‘Poldark’ Recap, Season 2, Episode 7: That Was Very, *Very* Bad, Ross

Egads! Oh boy! How does one start with Poldark, Season 2, Episode 7? I must make a confession, my darling readers: the main thing I loved about Poldark from the start was how fresh and sweet and earnest it seemed in comparison to the moral cesspool we see on cable. If Outlander‘s grim, unyielding gaze at sexual assault was getting me down, I could always count on Poldark to perk me up. However, last night, a *thing* happened. Now, as I understand it, we fragile Yanks got an edited down version of the Ross/Elizabeth scene. In fact, here is the official statement from PBS:

So kind! So protective! So utterly PBS! They want to protect us from the harsh reality of possible casual date rape between long-time friends. By the way, you can see the unedited version on YouTube and hoo boy it is date rape. You can check it out below if you dare.

However, I am not here to recap the horror of the British version. I am here to write about PBS’s slightly less awful cut. Though the American version was way more ambiguous, I do know that it was still “uncomfy” to watch an enraged Ross tear through Trenwith, ascend to Elizabeth’s chamber, and sort of, kind of (?) force himself on her. It is the ambiguity of the event that I struggle with because it is that shadow of silent consent that so often mires how we see sexual assault — or just kinky consensual stuff (hey-oh!).

But let’s back up and figure out how we got to this dark point. Last night’s episode started with a glimmer of hope. Ross was dragged to court — yet again — for a crime he totally committed. However this time, he played nice, provided an alibi, and got off. Heroic Dr. Dwight was a bit less lucky. The impoverished man was fined fifty pounds for his brush fire signal dance. Ouch. Upon leaving the court, a sober Ross tells Demelza that his days of recklessness are over. LIES!

Poor Demelza can see the writing on the wall and she can read it because Ross nobly helped to teach her how to read back when they still had a spark in the marriage (sigh). She can see that Ross is twitterpated over Elizabeth and that the merry widow is a bit merrier when he comes over. She finally does admit her jealousy in this episode, but alack, alas, it is too late.
One glimmer of sunshine in this episode? Verity visits! And she brings good tidings. Our beloved V is preggers with a baby Blamey! Speaking of Captain Blamely and children, she brings lovely little James along with her. Can we just talk about how sweet James is? Fawning over Demelza and encouraging Dwight to join the fight against the French? However his enthusiasm for war is a clear sign that he is doomed as cannon fodder. But neither Ross nor Dwight knows the threat that a young Sicilian artillery officer named Napoleon will pose for the British empire, so they act like war is an awful fun adventure… Foreshadowing much?

Some sort of good news? The gang finds tin in Wheal Grace and one of Ross’s friends — I can NEVER remember their names – offers to pony up enough cash to keep it going until they reach pay dirt. Yes, things seem to be on the up-and-up for Ross until everything literally goes wrong. The mine collapses and a bunch of his friends (whose names I can never remember) die. Ross takes the loss bitterly. Not only have three of his crew died for this mine, but it’s bankrupted him. He vows to never, ever, ever, ever open the mine again. He is the Taylor Swift of Cornwall: He feels all the feels and oh so much more bitterly than anyone else could.

And that’s when he gets the news. George Warleggan’s plotting worked. All the candies for Jeffrey Charles, carriage-rides, and rogue tinners worked. Elizabeth will marry him. The revelation that his childhood sweetheart is marrying his enemy shoves Ross over the edge. Demelza immediately knows what he intends to do, which is in equal parts horrifying and heartbreaking to know.
He refuses her counsel and goes to Elizabeth and what transpires is indeed a weird scene that walks the tightrope between angry consensual sex between two empathic lovers and date rape. Based on the subtext of Reed’s performance — her quick, almost happy surrender, her expectation in the morning that he may in fact leave Demelza for her — I am leaning on the consensual side, but assault or not, Ross did a no good, very bad thing. He cheated on his wife with his cousin’s widow. He knows it.

He then confronts Demelza in the most douchebaggy way imaginable. He basically gives her the shruggy emoji in human form. And then Demelza rises like the phoenix she is and she slaps the shit out of him. THANK GOD.

My dear readers, I fear Poldark is turning into an 18th Century Breaking Bad: a study in how a likable underdog becomes a villain.
[Watch Poldark, Season 2, Episode 7 on PBS]