as she has hidden herself in the bottom of his wine cabinet, Prudie would only be too happy to have her away.

The first episode ends with Poldark once again rescuing Demelza from returning home, running into Elizabeth, with the first appearance of the love triangle, with Demelza still dressed in the filthy boy clothes. Here, Poldark informs Elizabeth that he will not actually follow through on traveling to London. Instead, he shows Demelza the closed mine and beams that this is his inheritance.

Now for the business aspect of the show. The second episode begins with the closure of another mine and the owner taking his own life. Despite this dramatic turn of events, the Warleggans (Jack Farthing and Pip Torrens) feel no compassion or sympathy even though they called in the owners loans. Still, Poldark is determined to reopen his father’s mine and fortunately drums up some investors who put money into the mine as iron stone was found there so that should mean copper isn’t far behind and now the closure of this other mine, the price of copper should rise. At first, Poldark tries to get Francis involved in his mine but Francis mentions that his father doesn’t trust him with responsibility. Unfortunately, Francis gets cold feet thanks to some worrisome words from George Warleggan (Farthing) over a game of cards. Still, Francis does show some loyalty by refusing to tell George some secrets of Poldark’s mine. For the record, Poldark will be the manager of his own mine.

Though Poldark now has the funding, it takes Elizabeth’s news to catapult his desire to start refurbishing the mine and it takes roughly six months and the start of a new episode for the mine to open, but the drilling is slow going and they even need to use the extra expense of gunpowder. By the time that episode is over, copper hasn’t been found. The third episode doesn’t focus too much on the mine.

The second episode focuses largely on the overlooked character: Verity. Her father values her petty chores around the house so much so that he doesn’t want her to leave or marry. Plus, she is plain and could be easily taken advantage of.

It is at the ball that she gets Poldark to reluctantly agree to take her to that she meets Captain Andrew Blamey (Richard Harrington). Poldark brushes off the advances of Ruth Tieg and focuses on Elizabeth despite Verity’s plea that Elizabeth has put her attraction behind her so he must also. Furious, Poldark returns to the local pub and decides to actually take the prostitution, having the 1780s version of hate sex. Days before, he had made it plainly clear that he had neither the time nor money for such distractions, but I guess that night, he made the exception. An interesting editing clip happens here, while Poldark is in bed with the prostitute, the camera cuts to a quick glimpse of Demelza on her bed on the floor with her beloved dog.

Now, back to Verity. Unfortunately for her, Captain Blamey isn’t a good catch. He was an alcoholic and served time in prison for allegedly beating his wife to death. This appalls the family even though Verity has forgiven him. At first, Poldark isn’t pleased with this development though Verity swears that he will never hurt her so he reluctantly allows the two to meet at his house but of course, Uncle Charles and Francis find out about this and feel very betrayed by their cousin. And then, Blamey insults Francis which Francis just can’t stand so the two duel. Poldark is livid and even Uncle Charles isn’t a fan of this. Poldark refuses to fetch either of the men a pistol. It ends rather badly with Francis having a life threatening wound to the neck and Blamey having a bloody hand. Verity tells him that now there is no way they can be together. Her heart is broken however, and later thanks Francis for her condition. Poldark rushes to save Francis’s life even though Prudie is afraid of the blood but Demelza isn’t and helps. She even asked Poldark how he learned everything and he mutters on the fields in Virginia. But we won’t be seeing the last of Captain Blamey.

Elizabeth is grateful that Poldark saved Francis as now she needs him more than ever as she is with child. Despite a probably difficult delivery as the camera gives a close up of the forceps but the baby is a healthy little boy. I didn’t think Francis had it in him. No, I seriously didn’t think Francis was grown up enough to have viable sperm. Whatever, the baby is Elizabeth’s joy.

