The Durrells in Corfu airs Sundays at 7:00 pm and is available to stream. Read our recap of the previous episode here.

As if the Durrells didn’t already have enough guests in their home, given Gerry’s menagerie of animals, Larry has befriended someone while staying in Athens and is sending them along to Corfu – though this guest has a decidedly better pedigree than the animals: he’s an Indian prince. Louisa nervously scrubs the house and asks Spyros to pick up a crate of champagne – for Larry when he returns, of course.

While the Durrells prepare for the arrival of their first guest, Larry picks up another in the streets – really, the gutters – of Athens: the alcoholic Captain Creech, who is in a desperate state. Larry offers to bring him to Corfu to recover.

Turns out that the Indian guest isn’t actually a prince – Prince is his name, but he goes by Jeejeebuoy. But that’s the only disappointing thing about him. He charmingly endears himself to every member of the family, taking interest in all of their hobbies. After Louisa discovers that Gerry has been writing stories about animals (riddled with spelling errors) when she thought he was studying, Jeejee helps Gerry accept his mother’s insistence that he interview at the only school in Corfu and begin a more traditional course of education. Jeejee even washes Captain Creech’s filthy pants once the tottering sailor arrives.

In order to begin salvaging his life, Creech decides to sell his boat – even though it’s barely seaworthy. In order to cultivate adventure, Larry buys it – even though he doesn’t know how to sail. Leslie quickly becomes frustrated trying to instruct Larry and leaves him alone on the boat. Soon Larry has dozed off with a book, and when he wakes up, he’s far from land and drifting towards Albania – exactly where Louisa warned him not to go. Luckily, the Albanians are friendly, and they happily tow Larry and his boat back to Corfu.

Leslie may have left Larry, but he can’t abandon Daphne, who is pregnant with his child. The relationship is strained – Leslie refuses to marry Daphne since he doesn’t love her – and it becomes even more difficult when Leslie discovers in his new role as a policeman that Daphne’s father is smuggling cigarettes. Leslie decides not to report him since they will soon be family, even though it could cost him his job. This kindness leads to a rapprochement between him and Daphne’s family.

Louisa has decided that Gerry should go to school, but her own behavior proves an obstacle. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE

What’s Margo up to during all of this? She has decided to fast with Jeejee, who is spiritually preparing to meet a guru upon leaving Corfu. Needless to say, Margo doesn’t last long, and soon satiates her hunger by scarfing an entire pie. Jeejee has more forbearance, but after he faints, Louisa encourages him to eat. Having taken her advice, he gives her some in return: it’s possible that she drinks too much, especially with Captain Creech around to spur her on. Creech and Jeejee are like Louisa’s good and bad angels, Margo points out. “Wonder who will win?” Gerry responds.

Previously enamored of Jeejee, Louisa is upset that he has called her out in front of her family and begins tilting towards Creech and her demons. She gets plastered at lunch, forgetting that she and Gerry must interview at the school that day. The headmistress would take Gerry, despite his limited Greek – but she’s appalled by Louisa’s boorish behavior, so she refuses to let Gerry enroll.  

This embarrassment makes Louisa realize that Jeejee had a point, and she vows to stop drinking. Jeejee himself may also have overindulged: Louisa and Gerry return home and find him perched on a second-story windowsill in a hunger-induced trance. As they rush to help him, he topples forward, landing on the pergola. Luckily, he’s okay, if a bit bruised.

Some good has come out of Louisa’s misadventure with alcohol. As Creech prepares to leave, he excitedly tells the family that he, too, has given up drink: watching Louisa’s antics has turned him off liquor. And although Gerry can’t attend school, Louisa has realized he’s getting a good education all the same. When he turns in a scientific report on his flamingos to Louisa, she is forced to admit that he is a talented writer and intelligent boy after all.

Good thing Louisa has accepted Gerry’s unusual education, as he now has an especially intriguing new subject. In thanks for the Durrells’ hospitality, Jeejee sends them an exotic gift: a live sloth.

Poldark airs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

Summer on the beach. Demelza, Sam, Drake, and the children are playing a spirited game of Blind Man’s Bluff as Ross, Prudie, and the Enyses look on. Caroline, lounging on a blanket with baby Sarah, facetiously claims that she “lives for the day when the little beast runs away; [she] shan’t miss her at all.” Dwight, normally amused by Caroline’s jibes, turns away, struggling to compose himself. Caroline doesn’t notice, but Ross does. Dwight, killing us all, later stands at the cliff’s edge at sunset, cradling baby Sarah. “Be not in haste to leave us, little one,” he whispers as she gazes solemnly up at him. “Stay a while longer.”

George is teaching Valentine the values of various coins (this is George’s main source of fun). Elizabeth worries about cost of the borough George recently bought, money he would not have had to spend if Bassett and Falmouth had not joined forces against him. She has heard it was Demelza who convinced the two lords to end their feud. George lambastes “that impudent kitchen trull” who deprived him of “his rightful place in Parliament.”

Demelza, preparing for bed, wonders if the damage Armitage wreaked on their marriage can be repaired; Ross assures her it already is. But as we see him at Falmouth’s staring at Armitage’s portrait, it’s clear he’s not so sure. Falmouth implies that as Ross is his protégé, he expects him to vote for some of his pet projects. Ross should have seen this coming.

Ossie is once again at Nat Pearce’s bedside; the man refuses to die. Ossie gets him to reveal the names of all the Pascoe accountholders from whom he embezzled; this information is, of course, passed along to George and his uncle Cary, who can’t wait for Pearce to “bite the dust” so they can take out Pascoe’s Bank, and with it, Ross’s savings.

Dwight knows something tragic about his child, but he's not sharing it. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Ross quizzes Dwight about his melancholy behavior on the beach. Reluctantly Dwight reveals, choking back tears, that Sarah has a congenital defect of the heart and the first mild illness she comes down with will be her last. He can’t bring himself to tell Caroline, and begs Ross not to tell Demelza either.

At the vicarage, Elizabeth and Geoffrey Charles are visiting “his old governess” Morwenna, her son John Conan on her lap. A hatchet-faced nurse strides in and yanks the child from her, bearing him away without a word. Elizabeth thinks it strange that this is the fourth new nurse in a year. Lady Whitworth is in charge of the hiring and firing, Morwenna informs them, adding grimly, “Osborne is a strange man.”

