Poldark season 3 episode 5 review: Is Dwight back? A Henshawe tragedy
Does the Captain have a nasty habit of leaving Demelza behind too often for his random missions? Definitely, but we do understand that motivation … and we’re touch on that in a bit before getting over to what’s happening with a certain Warleggan.
We begin your update on George tonight with another reminder that he’s awful: He had himself a hissy-fit that his son had rickets, and he worried over what the public perception of that would be. The last think that he wants anyone to think is that he cannot care for his child or that his genes / upbringing for the child was somewhat off.
George seems to enjoy imagining the thought of Morwenna off miserable in Trenwith alongside Geoffrey Charles, but that is not entirely the case. She is madly in love with Drake, though everyone seems to be doing their part to convince her against pursuing it. Every person has a breaking point, and the unfortunate news tonight is that we saw Morwenna hit it. There were too many people who told her to cut it off, and with that, she did, shattering poor Drake’s innocent heart in the process. The look on his face was that of someone pulling his heart clean out of him; you could see the same for her while she walked away.
What did that mean for Drake? Well, it was SLOW WALK ALONG THE CORNISH COAST TIME. We seriously would be terrified of falling off one of those rocks to our death. Just saying. Eventually he got off those rocks and decided to sneak aboard Ross’ ship to help out with the mission. Meanwhile, Morwenna resorted to her own beach-walking, turning to Demelza for any sort of desperate advice while facing a future with Awful McAwfulface (as we like to call him), the man she is “meant” to marry as per George.
Ross forged a good battle plan while he was heading towards France, giving us the Cornish version of Prison Break where he will be able to get Dwight out. Well, that proved complicated. For one, Dwight didn’t want to leave without some of the other men. Meanwhile, Ross was tipped off in the process as to his presence there.
Demelza at a party
While Ross kicked off his mission with Drake and others, Caroline extended an invite for Demelza to be a part of high society for a night. Of course, George and Elizabeth were going to be there, which meant that George was going to get her the most expensive piece of jewelry possible to show her off.
What the show did rather brilliantly was show parallels of the party to what was going on with Ross in France. For example, seeing men run about while Awful McAwfulface was trying to make honeymoon plans with Morwenna. Or, seeing George besmirch Ross’ name at every possible opportunity. He wanted Elizabeth to do the same, but (hilariously) she wasn’t all that into it.
The tragedy of the hour
In the midst of the battling, it was Henshawe who didn’t (per Dwight) make it through the battle alive. Drake also found himself in bad shape, but emerged from the escape plan alive. The problem was figuring out if there was a way to get Drake back home before he died. He rowed like a madman, he yelled as his brothers-in-arms, and he started having some visions in the process.
Here’s a positive — they did see the ship still at anchor, and therefore they had a chance to make it. It was at nightfall that Dwight made a surprising confession: Henshawe was still alive when he was left, but he made a choice to lie.
Eventually, Ross, Dwight, and Drake did make it back, though it was difficult and the latter was still in rather-bad shape. Dwight is unfortunately going to be suffering from some significant PTSD as a result of what happened for a rather long time. This scene also featured a meeting between Demelza and Hugh Armitage, a man who will be rather important moving forward this season — especially as a threat to George.
After all of this, a great question was asked: Was this a victory? Was saving Dwight worth the bloodshed elsewhere? Ross asked these questions at Henshawe’s funeral, and in the end, the message seems to be clear: Those who survive have a chance to move forward, and hopefully they will make the most of their opportunity.
Okay, maybe this will make you smile
How sweet was that Caroline / Dwight reunion scene?
Final Verdict
By far the most intense episode of Poldark in a rather-long time. It also had everything that we adore about the show: Stunning visuals, great performances, and also a little comedy here and there. Our hearts are full and somewhat still broken. Well done, Poldark — you’ve done it again! Grade: A.
What’s ahead on Poldark season 3 episode 6?
If you head over to the link here right now, you will be able to get some other news when it comes to the show. (Photo: BBC.)