At the christening, the baby is named Geoffrey Charles and Uncle Charles is thrilled at the prospect of a grandson to inherit everything, after all, Francis will teach his son everything he knows, which won’t take long according to George. That line made me laugh. Unfortunately, the auspicious day quickly turns sour: Uncle Charles suffers a heart attack. Aunt Agatha (Caroline Blakiston) believes that this is a bad omen especially since it happened on a christening day. (She has some great lines throughout the series including declaring that the women’s problem with the family is the men.) Yikes. For the record, Elizabeth wanted Poldark to be the godfather while Francis insisted on George because the two are thick as thieves. Still, Francis isn’t happy by the looks Poldark continues to give Elizabeth and later tries to have sex with her despite her still being sore and weak from the delivery. Because of this, Francis is forced to take his urges elsewhere and starts seeing the prostitute regularly and even bestows her fancy jewelry when the mine continues to fail miserably. Life gets quite bad for them.

Now, before we continue with the other couples, we must focus on the heart of the show: Poldark and Demelza. At some point during episode two, Demelza falls in love with him. Perhaps it is when she watches him bathe in the ocean after the night with the prostitute, but it is unclear to me of the exact moment. She starts to want something a little more that episode also, peering into his office and she slowly learns to read, by the next episode she can sound out the name of his mine. The other two servants don’t like what they believe she is trying to do, though she says that she knows her place. Poldark tells her coolly that her place is wherever he tells her it is. By the end of episode two, Poldark decides to allow Demelza to return home if she wants, but she seems satisfied with being there with them. By the start of the next episode when Poldark opens his mine, Demelza just beams at his speech and the rumors have started swirling, everyone firmly believes that Poldark is sleeping with his scullery maid: the investors of his mine, the pastor and even the Tiegs. Word even got back to her father, who has stopped drinking and found religion. He is not pleased about these rumors and wants her to return home. She proclaims that nothing has happened, and she’s telling the truth. If is only after this ultimatum that she finally admits her true feelings, to Prudie who continues to say that it isn’t fit. Demelza admits that she can’t leave because she hadn’t lived before she arrived at Nampara (the name of Poldark’s estate), but she also knows that she will never mean as much to him as he does to her.

Though I haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact Demelza fell in love with Poldark, the moment that Poldark’s attraction to Demelza is another story. For many months when she was his kitchen maid, he barely gave her a passing glance until the wedding of Jim to his love Ginny. While Demelza is dancing in the group of commoners, Poldark can’t keep his eyes off her. He might realize that his feelings for her are growing but he at least is appreciating her contribution to his estate. When Prudie sprains her wrist and can’t cook, Demelza takes over that duty and when Poldark bites into her meat pie, he tells her to delay Prudie’s recovery for as long as possible. Demelza can predict his wants and desires after he returns home from work. One time, he even tells her to join him as he has heard from the others that she sometimes doesn’t stop working to eat.

But Demelza very nearly ruins everything. Poldark has just had a horrible day in court (more on that to come) and she had the confrontation with her father so she believes that she probably has little to lose and tries on the dress that she had been eyeing in his office, stuffed away in a chest, once Poldark discovers this, he is furious as she has blatantly overstepped the limits of her position. Naturally, he yells at her which causes her to cry. He apologizes, wipes the tears away and a quick, unexpected make out session follows, shocking both of them. Poldark pulls away as that was not the reason he took her from her father. She cries back at him, “What does it matter what you took me for?”

He storms away to his bedroom. Now, normally I have no problem blaming the guy for what will happen next, but this time, Demelza is just as much to blame as Poldark, probably even more so. She arrives at his door, and announces that she needs help getting out of the dress. Poldark tells her that if they follow through with their hormones (paraphrasing) then all those rumors will be true. “Then let them be true,” Demelza answers him.

She leaves the next morning before he wakes up. But it isn’t until after Elizabeth visits that she realizes she made a horrible mistake. Demelza decides that she must leave but fortunately Poldark goes after her, asks her what she would have thought would have happened after they slept together. Could she just go back to being his servant? “Not by choice, sir,” is her reply but Poldark declares that she can’t go back to being his servant and the show quickly jumps to them in church with marriage vows being read. Jud and Prudie don’t know what to make of the whole spectacle.