Cut to the “strange man” himself who, having just had his way with Rowella at her home, flings more money at her, calling her a “vile, acquisitive harlot.” Leaving, Ossie runs into Elizabeth just coming to visit; he makes a lame excuse and hurries away. Elizabeth is baffled, as is Rowella’s husband Arthur coming down the street, who can’t imagine what Ossie would want with his wife.

Drake is at work in his smithy when Geoffrey Charles comes to visit. Drake has had to put Morwenna in the past, he tells his friend. Rosina passes by and Drake waves; a good sign. Later at home, Demelza pushes Drake at a departing Rosina again; this time, he is agreeable. As they approach the village, Rosina warns him that if they are seen together, people will think they’re courting. Drake, coming to a decision, blithely declares, “Let folk think what they like.” Rosina is thrilled, and they journey on.

At the pub, Dwight is lost in thought when Ossie intrudes on him to tell him that Morwenna must be insane, given her frigidity, and that he needs a doctor to sign off on having her locked up. Dwight, clearly siding with Morwenna, excuses himself, retorting that he hopes Ossie won’t find anyone to go along with his scheme.

Drake is finally beginning to move on from Morwenna. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Dwight arrives home that night as Caroline, doting on little Sarah, is putting her to bed. The baby has “the strangest little cough,” she remarks. Dwight listens to Sarah’s heartbeat and deadpans that it’s nothing serious, but he is quietly anxious. The next day, Caroline and Sarah are back at Demelza’s. Sarah now has a cold, but Caroline is sure it’s nothing.

Meanwhile, Dwight is summoned to the vicarage; the spineless Dr. Choake needs a second opinion before he will commit Morwenna to an institution. Impatiently, Dwight insists on examining Morwenna alone, over Ossie’s vociferous objections. Afterward, simmering with fury, Dwight tells Ossie, as Choake nods in agreement, that Morwenna is perfectly sane, declaring that “if a husband cannot win his wife by loving kindness and sympathy, then he deserves to go without her.” He turns on his heel and leaves, to a standing ovation from women everywhere.

In the mine, Sam says a prayer as they are about to break through the final bit of rock blocking the new lode. The men let fly with their pickaxes, and a piece of the wall comes away wet. A trickle of water suddenly becomes a raging flood, and the panicked miners run for their lives. The mine’s clanging bell attracts a stampede of helpers, including Demelza, Drake, and Rosina.

Dwight is at home, trying to soothe a fretful baby Sarah. Caroline playfully accuses him of overreacting; even she knows “a cold isn’t the end of the world.” Knowing he can no longer shield her from the truth, Dwight gently informs Caroline that “for Sarah, it will be.” Clutching the child to her, Caroline is certain he’s joking. Dwight assures her he is not. Before he can say more, he is called to the mine…

…where conditions are dire. Zacky’s surviving son Bobby is trapped underwater and Ross is attempting to rescue him. As the water rises, Ross, with an unconscious Bobby draped over his shoulder, is unable to get up the ladder through the current. Sam hauls them to safety, but Bobby has apparently drowned. Dwight isn’t having it, though; frantically, he performs a procedure that is evidently new to the onlookers – CPR with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Despite all odds, Bobby comes around. “Dwight, you really can work miracles!” exclaims Demelza. “I wish that were true,” gasps Dwight ruefully, thinking of Sarah.

Tragedy upends Caroline's life. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE Later, Ross learns of Sarah’s illness, and arrives at Dwight and Caroline’s to find Caroline clinging to her baby and furious with Dwight for keeping the truth from her. Sarah only has a matter of hours, Dwight tells Ross; Ross wishes he had brought Demelza. “No,” Caroline objects. “Demelza would cry, and that, I fear, would undo us all.”

At dawn, Sarah dies in Caroline’s arms as Dwight helplessly looks on. Shakily, he asks to take the baby from her, but Caroline, numb, doesn’t want to let go. Overcome with grief, Dwight finds Ross still waiting in the parlor and collapses sobbing into his arms. Dissolve to the churchyard as a weeping Dwight, with Caroline stoic and dry-eyed at his side, carries Sarah’s coffin through the driving rain and a phalanx of mourners into the church.

Afterward, Demelza wanders disconsolately on the beach – Sarah’s death has brought back the pain of losing her first child Julia. An equally depressed Ross joins her, wondering if it’s only Julia she’s thinking of, and she flies into a rage – will she never live down Armitage? Ross’s failure at the mine has made him question everything, but he knows he has to find a way to reopen the mine – too many livelihoods depend on it.

Caroline, steeling herself, breaks the news to Dwight that she needs to go to London for a while; with so many reminders around her, she can’t recover. If it’s only for a month, Dwight suggests, he could leave his patients and accompany her. “It will not be just a month,” she admits. As she and Horace take their leave, Dwight tries to be strong for her, but he is gutted.

Drake appears to be moving ahead with Rosina, who has become a fixture at Ross and Demelza’s, as has a lonely Dwight. As Ross and Dwight commiserate during a walk in the woods, they happen upon one of George’s fences, and in a symbolic and perhaps therapeutic gesture, Ross destroys a section of it.

George has convinced one of the MPs in his new borough to stand down, so he will be headed back to Westminster soon, and Elizabeth is excited at the prospect. Ross too is returning; he promises Demelza that he will bring her with him the next time.

Preparing to depart, Ross asks Dwight to watch over Demelza – Dwight thinks Demelza will feel she needs to look after him. Ross promises to bring Caroline back to Dwight as he did once before. As Ross rides away in the rain, Demelza and Dwight know they will have to make the best of their mutual abandonment, together.

The Woman in Whiteairs Sundays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream.

Walter Hartwright has an enviable life. He’s painting on a sunny roof in London, enjoying wine with his friend Pesca, when a boy brings him a letter offering him unsolicited employment. A Mr. Fairlie requires an artist to restore his damaged collection of valuable drawings and to instruct his two nieces in draftsmanship and painting. Walter is reluctant to leave London for Fairlie’s country estate in northern England, but he’s convinced to take the job by both his widowed mother and Pesca, who recommended him for the position.

