Reign Recap Season 4 Episode 10 A Better Man

Director: Dawn Wilkinson

Writers: John J. Sakmar & Kenny Lenhart

Original Air Date: 28 April 2017

Sorry royals, I am not writing a full recap of this episode. I realised recently that I have not taken a proper day off in too long, and I really do feel how tired I am. I am posting, instead, a few thoughts I had on this episode. 

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 8 Tin

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Charles Palmer
Writer: Debbie Horsfield
Original Air Date: 23 October 2016

Once, Elizabeth told Ross that she and Francis were alike in many ways. This episode proved that Elizabeth and Ross were alike in at least one way, too. When Elizabeth decided to marry George Warleggan, she told herself and Ross that she was doing it for her son. When Ross sh-gged Elizabeth whilst trying to convince her not to go through with the wedding, he later told Demelza he had no choice. These two former, and I suppose present, lovers both have a capacity for self deception. Elizabeth, you can choose not to marry the most evil man in Cornwall and still provide a good future for your son. Ross, you can choose to remain faithful to the wife who has only ever helped and loved you. 

Reign Recap Season 4 Episode 9 Pulling Strings

Director: Andy Mikita

Writers: April Blair & Laurie McCarthy

Original Air Date: 14 April 2017

My head is spinning. This is a bonkers Reign episode, and I write that with a great deal of affection. I kept getting season one vibes as the narrative hurtled from one wtf moment to another. With just a handful of episodes remaining until Reign bids its final adieu, the writers appear to have decided to step on the gas with a song in their hearts. As someone who has been with Reign since 2013, this is a joy to watch.

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 7 A Quiet Life

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Charles Palmer

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: 16 October 2016

There was a sense of foreboding throughout this episode, and not just because of evil George's manipulative warnings to Elizabeth about a peasant uprising. Ross, desperate for a chance to turn things around before Wheal Grace was forced to shut down, decided to hitch a ride on the smuggler Trencrom's ship to meet with Mark Daniels. Whilst he hid in the mine after accidentally killing his wife Keren, he claimed to have seen a massive lode of copper. The trip was for nought, however. Ross and his team had already gone where Mark pointed, and gotten what little it yielded. 

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 6 The Stocking Scene

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Charles Palmer

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: October 9, 2016

For most of this episode, I was just getting ready to scold Ross in this recap. I had completely forgotten that this episode ends in the now famous stocking scene. If you are unfamiliar with it, or merely want to watch it again, BBC One uploaded the scene here. So now, my poor, asthma ridden self is hyperventilating. Aidan Turner held that scene with his eyes. There is much to love about Poldark, but when it gifts us viewers with a scene like this, it is like the show loves us back. 

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 5 When Redemption Ends

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Charles Palmer

Writer: Debbie Horsfield
Original Air Date: October 2, 2016

I have already seen the entirety of the second season, of course, so I grabbed a Cadbury before I rewatched this episode for the recap. I wish I could say it helped ease the blow, but it did not. This was a beautiful sendoff, however, for a character on a lovely redemptive arc. We'll miss you, F. 

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 4 Wheal Grace

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Will Sinclair

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: September 25, 2016

For most of George Warleggan's tenure as banker/ creepy friend/ economic dictator, he mostly spread various shades of misery, from mild annoyance to utter despair. Yet, in this episode that also teased hope for a pairing separated by a wide gulf of guineas and vision, it was actually George Warleggan's actions that pushed the repair of long held rifts within the Poldark family. 

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 3 Back Alive

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Will Sinclair

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: September 18, 2016

This episode covered much ground, from Ross's financial troubles to movement in the romance between Dr. Enys and Caroline, to Francis's new found love for life and work --- and it is galling me a little that the common thread here is evil George Warleggan. George continued trying to weasel his way into Wheal Leisure by buying up stockholder shares. He found he had already lost the friendship of Trenwith; Elizabeth backed her husband when Francis decided he was no longer buddies with George. George was at the Penvenen party when a mildly ill Caroline insisted on sending for Dr. Enys. Evil George's presence was near constant, his fear of Ross, needled by his investment proxy, manifesting in his desire to learn how to defend himself. I did enjoy him snap at the comical Unwin Trevaunance, who was too busy thinking of ways to spend Caroline's money and not at all aware that not only did she despise him, she had fallen for someone else.

Poldark Recap Series 2 Episode 2 Let Ross Be Ross

Image from Poldark, streamed via iFlix

Director: Will Sinclair

Writer: Debbie Horsfield

Original Air Date: September 11, 2016

There is exquisite beauty in the writing of Poldark, even, or especially, on dark moments, as when Francis spoke almost casually to Dr. Enys of how he remained alive because his gun misfired. In that quiet moment inside an inn, between two men who were not friends but who now shared a knowledge of one man's deep despair, and in Ross's passionate speech later in the courtroom, it is made clear once more that Debbie Horsfield's writing elevates Poldark, and is perhaps the strongest reason for its ardent following.

Buffy's Anne, and These Lost Days

Image from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Episode Title: Anne

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Joss Whedon

Original Air Date: September 29, 1998

In the handful of times that I went to a Buffy forum and looked at other people's top 10 favourite Buffy episodes, I do not recall ever seeing Anne mentioned. Yet, ever since I discovered Buffy, Anne has been one of my go to episodes during rewatch. It is a combination, I suppose, of the fact that it begins perhaps Buffy's best season (season three), and that I feel deeply for Buffy who is lost here.