Rivals returns with a second helping of season two, and it's a wildly different kind of show to the one we're accustomed to. The fan favourite characters are still (mostly) there, as is the staggeringly good soundtrack and impressive Cotswolds production value – but the Rivals brand of buffoonery-in-a-bottle has waned.
That is in large part because of where we left off the first part of season two, with the untimely death of Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook). Perennially cheated on and closeted, she was crushed under a tree in the middle of a storm, in what was a mammoth change from Dame Jilly Cooper's source material. The loss has shaken up the revels of Rutshire, but whether the change was necessary remains unclear.
A Darker Tone for Tony and the Rutshire Set
David Tennant performs every Tony Baddingham scene with a chilling new deadness to the eyes, but by the season finale has become such a moustache-twirling villain it's no fun. Every time his character appeared, I felt the same deadness in my own eyes. Monica's death and Tony's concurrent Breaking Bad arc have somewhat soured the show's escapist fizz. When it does present itself, largely thanks to some back-breaking work from Danny Dyer, Lisa McGrillis and Katherine Parkinson, it's tonally jarring.
From Monica's funeral, the series rolls from one calamity to another. There's a Bonfire party that ends in a screaming match, where Declan O'Hara (Aidan Turner) takes an alarming page out of Tony's book. Next up, a Caligulan toga party, where a sudden shift in the characterisation of Bas (Luca Pasqualino) rules him out as a realistic love interest for Taggie (Bella Maclean).
Rupert and Taggie's Troubling Arc
There is a Hunt Ball, which veers past the point where I find these toffs endearing, to one where they're approaching repellent. It's also where Rupert (Alex Hassell) is needlessly sexist towards Taggie, in echoes of his season one grope, which is inexplicably never addressed and, unlike Bas, does not rule him out as a realistic love interest. The age and power imbalance in the central Rupert and Taggie relationship has been one of my chief issues with the series. When characters bring it up, I still agree with them, because the show has not done enough to push the horse over that hurdle. Rupert and Taggie remain charming in their own rights, but the Madonna-whore complex behind his affections for her is hard to ignore.
Showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins has said the decision to kill off Monica was a difficult but necessary one, to give the show some weight. After a frothy first season, Rivals was only going to have the legs to make it to a third if serious things started to happen. But making Tony a ghoulish Satan figure in a fur coat has siloed the Rutshire residents into their two camps. A dismal byproduct is that certain power-broking women, like Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack), have fallen by the wayside. The trajectory of Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), as a woman and the only prominent Black character of the show, is particularly grim. She at least, at one point, gets to point out her mistreatment to the rest of them. On the other hand, another long-running bugbear of mine has been the blasé treatment of Daisy's sexual assault, which is this season movingly addressed.
A Mixed Bag of Soap and Twee
Rivals has had its soapier moments, including a real marmalade-dropper in the finale (no spoilers). But alongside the soapiness, there is occasional twee. One episode revolves around a horse that can't be tamed, who has a metaphorical affinity to Rupert. It's silly, but in a dull way, rather than a jovial one, which is dangerous terrain for Rivals to tread. The Venturer and Corinium dog fight reaches its conclusion, but it's a running joke that none of the fans really care about the TV franchise tussle.
The high point of Rivals continues to be the Lizzie and Freddie affair, which has become fabulously complicated by the involvement of their spouses. McGrillis does the best work she has done all series as Valerie, while Oliver Chris is a scene-stealer par excellence as James.
Verdict: A Disappointing Second Part
Rivals has proven it can do better than this; hopefully season three will be a return to form. But overall, this second part proved a disappointing watch when compared to delights that have come before it. Rather frustratingly, there is only so much I can say as to why. Season three has been greenlit, but the rushed finale doesn't instil great hope for what's to come. The scales tipped too far in the dour direction this time; someone needs to place their elbow back on the playful pan at the other end.
Rivals returns to Disney Plus with three episodes on November 11, then weekly until December 2.