As Walter stumbles home from the pub on his last night in London, he encounters a frightened woman in the woods. He agrees to help her find a carriage and struggles to learn more about her as she slips in and out of lucidity. “I’ve been in hell,” she says, in between repeating “Frances good, Frances loving.” When Walter tells her that he’s leaving the next day, she says she knows Limmeridge, the estate he is going to, and mentions a baronet there. She also reveals that she only wears white – and then she disappears into a carriage and is gone.

Close behind her, Walter sees a man ride up on a horse and ask someone if they’ve seen a woman in white: she’s a “deranged” escapee from the asylum. Walter says nothing.

"We're not the most traditional of ladies," say the half-sisters whom Walter Hartwright comes to teach drawing to at Limmeridge. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

Walter is still dwelling on the startling events of the previous night when he arrives at Limmeridge and meets Marian Halcombe, one of the nieces he will be teaching. Marian and her half-sister Laura had the same mother, but Marian’s father was poor where Laura’s, the brother of the Mr. Fairlie on whose estate they now reside, was rich. Marian gives Walter a tour of the isolated estate, and when he sees Laura he is so shocked by her resemblance to the woman in white that he tells Marian about his encounter. Marian reveals that their mother was named Frances – perhaps the woman was talking about her.

Limmeridge is an unconventional place. As Marian and Laura tell Walter, “We’re not the most traditional of ladies.” Unlike most Victorian women, they “speak [their] minds.” Laura seems to be synesthetic, hearing music and feeling the wind as colors. Mr. Fairlie is an invalid sensitive to light and sound who stays cooped up in his chambers. And the women’s nurse and caretaker, the cheery Mrs. Vesey, is still a constant companion to Marian and Laura. But everyone seems to be happy there; as they paint on a striking vantage point over the sea, Laura tells Walter that this is how she imagines Eden – except Adam has two Eves.

Marian’s curiosity has been piqued by Walter’s woman in white. She recalls that, while she was studying in Paris, her mother wrote letters about a girl who sometimes came to Limmeridge and took old dresses – but only white ones. The girl acted younger than she was, and may have had a difficult childhood. Marian asks Laura about the girl, who was named Anne, but Laura believes that Anne died.  Marian does discover a letter from her mother that describes Anne as looking strikingly similar to Laura.

Though half-sisters, Marian and Laura are opposites, and develop very different relationships with Walter. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

The investigation might have ended there, but then Walter sees the woman in white on the grounds of Limmeridge. He tries to catch up to her, but she once again disappears.

Soon she interferes in affairs at the estate. Laura and Walter are falling in love with each other, and she eventually kisses him. Marian sees and admonishes Laura – “you know this is impossible,” she tells her. For Laura is engaged to be married, to a baronet named Sir Percival Glyde. The engagement was the deathbed wish of Laura’s father. But Laura’s feelings about the engagement become further troubled when she receives an anonymous letter warning that Percival is a bad man. Walter suspects that the woman in white wrote it, given that she had mentioned a baronet to him.

This suspicion seems confirmed when a scared boy runs up, claiming he saw the ghost of Laura’s mother by her grave. Walter decides to stake out the cemetery to see if the “ghost” returns. And she does – it’s the woman in white. This time Walter is able to speak to her before she runs away. Again, she slips in and out of coherence, but she does warn, “she will suffer if she marries him.” When Walter presses her, she says that it was Percival who put her in the asylum, and that “he has done terrible things – and will do worse.”

Given the intermittent flash-forwards to various characters distraughtly asking a lawyer where Walter is and hinting that Laura is dead, it seems that the woman in white is right.

Explore The Great American Read list and find more book-related features, quizzes, and interviews at wttw.com/read.

The votes are in, and America's best-loved novel is... To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. After a summer of viewers casting almost 4.3 million votes for their favorite novel as part of The Great American Read, that classic American tale of racism, prejudice, and justice has been chosen. More than fifty years after it was first published, it still resonates today, even despite numerous attempts over the decades to ban it. And an impressively broad swath of Americans agree that To Kill a Mockingbird deserves this accolade: 50 out of 52 states and territories, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, voted it number one. (The exceptions were North Carolina, where the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon edged out Mockingbird, and Wyoming, where The Lord of the Rings series placed first. Mockingbird came in second in both states. Canada universally put Outlander first.)

'To Kill a Mockingbird' is America's favorite novel What other books does America hold especially dear? The top ten books are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
3. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
7. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
9. Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Even though this is The Great American Read, only five out of the ten books were written by Americans; the other five are by Brits. Seven are by female authors (and coincidentally, all the male authors used initials in place of their first names.) The majority were written in the twentieth century; three are from the nineteenth, and two series, while started in the twentieth, continued into the twenty-first. 

All of the top ten books (and indeed, most of the top 25) have at least one famous adaptation for film or television, which might say something about American culture and entertainment: we want the books we love in as many forms as possible (or, more cynically, capitalism tries to eke as much profit out of a popular thing as possible).

That's not to say books that didn't fare as well don't also have adaptations. For instance, perhaps the most maligned book on the original list of 100 was Fifty Shades of Grey, which has spawned several movies. It ranked 86th on the list. Many of the books ranked lower down were more contemporary, including many of the volumes from this century. So perhaps they simply need more time to be named classics. Maybe in a hundred years one of them will occupy the same status as To Kill a Mockingbird does today.

In celebration of the opening of Chicago's first underground rapid-transit line 75 years ago, the CTA is sending out two vintage train cars of a model that were among the first to run on the new line. During the late morning and early afternoon of Wednesday, October, 24, two 4000-series cars will run along the Red Line subway between the North/Clybourn and Roosevelt stops, giving rides to ticketed passengers. (Due to high demand, tickets are no longer available. However, there may be two unticketed rides around 1:10 pm starting from the Randolph-Washington mezzanine, at the south end of the Lake Street stop.) If you aren't lucky enough to board this vintage two-car train, which ran from 1923 to 1973, you can spot them from locations along the track between Webster and 17th Street.

