Victoria: The White Elephant {Roundtable}

We’ve reached the end of season 3 of Victoria.  This week: The world’s eyes are on the Great Exhibition, and the Royal couple. Does triumph or failure beckon?

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

The Personal

Roz: Well, finally Feodora gets what she’s been deserving for weeks; though I’m surprised that it was Albert that finally saw what has been having Victoria on edge all season. Feo’s scheming was probably what she needed to do for Heidi’s sake (I’d rather be Empress of France than a Queen of Prussia) but to see Feo’s callous treatment of little Bertie was too much. He’s so much younger than Heidi and she had the good grace to pass off his proposal only for Feo to throw it in Victoria and Albert’s faces.

BUT wait, that last scene! Albert! Isn’t it too early for him to start dying? (He’s got ten years from the opening of the Crystal Palace until he dies.)

Cara: Roz, you’re definitely right. Albert is far too young to die, but it’s no wonder the stress of planning the fair got to him. It was lovely to see Victoria standing by her man, so to speak, but it was even better to see the success of the show itself. Poor Bertie, to have your love rejected at such a young age, and for Feo to turn it against Victoria and Albert was pretty petty, especially considering how manipulative she has been up to now. I understand that she feels slighted and wants to do what’s best for her daughter, but what good comes of her scheming in the end.

I was very glad to see Victoria intervene to help Sophie. She had a hard choice to make, but seems to have made the wise one. I suspect we will see a more mature Sophie after this. Now I wonder what Joseph will do now. Will he still set out for America, or will he return to the palace?

The Professional

Roz: I can’t say that I want Palmerston gone as foreign secretary, though he was doing a bad job of trying to play everyone in Europe against each other, but to see him as PM later might scare me more.

Cara: I think we’ve got some time until Lord Pam becomes PM, but this definitely isn’t the end of his political career. I was surprised to see the return of the former undercover police agent. I wonder if he won’t come back in season 4, should it happen. I’m very glad to see the public embracing Albert’s endeavors, if not Albert himself. I loved Bertie rallying the crowd to cheer Long Live Prince Albert. He won over not only the public, but seems to have reconciled with his son. It was nice to see the season end on a public success and the World’s Fair was a great way to show how England is stepping into the industrial age.

Victoria has yet to be renewed, but the show is likely to return for a fourth season. You can view past episodes on PBS . Interested in what we had to say about the previous two seasons? See our recaps here.