Poldark season 4 premiere review: A strong start, and all the Aidan Turner we can handle

With Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson doing some strong work as Ross and Demelza Poldark, Poldark season 4 looks bright after a solid premiere.

Poldark knows what we’re here for, and on that list is Aidan Turner in various shirtless scenes. At least he’s appropriately shirtless this season, as the very first shot of the season is Ross Poldark emerging from the ocean, dripping wet.

“No, I’m still here,” he says when Demelza arrives with the children. “And I,” she answers. Ross and Demelza have always been at the center of this show. They have plenty of things to work through, and yet the show also makes sure to note that they are working on them by kissing and so on.

But things may initially seem stable(ish) with both the Warleggans and Poldarks, Ross and Elizabeth can’t stop being affectionate with each other. Nor can Hugh stop sending Demelza love poems that still aren’t very good. (The episode repeats it no less than three times, and it does not get better, not even when Hugh tells her the final lines.) As for Elizabeth and George, things are frosty, but she seems to have him under his thumb.

However, this show has always been more conscious of class than some other period dramas; the lives of the poor affect the lives of the wealthier, with it coming up in food shortages that summon Ross, Dwight, and others to arrest people who participated in the riot. Both Sam and Drake Carne get rounded up, with Ross saying he’ll help them if he can.

The problem is that he can’t, because George gets the hearings started early, meaning that Drake and Sam get sentenced to die. Look, George and Ross don’t like each other. They have never actually liked each other. This, however, is a step beyond just generally sniping at each other. This is actively getting innocent men sentenced to death by virtue of their being related to Ross.

Does it lead to not one, but two excellent riding shots? It does. Does it also lead to Jack Farthing and Turner getting to trade barbs? It does. And does it mean that Turner gets to deliver some strong lines and a patented Ross Poldark speech to save his brothers-in-law? Oh, yes.

But the thing that kicks it off is the most cruel thing George has probably done in all four seasons, and he doesn’t even bat an eye doing it. It feels like this should be given more weight than it is on George’s part, considering how big a moment it is in the episode. This is a relatively minor complaint, considering how much else needs to be worked in to the hour.

And the aftermath of the execution scene, where Bassett, Warleggan, and Osborne Whitworth walk through the crowd of commoners as Zacky Martin wails over his son, and there’s a lingering shot of the rope swinging?

That’s good. That’s very good on Poldark‘s part.

Turner has a lot of heavy lifting to do this episode in terms of the conflict Ross feels in having to round his brothers-in-law up as well as the attempts his character makes to repair things with Demelza. He’s up to the challenge, able to communicate these feelings with just a few blinks and turns of his expressions. And his voice in the speech to save Drake and Sam hits wavering lows and strident highs, pitching well.

As always, Eleanor Tomlinson is Turner’s match. She gets to tell Ross off in her own subtle ways; her facial expressions when she later pays a visit with Dwight and Caroline to Hugh tell as many stories about what Demelza is feeling as Turner’s do for Ross.

When they get to sit across from each other and talk their feelings out, then, it’s a lovely denouement to the episode. Finishing each other’s sentences like that … it’s a deeply emotional scene, and neither Tomlinson nor Turner push it into melodramatic territory.

This may have been the strongest premiere to Poldark since the beginning, setting what promises to be a political (and perhaps dark) season into motion while also bringing some satisfaction in the relationship arena.

Additional thoughts:

• Demelza hums the same song she sang in season 3. She also has a fantastic new hat.
• The fact that Ross invites someone to tea and irritates Demelza because the house is in a state is possibly peak married life. They have two small kids! It is not easy to keep it all clean.
• Caroline’s pregnancy reveal to Dwight is the sweetest moment.