The marriage takes everyone by surprise, including Demelza but she almost feels that it would be kept a secret though Poldark doesn’t agree with that. He informs Francis who tells his family, with only Verity writing to give them good wishes. Unfortunately, Poldark needs more capitol for his mine, but because of his hasty marriage, many feel that they no longer trust his judgment and pull out leaving him floundering. Even the prostitute can’t believe his marriage. Poldark does tell that Demelza is beautiful in her own way but he doesn’t love her, though they do get on. Demelza doesn’t adapt to her new status in society, even beating up Jud after he stole some cheese; Poldark isn’t pleased with this. He does try to help her, though just barely, getting her a book so she can practice her letters and a ribbon to tie up her unruly hair. He also writes her father which shocks her. But she is happy as she doesn’t think that anything has changed except she now gets less sleep but she has no complaints. She doesn’t understand the whole business of other relatives calling on each other (visiting).

Fortunately, though she is initially annoyed about Verity visiting, they become quick friends which leads to a very shocking conversation. Remember, this is 1780s England. Verity is pleased that Ross has married her as she has given him hope. Demelza does love him beyond anything and he is kind to her, she believes that she pleases him in bed but she doesn’t think he loves her and never thinks that she will hear those words from him. Yes, she thinks that she’s good in bed. My jaw dropped when she said that. Verity also looked uncomfortable at that frank statement. I don’t blame her, not in the slightest.

Despite all her love for him, she can’t bring herself to tell Poldark that she is pregnant. Instead, she confides in Verity and merely hints at the whole thing, “Perhaps my measuring might not be the same for long.” She is happy about this, thank goodness and Verity assures her that Ross will also be thrilled. That doesn’t stop Demelza from not telling for several months.

By the time Christmas arrives, the newlyweds visit the vastly wealthier Poldarks. I should also mention that Uncle Charles has tragically died by this point. He may not have thrilled about Poldark’s choice in bride but he still trusts Ross more than Francis and begs Poldark to take care of the family. Francis feels nothing but relief over his father’s death which is just a wretched thing to say. Demelza doesn’t really want to go there, as she doesn’t feel that she will fit in especially with Elizabeth. Poldark doesn’t want to hear this as how could someone he admired look down so menially on her. She asks him if he still admires Elizabeth to which his reply is that she was born to be admired. “And I was born to pull turnips,” is Demelza’s quick retort. Poldark just chuckles.

Christmas Eve dinner is very nearly a disaster as some unexpected guests arrive (Ruth Tieg, her husband and George Warleggan, among others). Poldark also isn’t that happy that Demelza ordered a new dress for Christmas Eve despite it being tradition to change for dinner, he warns her not the lace the stays too tight. She mentions to Verity that she should have never married him. Verity begs her to trust her husband and herself. But she is so nervous that she can barely keep food down in the first place, a small detail that Poldark notices at the dinner.

She returns to the group after taking a break to throw up and Ruth wants her to play something on the harp, which she, of course, can’t play. Poldark immediately steps in and announces that she can sing. She isn’t pleased that he put her on the spot. Now, this caught me by surprise. How in the world did he know that she could sing? I have watched the shows again (and taken notes) and discovered that Demelza has been singing since the first episode. Sure, Poldark put her on the spot but he wanted to show her off and prove to the stuffy, rich people that his wife is just as talented as the lot of them. Now, Demelza delivers, nervous though she may not, digging her fingers into the grooves of the chair but she delights, singing a sad song beautifully. Poldark is completely besotted and both Francis and Elizabeth pick up on this even if Demelza overlooks it. He still doesn’t say the words to her face, though, merely wishing a Merry Christmas to his love after she has already fallen asleep.

He finally tells her that he loves her after she asks him why he married her as she doesn’t rightly know. He admits that he didn’t have high expectations as it was to serve mainly as a distraction but fortunately she redeemed him, he’s her humble servant and he loves her. Demelza is immensely pleased to hear these words and hopes he has some love to spare. “For what?” he wonders out loud.

“Our child,” is her reply. He gets that slow smile going on. Verity was right, he was thrilled with the news. Remember this moment, the happiness doesn’t last.