Forms for concrete line the space of the excavated tube area as the State Street Subway is constructed. Photo: CTA

The State Street subway opened to the public on October 17, 1943, and ran, as it still does today, from Roosevelt to North/Clybourn. It was part of a transit expansion plan that called for two subway lines downtown, underneath State Street and also Dearborn and Milwaukee (that subway is now part of the Blue Line). The city broke ground for both subways at Chicago and State in the midst of the Great Depression in December of 1938, utilizing stimulus funds from the federal government's New Deal programs. Construction proceeded using both the deep bore method, where tunnels are dug underground and reinforced with concrete, and the cut-and-cover method, where a trench is dug from the surface then covered over once a tunnel is reinforced. The State Street subway was completed within five years, whereas the Milwaukee-Dearborn line was not finished until 1951.

The finished track at the Clark/Division station on the State Street subway. Photo: CTA

The nine stations of the State Street subway, which still maintain the style today that they had 75 years ago, feature attractive terra cotta tiles with station names and other directions embedded directly into them. (If rectangular, glazed-white tiles seem familiar to you, that's because "subway tile" is now in vogue for interior decoration, seen everywhere from trendy, plant-filled restaurants to sleek washrooms.) These Art Moderne-style stations are said to be the first subway stations to feature fluorescent lighting, and other rare new amenities included escalators, ventilation, and drainage.

Randolph-Washington concession stand in the State Street Subway, c. 1950s. Photo: CTA

The system used 4000-series cars because they had a steel body, as opposed to earlier cars built with a wooden frame. The cars also had wood floors, cushioned seats, and electronically operated doors. Their top speed is around 45 miles per hour, whereas the CTA's modern cars can go at least 55 miles per hour, the system-wide speed limit. 

If you don't make it onto one of the vintage cars today, you can still get a feel for what the historic line was like via archival photos located at each of the nine stations of the State Street subway. They will remain on display for several weeks. 

For more news about Chicago's transit system and the modernizations and repairs that have been made recently and that are planned for the future, check out this recent New York Times story contrasting the CTA and New York's MTA.

After five seasons, Vivian Howard's popular cooking show A Chef's Life aired its hourlong finale on Monday (which is available to stream). To celebrate the end of the North Carolina-based, seasonally focused show, try a simple recipe from Howard perfect for this time of year, when fall weather makes you crave root vegetables: pickled beets.

Pickled Beets

Ingredients

3 lbs beets
3 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 cloves
3 bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp chili flakes
3 star anise

Directions

1. Place washed, skin-on beets in the bottom of 6-quart or larger pot. Cover the beets with water by 2 inches, and bring them up to a boil. Boil, covered, for 20 minutes. Check to see if they are done by sliding a knife into the center. The beet should give just a little resistance. If the they are not done, continue cooking just until they are. Drain off the water and set the beets aside to cool.

2. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and slice the beets into 1/2 inch rounds. Position the rounds in wide-mouth canning jars. If you have rounds that are too wide to fit, cut them into half-moons, or quarters, or whatever you have to do to get them in there.

3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive, 3-quart saucepan and bring it up to a boil. Carefully pour the brine over the beets, making sure they are completely submerged in the liquid. Seal the jars. At this point you could refrigerate the beets for up to 3 months without processing in a hot water bath.

The Durrells in Corfu airs Sundays at 7:00 pm and is available to stream. Read our recap of the previous episode here.

Frank, the newest member of the Durrell household, likes to hang out in the kitchen – literally, given that he’s a sloth. He’s not the only newcomer to Corfu. An Italian father and his three children have arrived from Siena and moved into the poshest villa on the island, to Louisa’s chagrin. Worse, they’re taking up much of Spyros’s time, leaving Louisa feeling neglected. This leads her into an argument with Spyros, which causes an awkward break in their relationship.

Feeling second-best, Louisa heads over to the villa the Ferraris are renting and runs into Guido, the father. He courteously invites her and her children to lunch.

Over food at the villa, the Ferraris are perfectly well-behaved. The Durrells, on the other hand, embarrass Louisa in their typical fashion. Margo is enthralled by the beauty of Clara, one of the daughters; Leslie eats like an animal; and Larry tries to show off. The Ferrari children are strangely subdued, however, and Guido is prejudiced: he calls Greeks clumsy and asks Louisa to teach his daughters to “be women and run a house.” Louisa is put off by the sexism, but agrees to spend some time with the young women.

The arrival of another foreign family on Corfu drives a wedge into Louisa and Spyros's relationship. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE

While she teaches them to clean a fish and boil eggs, Leslie instructs the Ferrari son, Paolo, in sailing. Paolo is odd: he barely speaks, and at one point grabs Leslie’s gun from its holster and shoots it into the water with no warning. He soon finds a better way to occupy his time.

Larry has joined Corfu’s volunteer fire brigade (Leslie wanted to as well, but failed to remain calm during a fitness test), and Louisa suggests to Guido that Paolo do the same. Larry has already instigated significant changes at the firehouse, suggesting such modernizing features as a fire pole and alarms to the chief after reading a book on the topic loaned to him by Theo. Unsurprisingly, Larry’s half-baked reforms cause chaos. But he does manage to form a conversant relationship with Paolo, unlike Leslie.

Margo remains in awe of Clara, and searches for ways to make herself more beautiful to match the Italian woman. She goes to Florence for help with cosmetics but soon turns to a more desperate measure. The feast day of the patron saint of Corfu is coming up, and local myth has it that if you kiss his feet a wish will be granted. Margo dutifully files into the small chapel and, to the horror of the locals, plants a full-mouthed kiss on the saint’s mummified slippers. She is rewarded with illness – you weren’t supposed to actually touch the feet with your lips, Theo chides her.

Theo himself needs some chiding. While he and Gerry search the cliffs of the island for vultures, they meet an adventurous girl of Gerry’s age who is also out bird-watching, and begin to invite her along on their expeditions. Gerry quickly falls for Galini and longs to spend time alone with her, but Theo keeps popping into intimate moments with a dry scientific fact. Gerry finally works up the courage to tell Theo that he’d like to explore the island with Galini alone, and Theo, thoroughly embarrassed, removes himself from the burgeoning relationship.

