‘Poldark’ season 2, episode 8 (PBS): Is Demelza out to hurt Ross?

At the end of this pastepisode of “Poldark” on PBS, we saw the title character of Ross commit one of his most terrible acts since the beginning of the series: He was unfaithful to his wife Demelza, and chose to sleep instead with Elizabeth, the wife of the late Francis and his longtime love from the earlier days in his life.

For viewers at home, it was the way this encounter came about that was just about as disconcerting as the act itself, but from a character standpoint, Demelza wasn’t privy to all of that. She just knew the act of what Ross did, and that was easily enough to break her heard and she had to start thinking more about what she wanted to do next.

We would describe by and large the character’s actions tonight as a woman at her emotional breaking point, trying to test her own limits and how she wanted to channel her heartache. The reason why she consider sleeping with Captain McNeil was seemingly out of vengeance, showing Ross just how much of a prize that she was and out he should be lucky to have her. Yet, at some point before the moment happened she realized that she could not bring herself to make such a move, even if she was enraged over what her husband did with another woman.

In a way, you can argue that her decision to not sleep with McNeil is a sign that there is still hope for the two parties. We’d buy into that, at least from the vantage point of her not acting out of malice. We don’t think that Ross was malicious towards her in his actions, though we do think of them as horrible and disappointing nonetheless.

What Sunday’s episode does is forces Ross to confront what is an ugly part of himself, and make him wonder whether or not he deserves anything that he has. He leaves this episode feeling full of heartache, and suddenly as though whatever business achievements that he’s made no longer matter.

For some further news right away on “Poldark,” be sure to head over to the link here! That is where we’ll also have a preview for the finale that will be coming up shortly. (Photo: PBS.)