The baby isn’t born until the next episode, and I rightly predicted that it was going to be a girl. Poldark isn’t upset, thank goodness, as he was responsible, not that he knew it or had any control over it. Instead, he is in awe of his new baby and can’t believe that the two of them made something so perfect. He promises that he will a better man and make the world a better for her. Demelza wonders what about her, he tells her that he’s already a better man because of her. This is rather different from what Francis has to say as he is upset that Elizabeth is trying to make him better.

Back to business of Verity and Captain Blamey. Demelza is so filled with love her husband and child and she wants Verity to have that as well so she reaches out to Captain Blamey without telling her husband. At first, Blamey rebuffs what she has to say, and claims that he is married to his ship. But that is lie and he apologizes for lashing out at her as it has taken him a lifetime to control his temper. She arranges him to meet the two of them in a dress store in town. At first, Verity isn’t pleased either though she changes her tune quickly. By episode six, she is secretly meeting him in town but can’t bring herself to tell Francis that she wishes to marry him so she can be free. She doesn’t know the true meaning of that word, but whatever. Unfortunately, things go horribly at the ball, and not just for Verity.

I have neglected to mention the fate of poor Jim Carter (Alexander Arnold). Jim is one of Poldark’s loyal servants but he is also solely responsible for his mother and four younger sisters. He has also impregnated Ginny (Gracee O’Brien) though the two aren’t married yet. To make ends meet, he poaches. This is incredibly dangerous and is a capitol offense. Yes, that’s right. You can be put to death for killing birds on someone else’s property. Poldark helps them out and gives them a cottage to live in rent-free. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop Jim from poaching, though he and Ginny are taken care of now (by this time, they have also married), he needs to provide for his mom and sisters. Ginny tells Demelza of this and she informs Ross. Despite Poldark already telling him to stop, he doesn’t get mad like I was expecting, instead he proposes that Jim will have an even better at the mine: assistant bursar, but he doesn’t tell him of this right away. So Jim goes out to poach again. Ginny begs him not to go but he insists that this will be the last time, but, of course, he gets caught. Poldark hears of this and immediately begs the charges to be dropped to no avail and then tries to get the judge (Robin Ellis, the original Poldark, apparently) to let him off with a strict warning and even swears as Jim has lung condition so he will not survive a jail term. The judge is gives Jim leniency and he gets just two years in prison though Poldark is still furious and thinks that justice would have been best served by clemency.

Jim isn’t mentioned again until episode six when Poldark hears rumors that disease has infected the prison. He and his friend, Dr. Dwight Enys (Luke Norris), whom he has known since his army days, go into the prison and find Jim sick and dying with gangrene. They break him out only to have him die. Poldark is devastated and furious at the justice system. He drinks for five straight days much to Demelza’s dismay.

By this time, Poldark has started a smelting company with some others, though the Warleggans are trying in vain to put a stop to this, as George is also the owner of Dr. Choake’s shares as the doctor pulled away Poldark’s hasty marriage to Demelza. Though Poldark is doing okay, though he wants to buy out the rest of the shareholders, he can’t do that without taking out a mortgage on his home and he can’t do that with Demelza and baby Julia at home.

Francis, on the other hand, has lost his status in the world. And his pride. Thanks to his poor management skills, and the fact that he couldn’t pay back the loans he owed the bank, he risked the mine in a simple game of cards and lost. Yes, that’s right, he was stupid enough to bet the mine on a simple card game. To George’s corn merchant cousin, Matthew Sampson, no less. Yes, George is really no friend of his. Francis is forced to actually work for a change. Elizabeth refuses to feel sorry for herself, though Francis has no problem doing just that. Francis has lost his income as well, yet, he still gambles, just with much smaller stacks.

Now, episode six revolves mostly around the Warleggan ball which Demelza looks forward to attending. Poldark is fine with attending until Jim dies and he starts drinking. He can’t stand being around those people who sentenced Jim to rot in prison as they don’t know the wretched conditions there. He feels that they should see for themselves. In the end, they go as Verity persuades him that he needs to prove to others that he’s still a gentleman, plus he had already ordered Demelza a truly beautiful gold gown while he was in town.