Theo and Gerry are searching for vultures. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE He retreats to the company of the other Durrells, who are all curious why the seemingly wealthy Ferraris came to Corfu. Their stated excuse is to “recharge their batteries,” but Leslie heard from a colleague in customs that they left Italy in a hurry. Theo reaches out to a friend in Siena and learns that the Ferraris have a secret: Paolo ran into an elderly man with a car, killing him. The Ferraris must be on Corfu to escape prosecution.

The Durrells use their newfound friendships with the Ferrari children to ask about the incident. The daughters reveal to Louisa that the family is in a crisis. Guido owes money to several creditors, including the gullible Spyros, and he has been a bully towards his children ever since their mother died. When Larry presses Paolo about the accident, Paolo lets slip that Guido was the one driving the car. Paolo was forced to take the blame and stay silent.

A confrontation occurs when Guido “borrows” Spyros’s car to pick his daughters up from the Durrell home and Louisa confronts him about his bullying of his daughters. He is furious and moves threateningly towards Louisa but is stopped by the appearance of Paolo and Larry, who reveals that Guido was the reckless driver. He encourages Paolo to stand up to his father, but Paolo demurs. Louisa rushes to grab the keys from Spyros’s car before Guido takes it again, and the entire Ferrari family retreat in shame. To top it all off, Gerry and Galini appear with a new pet: a rescued young vulture.

Louisa returns the car to Spyros and the two reconcile. Unfortunately, it looks like Spyros’s loan to Guido will never be repaid… until the Ferrari children come to the Durrells the next day and hand over their father’s watch as payment. They finally confronted their father and will be returning to Italy, where they will tell the truth about the accident. Though the Durrells are sad to see the children go, at least they are again the “best foreign family on the island.”

Poldark airs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

Demelza and the children frolic on a gray, windy beach as we dissolve to Ross in the House, passionately advocating for the poor. George, back in Westminster as he had hoped, serves up his trademark sneer, and most of the other Members seem indifferent.

Too bad, because back in Cornwall, famine and fever are rampant, and as Demelza, Dwight, and Sam attempt to help the desperate villagers, Sam can’t see what good Ross is doing them in Westminster. Ross has been wondering the same thing.

Caroline, in London, invites Ross to a big soiree she is throwing. She has been running with a bad crowd that includes Monk Adderley, who rubs Ross the wrong way.

Dwight, treating Morwenna at the vicarage, asks her why she threatened to harm her son. Morwenna assures him it was a bluff – “the only weapon she has against [her] husband’s attentions.” Ossie, meanwhile, is paying those “attentions” to Rowella – as she flaunts her bare feet, angling for new slippers, he angrily threatens to halt his visits; Rowella feigns indifference while pocketing his money.

Demelza pushes Drake to make a commitment to Rosina. Drake does not love her, but since Morwenna is off limits, Demelza argues that perhaps Rosina will grow on him. A few days later, Drake does approach Rosina, and after making it clear that he would be settling for her, asks her to marry him. Rosina inexplicably responds to this romantic proposal by saying, in effect, “Sure! Where do I sign up?”

Ross asks his London housekeeper for a nearby poorhouse he can visit and is surprised to learn that her son lives there – he has wages, just “not enough to live on.” Ross is appalled by the conditions there, but his colleagues have scant empathy.

Morwenna is playing with John Conan when Ossie, citing Morwenna’s continued resistance as proof that she can’t be trusted with the boy, orders the scary governess to separate him from his mother. Morwenna is bereft. That evening, she is reading in bed when, to her horror, Ossie slithers in, informing her that now that their son is safe with the nurse, Morwenna must “do her duty and submit” to him. Mercifully, we cut to…

Caroline, living it up at her extravagant London party. Ross, keeping a weather eye on her, has little use for her shallow city acquaintances. Case in point: Adderley enters, followed by Elizabeth and George, who snub Ross as usual and chat among themselves. Adderley, with clear ulterior motives, brings up Ross and Elizabeth’s meeting in the garden at the Trenwith reception; this is news to a livid George. Elizabeth glares as Adderley glides off, leaving destruction in his wake. Caroline tries to persuade Ross to stay later, but he demurs and we get a glimpse behind her brittle façade before she determinedly wades back into the crowd.

Back at Nampara, Demelza and Dwight are taking inventory of food they have collected for the poor. As Prudie glowers, Dwight confesses to Demelza that Nampara feels more like home to him than his own empty, silent one. Had Ross and Caroline met each other first, Demelza wonders, would they have been a better match? “Would we?” asks Dwight. It’s a light exchange, but also a charged one, interrupted by Sam gleefully announcing that Drake and Rosina are engaged.

That evening, Rowella is polishing a new brass candlestick – her husband Arthur wonders how she afforded something so fine. She hurries him out the door for his regular family visit, but Arthur runs into Dwight, who advises him to postpone as his sisters are ill. Arthur arrives home early to find the front door locked. Through a window, he is devastated to discover Rowella and Ossie in the act.

Cut to Caroline and Adderley playing roulette. Caroline is losing and Adderley, a bad influence, encourages her to keep playing. Ross disapproves of people “with nothing to lose assisting others to lose all they have.” Fisticuffs are forestalled by Geoffrey Charles, hammered, being shaken down by two arrogant young aristocrats. Ross intervenes, and Geoffrey Charles vomits on the carpet. A young servant cheerfully cleans up the mess, explaining to Ross that such tasks help him make ends meet. Latching on to this idea, Ross suggests to Bassett that higher wages (plus gratuities from the gentry) would eliminate the need to fund poorhouses. (This would seem like common sense, but…)

Letters continue to fly back and forth between Ross and Demelza – Ross’s liberal crusades are not making him many friends, and in Sawle, Demelza is flashing back to the death of their first child Julia. Ross discusses this with a still-raw Caroline, who doesn’t want to hear it. Ross gently explains that “we are taught to be strong, but tears must fall.” Caroline’s self-control begins to erode.

In bed at the vicarage, a sweaty Ossie rolls away from Morwenna, baffled and irritated by her unresponsiveness. Morwenna, staring at the ceiling in tears, couldn’t care less. That night, Rowella again hits up Ossie for cash, but now that he has Morwenna to fulfill his “needs,” he’s done with her. Riding home in the dark, he is suddenly confronted by a masked Arthur, flailing at him with the brass candlestick. In the struggle, Ossie falls from his horse, one foot stuck in the stirrup. The horse suddenly bolts, dragging him screaming into the woods, where his head slams into a tree. Panicked, Arthur flees. As he arrives home, Rowella takes in Arthur’s blank stare, bloody face, and the candlestick in his hands, and guesses what has happened.

