Major spoilers are ahead from Maxton Hall season 2, episode 5!
Episode 4 wrapped up with some exciting developments for Ruby. Alice Campbell offers her a full scholarship to complete her degree at Oxford. Additionally, Ruby and James decide it’s time to be honest with their friends and classmates about their relationship.
After their date, they return to James’s house with intentions of spending the night together. But what they don't know is that Mortimer is also headed back home because his flight's been canceled due to the storm. Now, let's move on to the fifth episode to find out what happens next!
Mortimer has a breakdown
The episode opens with Ruby and James rushing through the house to get to James’s room. While they start to get intimate, Lydia spots Mortimer arriving at the house through her window. She shouts a warning, causing Ruby and James to abruptly stop and scramble to get dressed. At the same time, Lydia tries to delay Mortimer from making his way into James’s room.
Because they haven’t discussed telling Mortimer about their relationship, Ruby looks for a way to leave the house without being detected. But James insists that he’ll find out eventually, so they might as well be honest now. They head downstairs together, and Mortimer is surprised to see Ruby. They all sit down to talk, and the discussion seems to go well.
Ruby shares with Mortimer her plans to attend Oxford and her decision to pursue a degree in PPE (philosophy, political science, and economics). Mortimer then reminisces on how he and his late wife, Cordelia, attended Oxford together and had great memories there. After Ruby reveals her parents' professions, Mortimer tells her that they won't be able to support her in her studies. But then James speaks up and tells him that Ruby won't have to worry about financial support because she's been offered a scholarship with the Alice Campbell Foundation. Mortimer has nothing to say after this.
As Ruby begins to explain how she became interested in Oxford in the first place, Mortimer appears to be touched by her story. Her story touches him so much that he has to excuse himself from the conversation and leave the room. James then sends Ruby home, with the promise that they'll see each other the next day.
Back at Ruby's house, Ruby's mom comes into her room to bring her tea and talk to her. After expressing how proud of her she is, Ruby's mom then expresses her concerns about her relationship with James. It's not that she doesn't like James. It's that she knows how they come from two different economic backgrounds, and she worries about the challenges that could create for their relationship. Ruby listens to her mom, but she assures her that she and James will be okay.
Later on that night, James and Lydia hear a bunch of noise coming from the living room of their house. They go to check out the disturbance and find Mortimer loudly weeping on the floor. He's emotional about Cordelia's passing, and this is the first time we've seen him actually show vulnerability. James and Lydia try their best to console him.
The next morning, Mortimer appears to be a changed man. He tells James and Lydia over breakfast that family is important. He even agrees to share Lydia's ideas at the company's upcoming investor meeting. This is something he's never done in the past, so it surprises James and Lydia.
Ruby loses her scholarship with the Alice Campbell Foundation
At Maxton Hall, Ruby, Lin, and the rest of the event committee, joined by several other seniors, prepare the backdrop for their yearbook class photo. While Ruby and Lin are setting up, Lin shares with her that she and Cyril were once in a friends-with-benefits relationship before breaking things off. However, they've now started talking again after Elaine's picnic.
Ruby's phone starts ringing. It's the Alice Campbell Foundation, but it's not good news. They inform her that her scholarship offer has been revoked. She immediately texts James, who's in the investor meeting along with his father.
However, the business meeting doesn't turn out how James had expected. The board members do not take to Lydia's ideas and would rather stick to what they've been doing. To James's surprise, Mortimer gives in. He thought Mortimer had changed and would stand firm and support Lydia’s vision. But instead, he caved under pressure and sided with the board. They get into an intense argument after the meeting when James receives Ruby's text.
He reads it over and then stares angrily at his father. Although Mortimer doesn't fess up, James can see the guilt written all over his face. He then storms off as Mortimer yells at him. Back at Maxton Hall, Ruby rushes to Mr. Lexington's office to ask if she can still submit a new registration form for the scholarship exams since she lost the Campbell grant. Mr. Graham Sutton is also in the office.
At first, Mr. Lexington gives Ruby a hard time and tells her that it's too late. But then he takes out her old form, stamps it, and then hands it over in an envelope. Now, Ruby just has to find the delivery person who left with the other forms a few minutes ago. Fortunately, she does end up finding him and is able to hand over her form.
Elsewhere, James calls the Campbell Foundation General Office to set an appointment with Mrs. Campbell. He wants to plead Ruby’s case in person and find out if there’s any way to reinstate her scholarship. Later that night, he texts Ruby about his plans to speak with Mrs. Campbell. She doesn't text him back, though. The episode then cuts to Mortimer on his laptop. He's been spying on James, looking through his call log and texts. He comes across a photo of the night that James and Ruby hooked up at Oxford, and stares at it with a sinister smirk on his face. Uh oh! What could he be up to?
Cyril catches Lydia and Graham kissing
It's now time for the yearbook class photo at Maxton Hall. As everyone's having a good time, Ruby avoids James. However, James refuses to let her continue ignoring him. After he approaches her, Ruby then takes his hand and leads him to a private place so they can talk.
James explains to Ruby that he's going to fix her scholarship situation, but that doesn't lift her spirits. She basically tells him that, even if they get over this hurdle, they'll continue to have problems in their relationship because of Mortimer. Although James knows this, he tells Ruby he can't allow it to drive them apart. Ruby just looks at him, but doesn't respond right away.
When she does, she tells James that she needs time to process everything. He agrees to give her some space, but makes it clear that he's going to wait for her. After sharing a passionate kiss, they're then interrupted by a jealous Elaine. They don't let her ruin their moment, though.
Elsewhere, Cyril and Lydia take class photos while sitting on a swing. Cyril has strong feelings for Lydia and hopes she feels the same way. However, he quickly finds out that she doesn't after he kisses her and she pulls back. Lydia tells Cyril that she sees him only as a friend, which hurts his feelings. Cyril then storms off, and Lydia chases after him. But she stops once she spots Graham having a flirtatious conversation with another teacher.
Remember, Graham and Lydia were in a secret relationship before Ruby found out. They chose to end things and haven't been really involved with each other since then. Graham is also the father of Lydia's babies. However, he doesn't know that yet. After Graham sees Lydia watching him, he stares at her until she runs off. He then chases after her, and they share a passionate kiss before she reveals to him that she's pregnant. But what they don't know is that two people are watching them from afar.
Those two people are Cyril and Elaine, and they've got footage of what they just did. The episode then ends with Mr. Lexington looking around at his students having a good time, including James and Ruby. He receives a text, but we don't get to see it. However, it couldn't have been a good text based on his facial expression. He looks shocked after what he just read or saw. Could Cyril and Elaine have sent him the footage? It appears so! We'll just have to wait until the next episode to know for sure.
Maxton Hall season 2 is streaming now only on Prime Video.