His excuse for attending is solely to escort his wife though not many know Demelza was once his servant and she delights many people as she counts out the steps of the dance to herself. George manages to persuade an already drunk Poldark to play cards which he does. Elizabeth is the one who comes in to scold the men (Francis also) for neglecting their wives, as that is a foolish mistake. Poldark, then, does return to Demelza who believes that they should be reintroduced as it has been so long. They have a little argument which I’m sure the rest of room could hear as it wasn’t like they kept it private or anything. Poldark threatens to never take her to a ball again and she warns that he continues to behave like he has been, she won’t want to attend another with him.

Still, later she goes into the card room to support him where he is playing the indefatigable Sampson and he is losing badly. Earlier that evening, he had given her a beautiful necklace but she barely hesitates and rips it off for him to gamble with if it means that much to him. He loses and then beats his stakes in the mine much to Demelza’s dismay and then discovers that Sampson is a cheat, having already had a card in his hand before he went to draw. Of course, Sampson denies this and then Poldark assaults him, still livid about the whole thing. But at least he was able to hang on to his stakes and get back everything he had lost that evening.

As for Verity, she hasn’t summoned up the courage to tell Francis of her renewed attraction to Captain Blamey as he continues to say that Poldark and Demelza isn’t a good match because it is so unequal but Blamey shows up at the ball anyway and Francis isn’t pleased to see him and prepares to fight him though Blamey rebuffs that instantly, but he leaves and never looks back. Verity fears she has lost him completely but, once again, Blamey writes to Demelza to tell Verity that she must choose between her brother and him. Poldark wasn’t pleased to see him there and wonders if Demelza knew anything about it and she lies to him and says that she was just as surprised as he was. Certainly, that is not a complete lie, she wasn’t really expecting him there but she knew that the two had rekindled their relationship and she was all for it, wanting Verity to have complete happiness. Poldark should tell her the truth about Blamey and his sordid past then perhaps Demelza would understand why even though she might love him, it probably isn’t for the best. It is also not a good idea to keep important details from your husband, just a little bit of advice, Demelza.

By the end of that episode, Poldark finally sobers up and just might take Demelza’s wise words to heart: You can only make your corner a fairer place. Only time will tell.

Now to the stupidest subplot ever. Mark Daniel (Matthew Wilson) is one of Poldark’s best mine workers and he falls in love with one of the actresses when she comes to town to perform a Shakespeare play just before Demelza goes into labor. She claims to love him and he is completely enamored but that relationship quickly turns sour. Keren (Sabrina Bartlett) doesn’t like their home. She wants the finer things in life and soon her eye delights in the new doctor, Dwight. She even goes as far as to hurt her wrist just so he will come to visit her. Dwight had already declared that he intended to keep his head down here, but that is going to be hard to do as Keren waltzes into his house to make herself of service to him. It might be helpful as she (unlike her husband) can read and write but it is filled with double meaning and Dwight is young, handsome and green, as Demelza puts it. This stupid plot takes a turn for the worst in the two-part season finale, with Keren basically forcing herself upon the doctor but Mark isn’t an idiot, he knows that something is up. He is furious at his wife and who can blame him? She starts hitting him, claiming that he doesn’t know what love is. There is a struggle and somehow, Mark accidentally breaks her neck which means that he is on the run from the law. I couldn’t figure out how it happened exactly, but it happened nevertheless. Poldark arranges that Mark should escape in his boat. It was an accident and Dwight blames himself, but how he could say no to Keren, men only want one thing in life. And she was able to provide it for him. Of course, Mark also blames Dwight for what happened and when they both take shelter at Nampara, things get pretty ugly though Demelza is able to break it up. Mark is able to get away and Poldark is able to fool the guards, but it wasn’t easy.

Things go from bad to worse for the Poldarks. Verity escapes to wed her sea Captain and Francis is beyond livid and blames Ross entirely for the incident. In fact, he is so bitter, he reveals the names of the shareholders in Ross’s smelting company to George who has just come back in his good graces, giving Francis some money to recoup from all the money Matthew cheated him out of. Naturally, this has disastrous results, with the Warleggans calling in the loans of the shareholders so the infant company is forced to close. This loss is felt more acutely for Ross as everything is more painful, the world is a harder place because of baby Julia.

