Victoria season 2 episode 5 review: The King Over the Water

How do you feel about bagpipes? It’s possibly the most important question of this week’s episode of Victoria, and that’s okay.

“I think that Scotland was an escape for everyone, ma’am,” Harriet says towards the end of this week’s Victoria. Ultimately, “The King Over the Water” is indeed a little less heavy than “Faith, Hope & Charity,” focusing more on the characters. It’s a quiet, almost wistful episode, and provides a nice narrative breather.

Less than 10 minutes into the episode, Victoria survives someone shooting an unloaded gun at her and decides to head off to Scotland because she grows tired of being guarded. This second season has shown a willingness to really let the queen go to other countries, and it feels less restricted and frankly more interesting. It’s off to Scotland with Victoria, Albert, Skerrett, Miss Cleary, Paget, Drummond, Harriet, Wilhelmina and Ernest. A lot of bagpipes play, and everyone has opinions about them.

That gives everyone time to go off and have their own storylines together. Victoria and Albert get horribly lost, which allows for some lovely shots of the countryside. Paget and Drummond have discussions about The Iliad and Drummond’s upcoming wedding, although no discussions about the glances they keep shooting each other.

In a sense, it’s difficult for this episode to have real narrative tension, so it drags just a bit while the royal couple is lost in terms of action. We know there are more Victoria episodes to come after this, so it’s not much of a surprise that they find a house and a couple willing to shelter them. There are some funny moments, like when Albert lies about owning a factory and Victoria immediately corrects that it’s her factory. Unfortunately, it only lasts a night.

But alas, there is plot development! It’s just not for our main character. Drummond and Paget get to kiss, and it’s lit as romantically as it should be. Of course, Wilhelmina sees them.

At the end of the day, this episode is more about character work rather than the show dealing with massive historical events yet again (although Victoria does open Parliament up at the end of the episode in full royal regalia). Sure, Bonnie Prince Charlie gets a mention or two, and Skerrett gets to have fun with a handsome soldier even though Francatelli’s waiting at home, but for the most part, it’s about letting characters just take a breather and interact with each other in a more isolated situation. For once, Albert and Victoria can just be themselves, and she brings that home in the last scene of the episode.

Narratively, it sets up Lehzen’s conflict with Albert about the children, but it’s comparatively minor — and again, a character point rather than a major historical development.

Next: 15 times we actively rooted against love on TV

Bullet points:

• A chainmail parasol is possibly the most romantic gift ever.
• The Heliotrope by William Beattie is 96 pages in a version available online. No wonder no one is excited to hear that Beattie’s back for another night.
• Nice to see even princes refuse to admit they’re lost.
• Paget’s commentary on the “scenery” (read: Drummond) is hilarious.