Rivals season two, part two opens with a funeral. The mid-season finale – and spoilers if you haven't caught up yet – saw Tony's long-suffering wife, Lady Monica, killed in a car accident after finally deciding to leave her cheating husband once and for all, and the aftermath has left our once-cheerful characters steeped in misery.
Tony is a broken man, detested by his son, consumed with a new level of hatred for his competition, and possessed of more determination than ever to destroy them. Meanwhile, Declan remains in the dark about his wife's infidelity, Rupert denies himself his one true love, Taggie, and Freddie and Lizzie continue their affair, which feels less sweet and romantic and more seedy by the day. But my question is: when did this show stop being silly good fun and get so doom and gloom?
From season one's opening shot of Rupert boinking in an aeroplane bathroom (because all sex on this show should most certainly be described as 'boinking') while '80s music blasted and the clouds were very suggestively shaped, this show had an instant identity. It was funny, it was nostalgic, it was silly, it was romantic, and all in all, it really wasn't that deep.
Cut to season two,...