Demelza fesses up that she is truly to blame; she just wanted the two lovers to be together but she had no idea how dreadful the fallout would be. Ross is furious at her and she is devastated that he no longer trusts her and might never be able to completely forgive her. Demelza tries to punish herself and urges Ross to sell her jewels and finest gown so he will have more money for his mine. She will feel better if that is what he does. However, the worst is yet to come.

In the season finale, an illness comes to Cornwall, probably strep throat, though they call it something different. Ginny tells Demelza that Francis, Elizabeth and everyone else there is ill, even their servants. Demelza, despite being banned from ever entering that house again, goes over to care for them, saving the lives of everyone, even little Geoffrey Charles, who did nearly die. Poldark isn’t exactly thrilled to hear this, but I do think he is glad that Demelza is no longer keeping anything from him.

But the results are devastating. Demelza becomes ill with the same ailment as does baby Julia. Dwight is immediately called but there is no cure. The show gets slightly metaphysical with Demelza having hallucinations, none of which would entice her to live with images of Elizabeth and Ross together and Ross criticizing her decision of Verity and Blamey. Instead, baby Julia dies and Demelza hasn’t even recovered to attend the funeral, leaving Ross to cope with the heart-wrenching loss on his own.  Yeah, if you think the funeral will make you cry, it is nothing to when Demelza finally recovers and immediately asks about her daughter. And Poldark has to tell her that Julia has died. He can’t do it so he just gives her the cloth bracelet with her name embroidered on it, something Demelza had made special for Julia’s christening. She breaks down though Ross’s words that she was at peace and died in his arms (I don’t think that was the case) are some small comfort. Elizabeth had been by to care for Demelza earlier and the tragic irony isn’t lost on her. For poor Demelza, no one good deed goes unpunished but Ross does urge Elizabeth to pray that the love of his life doesn’t die.

Sadly, I predicted that something would have happened to baby Julia. After all, this is the 1780s and with two healthy babies already, I knew the odds were not in Julia’s favor but that didn’t mean I wanted it to happen. I feel to blame even though that is beyond ridiculous as the book was written decades before I was and maybe even before my parents were born. John Green had put it best in his bestseller: The Fault in Our Stars, now Ross and Demelza are no longer parents and that is going to be a hardship that the couple will not soon recover from. The loss of a child is something I would not wish on my worst enemy.

Even George managed to summon some sympathy for Poldark, saying that the world would be a darker place without her but Poldark doesn’t return the sentiment for George’s cousin, saying that the world would be brighter without him and then George asked if Ross could have saved him and he replies that why would he? These words condemn him. (More later.)

Now, the other major plot in the finale was the shipwreck of one of the Warleggan vessels and the loot washes up on the shores of the Poldark beach. The looting begins and then the survivors wash up on the shore, including Matthew Sampson. Poldark is there but Sampson is either already dead or beyond saving, which is perhaps the worst decision he ever made, but he is walking around in a wall of grief.

The season ends with Demelza finally getting to say good-bye to Julia and begging Ross to mend the fences with his cousin and he says that he will ask Francis to come to his mine. He tells her that she is so good, but the tender moment is abruptly ended when Poldark is arrested and torn away from the still weak Demelza, charged with looting and murder, all of which is George’s doing. This will only add to Demelza’s intense heartbreak.

Ross is like Job, and even mutters that everything he touches turns to dust, or something to that affect. Even if eventually good things happen to them, the past losses will be hard to move past and happiness looks like its miles away from them. Who would have thought that Verity would be the happiest at the end of the season? Not that she doesn’t deserve it, but no one would have ever thought that.

