POLDARK: Temptation They Name Is…{Recap}

Poldark answered the question that has long been unanswered by the series: if given the chance, would Ross (Aidan Turner) be with Elizabeth (Heida Reed)?

So far, the answer is no, but it the simmering war between Ross, Elizabeth and Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) continues to wage.

Demelza thinks that Ross is simply waiting around with her before he chooses to go marry Elizabeth (let’s not even discuss how that divorce is going to work), and so she is spiteful, mean and vindictive all episode long. As if she needs to prove that she is wanted by other men, she attends a party at one of the landed gentry in Cornwall. At the party, Captain McNeil (Henry Garrett) finally makes an active play for Demelza.

To be fair, she looks like this and it’s not hard to imagine most men finding her attractive.

Poldark, Season 2
MASTERPIECE on PBS
Episode Eight
Sunday, November 20th at 9pm ET on PBS
Demelza and Ross wage bitter war. Elizabeth postpones a big event. Demelza toys with temptation. Ross’s good deed is repaid. Lady luck pays a visit.
Shown: Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza
Courtesy of Mammoth Screen/BBC and MASTERPIECE

But Captain McNeil isn’t the only man who wants her after she looks so appealing. In the end, however, she says she still loves Ross and will only sleep with him.

Still bitter and frustrated, she and Ross sleep in different rooms and ignore each other as best they can. Even Ross being repaid a debt and given a chance to partner in a shipping business leaves nothing. Nor does finding more tin and the prospect of being wealthy when it comes to a way to solve Demelza and Ross’ problem.

Elizabeth, of course, delays but then married George Warleggan (Jack Farthing) and throws her hand with him as if to spite Ross for his indecisiveness.