A sudden turn of events causes Morwenna to finally unload on George and Elizabeth for the misery they have caused her. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Meanwhile, Drake and Demelza are happily preparing his cottage for Rosina; the wedding is tomorrow. The following morning, Ossie’s body is found. We see a montage of Dwight conducting an autopsy as Lady Whitworth cries murder; a catatonic Morwenna; Rosina and her bridesmaids skipping to the church, and a distraught Drake after Demelza breaks the news. As Morwenna is now free, Drake feels he can’t marry Rosina. Regretfully, he goes to the church to tell her – and then disappears.

Dwight, in his garden, envisions a ghostly Caroline cradling little Sarah. They morph into an approaching and upset Demelza – Drake has fled, Rosina is jilted, Rosina’s father Jacka is on the rampage, and half the village is in an uproar. Dwight draws her into a comforting embrace – Ross should be here, he tells her. “And Caroline,” Demelza adds tearfully. In London, Ross pleads with Caroline to return with him to Cornwall (and Dwight). Caroline isn’t ready yet, but she’s getting there.

Cut to Ossie’s wake as Elizabeth and George express sympathy for Morwenna’s “loss.” Satisfyingly, she unloads on them – they forced her to marry Ossie and ruined her life. Elizabeth is stricken; George – for once – is speechless. Later that day, Drake tries to re-up with Morwenna but she rejects him (“I’m tainted!”) and Lady Whitworth runs him off the property. George jumps to the conclusion that Drake was complicit in Ossie’s death and sends his thug Harry to Nampara to arrest him. As Harry attempts to gain entry, Prudie clouts him with a broomstick and she and Demelza drive him from the house.

After Harry tattles on them, an angry Elizabeth makes George promise not to pursue Drake. George reluctantly agrees, but gives Harry tacit approval to “punish him in other ways.” That night, Harry and Jacka set fire to Drake’s smithy. Demelza and Sam are surveying the wreckage when a weeping Drake appears, devastated not by the loss of his forge but by Morwenna’s rejection. Later, we see Morwenna sadly tossing Drake’s precious shell bracelet into the sea.

Ross, newly returned to Cornwall, shares with the local landowners his proposal to grant a temporary subsidy to the poor. George, of course, scoffs at paying the poor to be idle (welfare queens, anyone?). A vote is taken and Falmouth surprisingly sways the decision Ross’s way – if Ross will vote for the road he wants. After insuring that the displaced residents will be rehoused at Falmouth’s expense, Ross agrees. The next day, he heads back to Westminster to make his case for the subsidy. Some of the other Members, especially George, are not fans. But others are intrigued, including the Prime Minister, who wants to hear more of Ross’s “interesting ideas.”

The Woman in Whiteairs Sundays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

The mysterious woman in white is Anne Catherick, the girl who once received dresses from Laura and Marian’s mother. Walter is sure of it now that he has spoken to her. And he believes her warning about Sir Percival Glyde, whom she claims put her in an asylum. Walter tells Marian about Anne, and she in turn informs Mr. Gilmore, the lawyer who helped to arrange Laura’s marriage to Sir Percival. Gilmore is skeptical, but promises to interrogate Sir Percival. (In a flash-forward, we see that Gilmore no longer has any doubt that Sir Percival is an evil man.)

Before the matter can be investigated further, Mr. Fairlie terminates Walter’s employment at Limmeridge, on the grounds that the young painter has neglected his duties and formed an improper relationship with Laura. Walter gives Laura an album before leaving; Sir Percival prevents a proper farewell.

Sir Percival confirms to Marian and Mr. Gilmore that he did send Anne to an asylum. She is the daughter of one of his servants and was “not of sound mind.” Anne hates both Sir Percival and her mother for confining her, but it had to be done: she’s dangerous, and must be found immediately for her own safety. Sir Percival tells Marian to write to Anne’s mother – she will corroborate his account.

Sir Percival suspects that there was something between Laura and Walter. But when she tells him that her affection now belongs to another and that he should break off the engagement, he refuses. She’s simply the nobler for having told him, he says.

This is a man with the assured confidence that all the world is his for the taking, regardless of anyone else’s feelings.

Sir Percival has the assured confidence that all the world is his for the taking, including Laura Fairlie. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

Marian also has doubts about the engagement and is infuriated when Gilmore suggests that it would be reckless to break it off. A man would have a say in the matter, she retorts. But when a letter from Mrs. Catherick finally arrives and confirms Sir Percival’s story, Marian reluctantly accepts the wedding. This assurance given, Sir Percival’s lawyer proceeds to negotiate “extortionate” terms for the marriage, as Gilmore calls them. Despite Gilmore’s protestations, Mr. Fairlie, Laura’s guardian, agrees that Laura’s entire estate will go to Sir Percival in the event of her death, even though she’s much younger than Sir Percival. Seems ominous…

Mr. Fairlie also agrees to push up the date of the wedding. Marian is furious, but Laura has become resigned to being Sir Percival’s bride. Sir Percival organizes a three-month tour of Italy for the honeymoon, and initially promises Laura that Marian will join them. But later, he asks Marian to stay in England – the newly married couple will need some time alone as man and wife. After the honeymoon, however, they will all live together as a happy family at Blackwater, Sir Percival’s estate.

Meanwhile in London, Walter has been searching for Anne, desperate to learn more about Sir Percival. He is struggling to paint and has become paranoid that he’s being followed, even attacking a stranger whom he suspects is tailing him. When he learns that the wedding will go through, he sneaks a visit to Limmeridge to bid farewell to Marian and Laura. He has taken a job in Honduras; England has become too painful for him.

Before her wedding, Laura puts together a case of things for her true love, Walter: the album he gave her, a lock of her hair, and other sentimental keepsakes. She asks Marian to give it to Walter and tell him she loved him if something should happen to her. Then Laura is married and off to Italy and Walter ships out to the other side of the globe.

