Victoria: Foreign Bodies {Roundtable}

With her people suffering from a terrible Cholera outbreak, Victoria must decide the best course of action while she and Albert are still at odds. Meanwhile, Skerrett and Francatelli prepare to open their hotel in the midst of so much misery. The Duke continues to torment Duchess Sophie, and Joseph is not happy to watch it happen.

In this roundtable Roz and I are discussing both the personal and the professional aspects of Victoria’s life.

The Personal

Roz: To me, we’re soon to see a season or two of this show with Prince Albert (we only have three more children left for them to have), but to watch them fight over something for so long is difficult to see. But to see that friction coupled with the lose of Skerrett as her dresser was almost too much to take. (Well, it was until we saw Skerrett die from Cholera at the end with a baby on the way.) There are so many ways that Victoria’s life is not her own and rarely do we see that she wants to make a stand for what she wants (and knows is right).

Cara: Victoria and Albert’s communication via letter was pretty entertaining, but it’s always good to see their issues resolved. Feodora continues to insinuate her way into a position which allows her to remain at the palace, but I would imagine that the Queen’s reconciliation with her husband may bring that to an end, or at least some kind of resolution. It’s heartbreaking to see the Duchess deal with her husband. What a jerk. And, it’s hard to imagine her flirtation with Joseph will do her any good in life, but it’s easy to see why a young woman with such an awful husband might be taken with charming men that flatter her. I’d look for happiness where I could find it too. I was cool about Francatelli and Skerrett at first. I liked them both as characters, but I wasn’t completely on board with them as a couple. Their regret at not being together was very moving, and Francatelli’s grief made me cry. This episode was incredibly touching and heartbreaking, and also likely the best way to really bring the Cholera epidemic home for Victoria, who had a hard lesson on stubbornness.

The Professional

Roz: Let’s give it up for Florence Nightengale as the voice of science and progress against the Cholera outbreak. She’s not wrong in that we need to work on poverty to solve this problem, and it’s great to see Victoria listening to someone who doesn’t treat her with kid gloves. What we know now in the Twenty-first century is so different from the Nineteenth.

But there are still so many men who want to tell Victoria what do and why she can’t be of her own mine is baffling and annoying.

Cara: It was interesting to see the way the Cholera epidemic pitted science and progress against tradition and superstition. Albert dealt with aged institutions that were unwilling to change, and Doctor Snow used science to discover the source of the outbreak. Albert’s appointment to chancellor presented him with a hard lesson, but one that will make their marriage stronger and help him understand her position better. All in all, this was a disheartening episode, but at least we know Victoria will have him back at her side.

Victoria continues on PBS Sundays at 9PM. Interested in what we had to say about previous seasons? See our recaps here.