Poldark season 3 episode 4 (PBS): What happened to Henshawe?
While by and large season 3 so far has proven itself to be rather devoid of enormous tragedies in terms of death, we did lose an important character in this episode in Henshawe. Could it have been worse? Absolutely, given that the bulk of this story tonight revolved around an epic rescue mission like no other. Ross Poldark was tasked with trying to find a way to help ensure that many people were able to escape their imprisonment in France beyond just Dwight Enys, his good friend who was missing for most of the story. Over the course of the episode there were opportunities to see how he and others handled the trauma — it was clear in his eyes just as it was clear within his actions. Recovering from something this terrible is not going to be altogether easy for him or anyone else to handle.
Now, beyond all of this there is another important question — what about Drake Carne? He made the decision to accompany Ross on this trip as well after being heartbroken over what happened with Morwenna, and there were some serious touch-and-go moments within this story.
We already have a full CarterMatt review for this episode from earlier this year when it aired in the UK, and we suggest if you want more specifics on that you can find them over at the link here. For the time being what we want to focus on more here is on the importance of the Henshawe tragedy. We didn’t want to see it, but of course we assume that nobody out there wanted to see it. Who in their right mind wants to say goodbye to a character they enjoy having around?
The importance here, though, is that as viewers of a show like Poldark we do need some continual reminders here and there of some of the characters’ mortality. We saw this in season 2 with Francis and we could see it again by the end of the season. Even if some booker readers may know who is going to live or die, there needs to still be some suspense. Also, without deaths it doesn’t feel like a realistic story, especially when you think about some of the difficult stuff that these characters are up against almost continuously.
With that, we say farewell to Henshawe this week, knowing full well that Ross and some other characters, especially Dwight, are far from being out of the woods.
What did you think about Poldark season 3 episode 4 and what transpired here? Be sure to share now in the attached comments!
Meanwhile, be sure to take a look over here in the event you want to get some more news when it comes to the series! Meanwhile, like us on Facebook for some other news on this show and some others we cover at CarterMatt. (Photo: PBS.)