Poldark season 3 premiere recap: New characters, old conflicts

Poldark, Season 3 Shown: Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark

Courtesy of Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Poldark’s third season premiere moves things forward in time, brings new characters into the fold, and then sets things up for some epic clashes.

If we had to give the season 3 premiere of Poldark a name, it would probably be “George Warleggan has a complex, and everyone knows about it and mostly exploits it”. That’s not really news to those who have watched this show before, but wow, did it ever become obvious in pretty every single scene he has over the two hours.

Season 2’s recap included that line about Elizabeth not “coming between” Demelza and Ross any longer. What’s the first scene of season 3, then, even before the credits? Ross calming a very pregnant Elizabeth’s runway horse, and George showing up to be all George about it. (Granted, Elizabeth is not happy about it either.) Welcome back to Poldark.

Home life is not going well for basically anyone. Demelza and Ross are not good. Meanwhile, George wants to actually adopt Geoffrey Charles, presumably to quash any pro-Ross/Demelza sympathies the kid has (and he has them; so does Aunt Agatha). The kid has a spine, though, and says he’ll just add Francis to his name. Finally, Caroline, tending her dying uncle, fends off his pushes to get her married.

But fortunes always turn quickly in Cornwall. One of the brothers Carne, Drake, arrives at Nampara. As our first sight of him is him singing along, and the second is basically him swinging Demelza around, we get the impression he’s happy-go-lucky. Of course, he’s actually supposed to bring her back to their father (who is actually dying, and Demelza doesn’t want to go see him). See what we mean?

Drake’s not the only new relative on the scene. Instead, we get to meet Morwenna Chynoweth (Elizabeth’s cousin), who gets to sniff a flower and then go ask George Warleggan for money with her mother. The money’s going to come in the form of work: Morwenna’s about to be the new governess for Geoffrey Charles. Elizabeth is not pleased with this, and nor should she be, since George is basically doing whatever he likes, which also includes opening a new bank in the previous scene.

However, Geoffrey Charles is also exhibiting some independence of his own, because he arrives at the mine and gets to join his uncle at work for a little bit. When he comes home, he gets to sass his stepfather, and all of a sudden, Geoffrey Charles is great (especially with Aunt Agatha backing him up).

Demelza changes her mind and rides off to pay her father a visit, with Ross warning her he won’t delay anything if she’s slow. She does not look happy about his preaching to her on his deathbed, or the command to Drake and Sam to pick up their father’s preaching work. Drake looks way more uncomfortable about this, Sam singing a hymn, and Demelza leaving early. It’s for a wedding witnessed only by her and Ross: Dwight and Caroline’s. (Our doctor looks good in his uniform, and he looks even better when he hugs her.) Geoffrey Charles and Morwenna see them all leaving the church, but they don’t put it together.

Everyone works around George here. Elizabeth, having spent the entire episode agonizing about the baby arriving too early, drops a knickknack and makes it look as if she’s fallen down the stairs. Geoffrey Charles actually sends a servant to call Dwight … which is inadvertently the worst, because Caroline and Dwight are having a little newlywed moment.

Three events converge during the lunar eclipse, which Sam calls “the coming of the shadow of death.” Elizabeth’s son is born. Ross takes Caroline to Killewarren because her uncle is dying. Sam and Drake witness their father breathe his last.

Elizabeth sells the baby’s parentage hard, with her first words being about how he looks like George. (Geoffrey Charles tells Morwenna the baby looks nothing like him, again making Geoffrey Charles one of the best characters in this episode.) Ross looms outside, listening to everything, including George trying to send Aunt Agatha to her room, except she curses baby Valentine before letting the servants carry her off. (Aunt Agatha: also the best.)

The next morning is slightly more mixed. Uncle Ray dies literally right after Caroline tells him she’s married. Ross goes to talk with George in the fancy, shiny bank: he’s not going to get involved in the Trenwith affairs anymore.

Drake and Sam, off on their adventures to preach, meet up with Morwenna and Geoffrey Charles, and within 30 seconds (or less), Drake is into Morwenna, although they don’t get to exchange more than pleasantries.

On the beach with Ross, Demelza says she’s pregnant again, and it almost seems as if the two of them are mostly good … or at least on the way to being mostly good.

But that’s not all. Episode 1 took up two hours, and so it’s time for part two of the Poldark season 3 premiere recap.