Poldark season 3 finale review: Elizabeth’s stance; did Demelza sleep with Hugh?

Going into tonight’s Poldark season 3 finale, it felt abundantly clear that there would be tears. The larger question was this: How many? How would the show wrap up the story for the next year or so?

Well, there continue to be many moving parts and feelings of longing for Demelza, but we want to start things off here with our discussion of Whitworth. the show’s super-predatory reverend who has engaged in a sexual relationship with Rowenna while her sister Morwenna still recovers from childbirth.

Oh, and of course Rowenna ended up being with child because that, predictably, was going to be what happened as the next course of action. From there, we started to get a much better sense of what could end up being this man’s undoing. It actually was extortion as Rowenna and a potential suitor went to him for money so they could start a life together … but he also deserved it since he is THE WORST. Eventually, Rowenna upped the ante by threatening him that he was going to tell the Bishop about his actions, and that seemed to be enough for her to get what she wants.

So how does this impact Morwenna in any way? Well, she was very well aware of what happened with her sister, and that was enough for her to say that she would never be with Whitworth again. He came at her physically, and this is where things got really dark. She threatened to murder their own if he was to do something to her. She wouldn’t actually have done it, but it was still a pretty gut-wrenching declaration.

If there was anyone who needed a victory in this finale, it was Morwenna. While her getting the flowers in the closing seconds was small, it gives us hope. Fingers crossed that this turns into something more.

Ross prepares for invasion

The threat from the French seems to be looming, and Ross seems to be doing his part in order to prepare all of Cornwall for that. Meanwhile, George is doing what he does best — trying to snake out of the situation and avoid any responsibility for it. Ross was facing these threats from overseas, but then also a threat to his marriage at home. After all, Demelza was wrestling with her feelings for Hugh, and she was starting to become privy to the fact that he was keeping many a secret from her still. Ross is stubborn, he’s difficult, and he for whatever reason thinks that his own innermost secrets are valued more than anyone else’s. He also was, in this instance, preoccupied with impending war from not only the French, but also division within Cornwall and beyond.

With that, we did eventually see her pay Hugh a visit and grab her hand. It was at around this point that he revealed that he losing his sight, and with that, he is forced to leave the Navy. Everything with these two came to a head in a rather-odd way: Ross was storming through the forest with a gun, while Demelza and Hugh had a bit of a roll in the hay after Hugh pulled some kinda-manipulative stuff on her with the whole “give me something before I can’t see you anymore” spiel. They had a roll in the hay … almost literally in this sense.

In getting back to Ross, he found himself in the middle of a possible insurgency, one where he had to figure out whether to follow the crown or those who rebelled against it. For the first time in a rather long time, he decided that it was time for him to step up. He was ready to fight as an MP, and to fight with the commoners against George. He returned home after making this stance to learn that his wife was away.

Elizabeth bites back

While Ross was struggling with trying to preserver Cornwall, George had a problem of his own: His own wife. Elizabeth was awakened and empowered on this past episode, and she fired back at George in a wide array of different ways. For one, she grew enraged over his treatment of Drake Carne, especially in terms of hiring goons to go off and make his life into a living hell. He was fine with it, and seeing it happen to Drake was even worse.

Later on in the episode, George finally showed a vulnerable, hurt side as he started to admit to some of his jealousy that he had towards Ross. She forced him to swear that he would never “harbor suspicions” about his wife or his child again — all of this is slightly ironic given that Elizabeth did actually sleep with Ross, but she put on a rather fantastic performance in breaking the guy.

Has George changed? He seems to think that he has … but this is George. We never believe George. He did encounter Ross on the beach near the end of the episode, and was very much the same tool that we’ve come to know. He attempted to manipulate Ross, but Ross didn’t quite bite.

Demelza returning to Ross following his meeting, and at that point, the two suddenly found that they had a great deal to discuss. She didn’t actually want to talk about it, but they embraced and for now, that non-verbal communication seems to be enough.

Overall Take

Poldark delivered another fantastic finale ripe with all sorts of twists and turns. It proved to be incredibly dramatic, but also emotional. In terms of plotting out the future, this installment did more than any other in recent memory. Sure, there are still questions, but some of those can wait for season 4. Finale Grade: A-.

What is coming next in terms of Poldark season 4?

If you do head over to the link here, you can get a little more information all about that! (Photo: BBC.)