Laura has unhappily resigned herself to becoming Sir Percival's wife. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

Another flash-forward gives credence to Laura’s concerns about her safety. Mrs. Vesey, the caretaker of Laura and Marian since they were young, shows a lawyer a letter from Laura saying that she fears for her life and is planning to flee to Mrs. Vesey. She never arrived.

The day before Laura and Sir Percival are due to return to England from Italy, Marian arrives at Blackwater. Through a window, she sees a woman with a dog approach the estate and overhears her ask the housekeeper if there has been news of her daughter. When the housekeeper responds that there has not, the woman leaves, requesting that her visit be kept secret from Sir Percival.

Marian later hears whimpering while walking the grounds of the estate and finds the woman’s dog dying of a gunshot wound – the groundskeeper shoots any dogs he finds on the property. Marian brings the animal to the housekeeper, who reveals that the dog’s owner was Mrs. Catherick, Anne’s mother.

But Marian has other new characters to occupy her. Laura and Sir Percival have arrived, along with Sir Percival’s friend Count Fosco and his wife, Laura’s aunt. Madam Fosco seems more subdued than she once was, Laura remarks. And the Sicilian Count Fosco is creepily solicitous towards Marian, no matter that his wife is watching.

In their leering attention to Marian and Laura, Fosco and Sir Percival are gross birds of a feather. Laura has not warmed to Sir Percival’s advances: when he possessively fondles her, she turns rigid. This is not a happy or even consensual marriage – and it’s bound to get worse.

There’s a huge amount of worthwhile TV out there nowadays, so it can be hard to choose what to watch. But who better to recommend shows than the person who programs them? Dan Soles, Senior Vice President and Chief Television Officer at WTTW, constructs the WTTW schedule by searching through offerings from many different sources which include the national PBS network, the BBC, and independent filmmakers to put together a varied and engaging broadcast schedule. Each month, he’ll recommend a few shows that he thinks you should watch.

Bright Lights, Brilliant Minds: A Tale of Three Cities

Thursdays beginning November 1 at 9:00 pm

This show, originally from the BBC, takes a look at three remarkable cities during three extraordinary years. Freud, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and musicians and architects produced seminal works in Vienna in 1908. European surrealists rubbed shoulders with American expats like Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, and Cole Porter in Paris in 1928. And Jackson Pollock, On the Road, and I Love Lucy all rocked New York in 1951. It’s an exciting series about exciting times.

Great Performances: John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway

Friday, November 16 at 9:00 pm

When the comedian John Leguizamo realized that his son wasn’t learning much about the contributions of Latino peoples to the history of America, he decided to educate himself about his own heritage and address that erasure through a stage show, Latin History for Morons. This hilarious and informative Great Performances presentation follows his path through creating the show and bringing it to Broadway.

The Mark Twain Prize: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Monday, November 19 at 9:00 pm

The awards ceremony for the Mark Twain Prize is always a riot, full of some of the funniest people in American show business. This year, the Prize was awarded to the outstanding Julia Louis-Dreyfus, of Seinfeld and Veep fame. She’s a Northwestern alum, so there’s a local connection, not that you need that to entice you to watch the antics of her and her friends.

Photo: Scott Suchman

Let’s Go Luna!

Premieres Wednesday, November 21 at 9:00 am

Every once in a while I like to highlight a children’s show because we have such a strong slate of PBS Kids programming. Let’s Go Luna! Is our newest addition. It’s a whimsical and educational animated show about the travels of three children whose parents are part of an acrobatic circus. As they traverse the globe with their parents, they learn about and explore the cultures they encounter with their friend, Luna the moon. It’s great for kids – but adults might find themselves enjoying it too!

Image: LATW Productions Inc.

Nature: Snow Bears

Wednesday, November 28 at 8:00 pm

People may love polar bears for their cuteness, but they’re also vital global symbols of the endangerment that comes with climate change, as their habitats melt. This Nature episode narrated by Kate Winslet offers a look at the journey of some young cubs and their mother as they travel hundreds of miles to the sea to feed. It may be humanizing and adorable – but it’s also a necessary call to action to save the habitats and ways of life of these creatures.

The Durrells in Corfu airs Sundays at 7:00 pm and is available to stream. Read our recap of the previous episode here.

It’s Gerry’s birthday, and Louisa is determined to throw a thrilling party for her youngest child. The presence of an extraordinary swarm of bugs means the bash will have to take place inside, but no matter: Louisa still has games and speeches and a massive table of refreshments planned. Too bad Gerry doesn’t want any of it. He’s becoming a moody teenager, and Louisa’s maternal fussing is as annoying as the flies buzzing around outside and as suffocating as being stuck indoors.

Gerry’s not the only one in a bad mood. Spyros is also uncharacteristically reticent, but he won’t tell anyone why. He and Gerry make a melancholy counterpart to the increasingly boisterous party, which is attended by all of the Durrells’ acquaintances: Florence and Dr. Petridis, plus their seventeen-year-old niece Nelly; Theo; Lugaretzia; the priest Pavlos; Gerry’s old tutor; Louisa’s old crush Sven and his boyfriend; and the current partners of Margo and Leslie, Zoltan and the pregnant Daphne.

Abetted by alcohol, all the guests are having a grand time with the silly games – except Dr. Petridis, who is continually pulled aside to examine a medical ailment. When the time for speeches comes – the Durrells tell made-up stories about Gerry because they can’t remember any funny anecdotes – and Louisa accidentally says Gerry is turning 12 instead of 13, he finally lashes out. He’s furious that Louisa keeps treating him like an infant, a point supported by her gift of a stuffed animal. Indignant outburst over, he stomps upstairs and locks himself in his room.

You should have realized Gerry has grown up, Florence tells Louisa. “He’s been the most mature member of your family for years,” she says, with a telling glance at the antics of Louisa’s other children as the party games resume. Larry further demonstrates Gerry’s growth by showing Louisa a story Gerry wrote when they first came to Corfu and one he wrote recently: he’s developing into a great writer.

Spyros follows Gerry to his room so that they can share their misery. Spyros says he feels old and that people around him have suddenly changed; Gerry is feeling the opposite, that he’s changing as he leaves childhood behind.

