Poldark season 5 episode 4 review: Ned flounders
Ross Poldark gambling his entire life savings on a mine? Dwight Enys saving the day? George Warleggan being involved in an arranged marriage? What an episode of Poldark.
This review contains spoilers for Poldark season 5.
Welcome to Poldark season 5, where things are much the same as they ever were, just slightly different for…reasons.
Episode 4 of Poldark’s fifth season had plenty of action, but not a lot of brains, especially when it comes to the firecracker that is Ned Despard. If Ross’ middle name is strife, then Ned’s is chaos, since it seems to follow him everywhere. We’re told he’s a good man — his wife Kitty seems to be the main signifier of this (and his opposition to international man of badness Ralph Hanson) — but he keeps getting into such avoidable scrapes, it’s starting to become wearisome.
In fact, we’d go as far to say if it wasn’t for Kitty, we’d have washed our hands of him completely. Long-suffering but lovely Kitty revealed this week that she’s pregnant, and she didn’t want to tell her husband after suffering through many miscarriages. Ned, meanwhile, was dutifully ignoring sage advice and being goaded into storming Trenwith by Tess Tregidden, whose troublemaking has now extended to being in the pay of the aforementioned Hanson himself.
At least she gets her comeuppance this episode; her continued employment at the Poldarks had been rather jumping the shark at this point.
His falling into Hanson’s trap is triply annoying after his only real ally (beyond his wife) Ross has received news that if his old Colonel keeps his head down, he may be allowed to return to the life he had before all this wrongful imprisonment nonsense.
This seems unlikely to happen now Ned has threatened not only George Warleggan but Sir George Warleggan in his own home (admittedly George gets talked down from having Ned killed then and there, but still). Hanson, for one, is writing some strongly-worded letters about it all.
Elsewhere in Cornwall, Geoffrey Charles is getting some terrible news among the sand dunes, mostly that his and Cecily’s flirting around the issue (the issue being love) is deeply unsustainable.
Not only does it mean they’ve not made any meaningful ground in the relationship stakes (beyond having obvious chemistry), they’ve also got to stare down the spitefulness of their respective father figures. Cecily’s dad Hanson (so many fingers in the plot pies this episode) has lined up Geoffrey Charles’ stepdad George as her future husband and it does not bode well.
Honestly, after the trauma of last week’s episode, we’re almost glad to see George back up to his old tricks. Almost. But if Cecily and the GC don’t get to kiss full on the mouth because of his malice, we shall be joining Ned’s mob and battering at his door, spies be damned.
The (cliff) peaks
Draco Malfoy returns: We’ve already talked about how reassuring it is to have him back to his old tricks, and never has this been more true than in his altercation with Ned. He gets pushed down the stairs, whinges loudly about his arm and two minutes later has procured a sling from who knows where. Same energy as Draco Malfoy’s “Bloody Chicken” in The Prisoner of Azkaban and yet further proof that the Warleggans are Malfoy ancestors (Malfoy Manor is Cornwall-adjacent…).
Caroline Enys Hive Activate!: Dwight is very dedicated to every worthy cause he chooses, but he doesn’t half miss the pointed looks his very patient wife shoots at him (possibly because any conversation they do have tends to be through Horace the pug…it’s an odd choice, but we’ll allow it). Anyway, Caroline is a treat, she gets on this list purely through the virtue of being her. Dwight, take note.
Demelza and Ross: Still love’s young dream; still reminiscing about the dog fight whence they met. Nostalgia truly is a powerful drug.
Next. Poldark season 5 episode 3 review: Trouble in the mines. dark