Rivals season 2 returned on Friday with a bang, with more salacious, sexy, and scandalous drama than ever before. The Disney+ hit, based on the popular book series by Jilly Cooper, dropped three episodes, with a further three to air consecutively over the next few weeks and then a return to form, supposedly, in the autumn. For now, we have three meaty episodes to focus on.
Without further ado, let's dive back into the scandals of Rutshire and the best moments of season 2 so far.
1. The chaotic one-take kitchen scene
By far, the best moment of season 2 so far is the kitchen scene in episode 2. In this episode, Corinium TV darling Sarah Stratton (Emily Atack) is hosting a dinner party for her Conservative MP husband, Paul Stratton (Rufus Jones), to smooze for political gain.
Under pressure to cook a great meal for her husband and company, Sarah hires cook Taggie O'Hara (Bella Maclean) to cook in secret for her. Why the secret? Because Taggie is the daughter of their rival TV network owner Declan O'Hara. He owns Venturer. Everything starts well, with Taggie cooking a famous beef recipe. Things slowly unravel as she gets distracted by unwanted guests entering the kitchen and has to hide in the pantry several times away from Sarah's guests. Taggie ruins her beef by over-salting it and enlists the help of a knight in shining armor to bring her some new beef.
As many of Rivals' crazy characters enter the Stratton kitchen, we're treated to a TV masterclass in drama and fast-paced acting. Atack perfectly encapsulates the frazzled wife, yelling and crying as she freaks out over beef and a wider scandal, but we'll get to that. Meanwhile, Taggie is thrust into an uncomfortable situation with Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell), the man twice her age who kissed her last season, when he offers to bring her the beef. You know, just Ruthshire things. Did we mention he's also a famous MP and the Minister for Sport in the Conservative government? Bonus points if you remember he's entangled with TV executive Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), who used to work for Corinium and was bedding the network's owner, Tony Baddingham (David Tennant).
This scene delivers one of the best TV moments of the year because of its one-take format. It feels as if you're watching a soap opera in real time or a really bad episode of Hell's Kitchen or Come Dine With Me. But, instead of asking for the lamb sauce, you're swiveling your head, trying to process what secret has been revealed and who's entered the kitchen next.
The format is perfect because it reveals so much information in such little time. We're treated to the characters' learning of affairs and pregnancies, with characters stuck in proximity, building tension for later. In its entirety, the scene is around ten minutes long. Atack revealed it took a day and a half to shoot.
As Maclean said, a lot of great conversations "happen in kitchens and cars", and there were many in this episode.
2. The women playing chess with the men
Much of season 1 was about the men playing chess with each other. We saw the build-up of the rivalry between Rupert, Declan, and Tony. Season 2 has changed the tides, with more women entering the game. Cameron even claims, after the polo match in episode 2, that she was "staying ahead of the game" by going back to Tony. Still, she kissed Rupert on national TV.
Simultaneously, we have Tony's wife, Lady Monica Baddingham (Claire Rushbrook), observing his business, letting him know that Cameron humiliated them publicly. While she doesn't care about his womanizing, she threatens his livelihood and their assets, promising a greater humiliation than Cameron could ever give. She's nobility, after all; he's only titled by marriage. The house and money are hers. You go, Monica. We're hoping to see more, especially when she finds out that Tony is the father of Sarah's unborn, illegitimate child.
A new addition to the cast is Rupert's ex-wife Helen, now recast as Hayley Atwell, and she's a great one. She bursts onto the scene as a glamorous ex, dropping off Rupert's two kids. Things seem strained but cordial between them until Rupert's indiscretions during their marriage are revealed publicly in a smear campaign by Corinium. Angered, Helen criticizes the double standard, saying if Rupert had been a woman, he would've been "dragged by his hair through the streets" had he not won his election seat.
Although she doesn't take part in the smear campaign, we think there could be more to Helen. Why would they bring back Rupert's wife and deliberately recast her if her role wasn't bigger this season? Rivals' executive producer told TV Insider that they cast Atwell because she wanted to join the show, and they wanted to "dig more into Rupert's past," so maybe she's going to cause him some trouble? Either way, hopefully she's not being used just for his redemption arc.
3. Hints to new and existing relationships
One thing the people of Rutshire love to do is sleep with each other and have affairs, and we love it too. Season 2's first three episodes offer us plenty of hints at potential new crushes and scandalous relationships. The season premiere takes us to Freddie Jones' (Danny Dyer) upgraded Bella Vista house, where he is hosting a summer housewarming party.
Here we see Freddie grappling with his attraction to romance author Lizzie Verker (Katherine Parkinson), whose romance is as earnest and as sweet as ever. Interestingly, we also see hints of an attraction between Taggie and Bas Baddingham (Luca Pasqualino) as she looks lustfully at him as he steps out of the pool in a pair of criminally 80s buggie smuglers. Very 1980s Britain.
Rivals is brilliant at creating dynamics between new characters and making it feel charming. Bas and Taggie have always had something, but her mind and heart have always been with Rupert. We also are treated to a hint that Bas may like Taggie back when he bluntly asks Rupert if it's the girl or the wine that Rupert finds "delicious." If they're building up to a love triangle, we are seated for this messy one.
Oh, and there's also the biggest buzz on social media that fans have theories about: Declan and Cameron. The two don't have many scenes in the first episode drop, but fans have been pointing out that they are hinting at the two cutting the tension. When Cameron and Declan go location scouting for a BBC documentary, Declan is hosting it off-screen, but fans seem to think that it's because Declan and Cameron slept together while away together.
Now, people want to believe Declan is honorable and madly in love with his wife Maud (Victoria Smurfit), but he never has time for her. In season 2, he misses her play and misses it a second time when she takes the stage as an understudy.
The man is married to his work, so it may make sense that he would gravitate towards someone working in a similar line of work, like Cameron. Cameron is also similar to Maud. Both are strong women who want to work and who have seductive tendencies. Whether this is just a fan theory or not, we're here for it and can't wait to see where the season goes.
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