Poldark season 5 episodes 1 and 2 review: The curious case of Geoffrey Charles
Scything, swordfights, and spies, oh my! The fifth (and final) season of Poldark has thrown everything but Demelza’s kitchen sink at itself. If the first two episodes are anything to go by, it’s going out with one hell of a bang.
Poldark has always been a jack of all trades (and, perhaps if we’re being unforgiving, master of none). Bodices are ripped like there’s no tomorrow, but we also get a smattering of politics, insight into the 18th Century Cornish mining industry, and now espionage, as Ross Poldark himself gets headhunted by England’s head spymaster after saving the King from assassination.
We didn’t say it wasn’t absolutely nuts. This show puts the corny in Cornwall, but honestly, why else are we here?
Fortunately, this series is continuing many time-honored Poldark traditions. Ross is yet again barrelling headfirst into fighting the world’s injustices, this time tackling slavery whilst simultaneously spying for the English monarchy (how those two loyalties will go together is yet to be determined). George Warleggan is still being the proto-Bond villain of our dreams, talking about ruling the rest of the world with ‘the firmest of hands’ whilst looking suspiciously at everything that breathes around him, especially if it bears the name Poldark.
Something very interesting, and a bit left-field, is going on with George though, alongside his usual debilitating chin-raising indignance. After his wife’s untimely death at the end of last season, George — who has up until now never met a bad feeling he couldn’t defeat just by being horrible to Ross — is struggling to cope.
Given that Doctor Dwight, having now dealt with his own trauma from his imprisonment in France and the loss of his now-not-often-mentioned baby, is making sharp turns into mental health treatment, this will no doubt be a huge plot point for both him and George — and a chance for Jack Farthing to show us again how brilliant he is at not playing Evil George as a pantomime villain. Give that man an Emmy, immediately.
Meanwhile, hardy Demelza is (literally) putting out fires at home, as starving locals (led by newcomer and upstart Tess Tregidden) accuse her of forgetting her urchin roots since becoming Lady of Nampara. Hiring Troublesome Tess (as we shall henceforth call her) as her maid is one way of keeping her enemies close. But has Demelza simply laid the red carpet out for the fox to enter the hen house? We’ll see.
Action returns to London in the second episode, however, and we see more of the Poldarks in their metropolitan townhouse, enjoying their metropolitan life. (Side note: Why are there so many jugglers in London?) There’s some whodunnit-style mystery, with a corpse in a river and a “wrongfully imprisoned” plot still to be resolved, but that’s the minutiae of Poldark. What we are really here for is the romance.
It might be the star-crossed slow-burn romance between the new bad guy Ralph Hanson’s daughter and Ross’ nephew Geoffrey Charles (who, it is worth noting, seems to be the only character in this series who is capable of aging). Or it might be Drake and Morwenna, who are attempting to negotiate the trauma left to her by the not-so-dearly-departed Reverend Ossie.
It’s definitely Ross and Demelza, who, for once in their lives, seem to be on the same page (let us pray Ross doesn’t suddenly forget how to read again…).
All in all, the new season feels as familiar as an old family friend, but if that’s not what you want from Poldark, you’ve come to the wrong place. Likely there are still twists to come — ghosts of dead wives and such never bode well — but nevertheless, the sweeping romance and buckling swashes are a comforting constant in a world that is endlessly changing.
The (Cliff) Peaks
George giving Ross a few home truths about what they did to Elizabeth: We may rarely see eye to eye with Cornish Draco Malfoy, but he is certainly right about the tug of war he and Ross put his wife through. It’s little justice given how she died, but it’s about time someone said it.
Geoffrey Charles: Again, he is the only character aging (Ross’ children are still mere babes, and Garrick, who must be 1,000 in dog years by now, is still around). But, my goodness, he is becoming a Romantic Hero before our very eyes. It’s lovely to see him acknowledge the portrait of his mother, too — a heartwarming callback to the closeness they shared BG (Before George).
Kitty Despard: Ned’s wife Kitty is truly the MVP of his “wrongful-imprisonment” storyline. She is kind, eloquent and, frankly, the only reason her husband is still alive given his hot head. More of her, please.
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