VICTORIA: Gone Too Soon {Recap}

Victoria ended it’s regular season with a series of characters departing – for a variety of reasons.

Let’s examine who left the show – and why.

Baroness Lehzen

All season there has been a tension between Prince Albert (Tom Hughes) and the Baroness (well, it’s been there since the first time Prince Albert visited), but after so many times of leaving the Baroness behind on trips and seeing how unhappy she was at being left out of decisions in Victoria (Jenna Coleman)’s life, Lehzen (Daniela Holtz) was finally given orders to return to Germany and see her family.

It’s incredibly sad to watch Victoria say goodbye to the woman who was so responsible for raising her, but it has been clear that there would always been a power struggle between Prince Albert and the Baroness and there should only be one way to solve it. Well, there would have been a way to coexist, though it would have been difficult to keep two strong wills from more outright fights.

Victoria, Season 2
MASTERPIECE on PBS
Episode Six – “The Luxury of Conscience”
Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 9pm ET
Victoria and Albert have to face their worst nightmare as parents, while Peel takes on the ultimate battle
in Parliament. When tragedy strikes, they must confront the true cost of standing by your convictions.
Shown from left to right: Daniela Holtz as Lehzen and Jenna Coleman as Victoria
For editorial use only.
©ITVStudios2017 for MASTERPIECE

Sir Robert Peel

One issue that has been in the background of these episodes is the British frustration with their status quo regarding food. The Potato Famine and this week, the Corn Tax, have allowed Peel (Nigel Lindsay) and the Tory government to make a stand on how to treat farmers – the large portion of the British citizenry.

In defending the repeal of the Corn Tax – which could ruin the farmers of England – Peel angers more than his fair share of his colleagues in Parliament and the general public. He knows that he’ll be ousted as Prime Minister and he tries his best to give Victoria and Albert the news as best he can.

Drummond

Peel’s assistant has had some complicated relationships with both Lord Alfred Paget (Jordan Waller) and Miss Cook (Bebe Cave) – the three of them in an odd love triangle – but in end, the pull between Lord Alfred and Drummond might have been too strong, despite Drummond being engaged.

The Corn Tax, though, takes Drummond from all of us. He is shot, defending Sir Robert Peel from the angry masses with the defeat of the tax bill.

His funeral brings out the worst in Paget and Miss Cook, but not before it shatters the peacefulness of Victoria’s world.

Victoria‘s final episode for this second season is next Sunday at 9PM on PBS.