‘Mr. Selfridge’ season 2 finale review: The wilting of a rose

After a ten-episode second season, “Mr. Selfridge” ended its run on ITV last night with an episode that is going to send reverberations across many of the show’s devoted fans.

What is the biggest reason for that? It all ties back to the event that is likely to happen offscreen in between the second and the third season of the show. Rose was on her deathbed by the time the finale was over, and while she made it through the finale/ subsequent Thanksgiving celebration alive, odds are, we are not going to see Frances O’Connor make it to the third season of the show.

But, of course, the series will go on. Departures and exits have become a staple of ITV programming as of late; after all, just look at all of the carnage that we ended up seeing over on “Downton Abbey.” Harry will eventually move on, but the end of the finale hardly made it appear like there was going to be happy times ahead for the man.

The parallel here is that while we did end up seeing grim tidings for the Selfridge family, there was at least a little bit of joy to be found elsewhere with some of the other characters. after all, Henri made a move towards joining the French Army after finding freedom, and Lady Mae finally got an opportunity make sure Lord Loxley got what was coming to him after some of his dealings.

“Mr. Selfridge” had itself in the end a solid second season, and while there are times where we feel like the emotional punch is not as strong as it should be, this episode certainly brought that much. In the end, it was a nice way to cap off the second season. Grade: B.

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Photo: ITV