Poldark Series 3 Episode 2: Recap and Review

You know the plot is thickening when there’s abundant seagazing. While Demelza ponders her pregnancy and looks pensively at the waves, Ross broods moodily at the horizon. This is because over in France there’s un beaucoup de historical context.

More on that to come. For now, the Carne Brothers are trespassing on Warleggan property. This threatens discord: “You’ll favour me by not setting foot on Trenwith land, nor having dealings with any of the household,” says Ross. But Drake wants to have ‘dealings’ with Morwenna, and will find any excuse to see her.

“You’ve a beguiling way, Drake,” says Demelza. “I tremble for the young maids hereabouts.” So do I: he and his brother Sam have got the largest piece of wood, as young men often do, which they’ve been lugging across the county. It’s not just any old piece of wood, either, but ideal for plugging a leaky hole.

Cue tinkly music and flowers, which you’d think Morwenna would have learnt to avoid by now. Wherever there’s flowers and tinkly music, Drake is never far away, and poor Morwenna finds herself bumping into him at every turn.

“They seem very low-born,” says Morwenna to Geoffrey Charles, apparently unaware that marrying off-piste has become de rigeur in Poldarkland. You can tell the common folk by the way they speak in broad Cornish accents, saying things like “alack a day” and “Would e like for I to ‘elp e?” Keen to save souls and bring light to the dark corners of Cornwall, the Carne brothers invite some of the local riff raff to worship at George’s church, which just so happens to be where Morwenna also attends Sunday service. Is there nowhere she can escape?

Drake and Sam aren’t the only ones with wood. Wielding his chopper in the garden, Ross casts wistful glances in the direction of the church where baby Valentine is being christened. This family occasion means that Verity and her baby are present. Not only is baby Blamey extraordinarily cute, but he is also, in the words of Elizabeth, “the very image of his papa”.

Oh, the dramatic ironing: these words apply to baby Valentine too, yet no one dares acknowledge it. Let’s just say that for now the ladies of Trenwith had better get busy with their crochet hooks. Valentine is going to need plenty of bonnets, probably until adulthood.

“He’s darker than his father,” observes Caroline. Perhaps that’s why Ross has changed his hair from loose tousled curls to slicked-back floor mop, as if he too is aware of the child’s burgeoning resemblance.

But poor Caroline. Not only has her uncle, John Nettles of Bergerac, recently passed, but her new husband, dishy doctor Dwight, is away at sea. His ship, the Trevail, is in peril and at the christening the Warleggans inform her that Enys’ fleet has been involved in a “skirmish”, battling the French for over 12 hours.

Given current events in France, this is worrying news. Keen to find more information about their friend, Ross and Demelza accept an invitation to a party at the house of the nouveau riche Sir Francis Bassett, who has risen to great heights from common stock. In fact, he’s so rich, he is what George aspires to be. More importantly for Ross, however, French nobles who have escaped the revolution will be present. It’s possible they know something about Enys’ fate.

As Ross broods and smoulders among the halls of the large house he is approached by the Reverend Halse, played by original Ross Poldark, Robin Ellis. I love these scenes with the two Rosses: the wisdom of experience juxtaposed with hot-headed youth. A typical Poldark, young Ross is, in the words of Verity, “Quick to anger and slow to forgive.” This includes his inability to forgive himself. Halse is seeking a new magistrate to replace John Nettles of Bergerac on the bench. It would be an opportunity for Ross to use his influence for public good.

Yet despite his strong socialist instincts, Ross doesn’t want to be part of that world. He reminds Halse that not only has he been on trial for wrecking, riot and assault, but he also broke into Bodmin gaol to free a prisoner, and doesn’t want to sit in judgement over his fellow men. He declines the offer, knowing full well that the position will be offered to George, who will abuse and exploit it to his own advantage.

Time for a breezy gallop — no episode of Poldark would be complete without one. With news of Enys’ fleet unforthcoming, Ross mounts his steed, puts his foot down and tears hell-for-leather to Truro. There he hears that a ship was smashed on rocks off the French coast, where a handful of men made it ashore, only to meet a local rabble.

Back home, just before bedtime, there’s a knock at the door. It’s the mysterious bloke with a hook for a hand, who says “Aaargh!” a lot, in that comedy pirate way and is, so he tells us, a big hit with the ladies. Ross used to know him in years gone by and he still likes roistering, wenching and rattling the bones of his hand in a leather pouch (how can the ladies resist?) He tells Ross that the Trevail crew have been held at Quimper.

Using his smuggling contacts — for a price — Ross decides to sail across the channel. Revolutionary France is synonymous with “bloodshed, riot, murder and mayhem”. They’ve got guillotines too and understandably, Demelza doesn’t want him to go.

But Ross has to find Enys, the last of whom we see with a gun pointing in his face. Poor Caroline! Hasn’t she had enough heartbreak? Dwight can’t die — I want there to be that second wedding and lavish reception that she talked about.