Despite me having issues with some of the plots in general or the way they end up, the show is still flawless, with the acting superb all around, even down to the bit players, including Ginny’s father and Demelza’s father. The scenery is also a sight to behold, with lush cinematography and customers and hairstyles that fit each character like a glove. Sure, Turner is the main draw of the show, it was as though the character was written for him and he does get the majority of the attention as he should, but the rest of cast is also great. Tomlinson face is also a blank slate to paint the emotions on, which happens. Also, the way they both say the names of the others, it is truly breathtaking, just the pure emotion is rarely seen. Just for the record, Tomlinson was the best thing in the bad miniseries: Death Comes to Pemberley. And she was Georgina Darcy, a minor role, but she was better than Anna Maxwell Martin, an actress I love but she wasn’t a good Lizzy Bennett and Darcy was just a jerk throughout the whole thing. Okay, enough with that rant. Turner goes to the ball without a wig, but that completely works for him. I might love him as Poldark though I can barely look at him in real life, so ladies, I will not being throwing my hat in the ring, you can continue your fight over him without me, unless he wants to turn into Ross Poldark permanently. Turner is beyond brilliant, it was as though the role was written specifically for him, though, of course, that is not the case. His successes are our successes and his losses are made personal because we know how they will affect the characters.

Never before has a show affected me this deeply before. It is because the acting is so natural, these characters feel utterly real and their loss becomes the loss of the viewer as well. Once again, Turner and Tomlinson deserve every single award they get, plus all the awards they don’t get.

Verity is the overlooked character, just as Bentall is the overlooked actor but she shines. She would be perfect to play Rachel, the main character is the latest bestselling thriller: The Girl on the Train. Sure, this probably doesn’t seem like a compliment but this would be a good, juicy role for her and would finally give her the attention she undeniably desires. 

I hope this show is the big break all three deserve. Hollywood keep the scripts coming.

Nit Picks:

-What happened to Demelza’s dog? He was in the first four episodes but after the baby was born, he just disappears. For the record, the dog is back in episode seven to watch the house while Demelza is there by herself but then he disappears again for the finale.

-Demelza’s skill at reading and writing improves rather quickly. By episode five, she thinks nothing of grabbing a quill and writing letter to Captain Blamey, but if you pay close attention, she does spell Captain wrong, instead writing Capten. Now, Tomlinson is a better actress than that. She could have done more with that scene.

-In episode six, Ginny’s baby is roughly the same size as little Julia and there is no way that should be the case, as the Carter baby is nearly a year older. Yeah, stuff like that bothers me to no end.

Poldark: Protagonist or Antagonist?

-He is a complex character with a sordid past even before fighting in the revolution, but when he returns, he feels much more at home with the working class, and his marriage makes that clear. He doesn’t care if society shuns him; he will be home in the peace and quiet of his own home and is completely fine with that.

-However, though he fights ardently for the poor and working class, he does go too far sometimes, especially after declaring that he wants to be a better man for his daughter. Sure, his case is noble and will fulfill the other part of his pledge, making the world a better place for her, but at what cost? He is still rash and doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions. He could face jail time of his own by assaulting Sampson and breaking Jim out of prison and welcomes the trouble, never mind if Demelza and Julia will suffer in his absence. He also needs to consider his vow to his dying uncle, and care for the family.

-It also upsets me that he is arrested for something wrong instead of all the other crimes he had committed throughout the season, including the assault.

Crazy Crap Demelza says:

-“What am I, a circus attraction?” She snaps at another onlooker in town as she is still poorly dressed because Poldark hasn’t bought her any suitable clothes yet.

-“You never told me not to go in there.”-Her excuse as to why she was in Poldark’s office in episode three.

-“I’d sooner stick a fork in my eye.”-When asked about working in the mines herself.

-“When we’re abed, I do think I please him.”-That line was so crazy, I have to have it in here again.

-“One month to go, and I’m already fatter than Prudie.”-Complaining about her weight gain from the pregnancy.

Best Episode: Episode Four, the one that completely ruined Harlequin romances for me forever.

Worst Episode: Episode Six, just lame and Poldark wasn’t nice to really anyone, plus he was drunk for the vast majority of the episode, though the finale was beyond devastating but the excellent performances make that one a must watch.

Thanks for sticking with me to end of this post. Grade: A