It's a motley crowd at Gerry's birthday party, one not especially suited to a 13-year-old boy. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE

Gerry kicks Spyros out when he picks up a guitar and warbles out a lament in Greek.

Spyros makes his way to Larry next, who tries to be sympathetic but also wants to escape the singing. Larry finally gets Spyros to explain his sorrow: his wife has left him and taken the children.

Leslie is finally beginning to look forward to his own impending child. He has been reading books about pregnancy so that he can help Daphne. The two have begun to enjoy each other’s company, and even, dare they say it, fall in love.

Louisa tries to make amends with Gerry by apologizing for babying him, and begins to overcompensate in the opposite direction by giving him beer (which he finds disgusting) and cigarettes. She even tries to set him up with Florence’s niece Nelly, once again embarrassing him.

He only begins to enjoy himself once his new friend Galini shows up. Together they join the party, which is in full swing. Enticed by the revelry, Dr. Petridis finally refuses to check any more ailments – but as soon as he joins the fun, Florence pulls him home; she’s exhausted.

As everyone dances around the room, a sheet of paper drops from Gerry’s pocket. Larry and Louisa pick it up, and discover that it’s an angsty poem about feeling suffocated by Louisa. But Gerry has moved past his frustration, and, thanks to Theo, seen that Louisa simply loves him a lot. He writes a new poem in appreciation of her and apologizes.

Despite this reconciliation, Louisa is feeling down as she watches all her children partner off and be happy (even Larry enjoys a little romp with Nelly). Having learned of Spyros’s situation from Larry, she tries to comfort Spyros and let him know that he can confide in her, but he just sulks off into the night. Later, however, he returns to the Durrell house and opens up to Louisa about how he blames himself. That simple confession over, he leaves. Both perhaps feel slightly less alone.

Poldark airs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

Demelza is still holding down the fort in Cornwall, as Ross and Caroline, strolling in London, observe Geoffrey Charles being egged on in an ale-chugging contest by some rowdy profligates and prostitutes. Geoffrey Charles, reeling, still can’t hold his liquor, and Ross quickly spirits him away, to the displeasure of Monk Adderley, who is part of the group.

The long-suffering Nat Pearce has finally kicked the bucket. Harris Pascoe, whose bank’s depositors are (so far) unknowing victims of Pearce’s malfeasance, is worried. Over Pearce’s coffin, he reassures his spendthrift son-in-law, St. John Peter, that his wife’s dowry is safe. Not so: George and Cary, eager to ruin Ross financially, distribute anonymous flyers warning that Pascoe’s Bank is “on the verge of insolvency.”

Zacky Martin brings Demelza the news, and they watch as Pascoe attempts to reason with his alarmed depositors. Demelza needs to withdraw funds for Ross’s mine payroll. Pascoe begs her to delay, and not wanting to put him out of business, she appeals instead to Lord Falmouth for a loan. He gives it to her, on the condition that it go to the mine and not “to prop up a shaky bank.”  But Demelza does just that – having divided the cash between herself, Zacky, Prudie, and Sam, they wade through the angry mob outside Pascoe’s and make a great show of being depositors. Despite their truly terrible acting, the crisis seems to have been averted, for now.

Sam urges Drake to abandon his ruined forge and move in with him in the village, but Drake turns him down – after jilting Rosina, it might be best if he left town for good. Later, moping along the cliff path, he encounters Rosina, who admonishes him to buck up and stay the course – if she can bear the humiliation, so can he. Burn! Later, as he and Sam drag his belongings to Sam’s lodgings, it is clear that Drake is now a town pariah, but the brothers grimly soldier on.

Elizabeth, nauseated, surmises that she is pregnant. Recalling Ross's advice to give George “another eight-month child,” she puts on a brave face and doesn’t say a word.

Elizabeth is pregnant, but decides to hide it from George to reassure him that Valentine is his child. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Lady Whitworth is highly displeased that Morwenna has summoned Dwight again. Morwenna, still depressed, wants only oblivion, a feeling to which Dwight can relate.  He urges her to forget Ossie’s despicable actions and look to the future. “If only that were possible,” says Morwenna sadly.

A coach enroute to Cornwall approaches, carrying Caroline, her pug Horace, Ross, and a hungover Geoffrey Charles. Ross urges Geoffrey Charles to stay on George’s good side; to Ross’s amusement, Geoffrey Charles scoffs that George’s subsidy is the only reason he puts up with him.

George and Cary, not to be outdone by “that scullery maid” Demelza, demand immediate repayment of a substantial loan St. John Peter took out with their bank. To cover his losses, he will have to withdraw his wife’s dowry from Pascoe’s Bank, throwing it into crisis again. In a few months, they imply, St. John can apply for another loan from them. St. John, invested only in saving his own skin, agrees. Pascoe’s Bank goes under, and Cary and George celebrate Ross’s ruin. George is certain Elizabeth will be thrilled (really?), and sets off to share the news.

Meanwhile, an unknowing Ross delivers Geoffrey Charles back to Elizabeth at Trenwith. They toast to their friendship, agreeing to keep their meeting from George. Ross comes face to face with little Valentine, and it seems clear to Ross (and maybe Valentine, too) that he is Ross’s son. As Ross departs, to Elizabeth’s horror, his carriage crosses paths with George’s in the drive. Luckily, George doesn’t see the occupant, but he is (as always) suspicious. Elizabeth pretends to George that Geoffrey Charles just arrived alone.

At Killewarren, Dwight unexpectedly encounters a nervous Caroline, with Horace, after a seven-month separation. Overjoyed at her return, he reassures her that he understands why she needed the time away. Can she consider becoming a mother again? Caroline is still hurting, but doesn’t rule it out for the moment.

That evening, Demelza vents to Prudie that, despite her efforts, Pascoe Bank has failed and they’ve lost everything…including the loan from Lord Falmouth. “I’m an idiot!” she exclaims. Ross materializes, warmly assuring her that she is anything but.

The next day, Ross learns from Pascoe about the anonymous flyer; they both guess the source. Pascoe’s assets and liabilities have been taken over by Bassett’s bank, where Pascoe has been installed as chief clerk (a big comedown, but at least it’s a job). Ross, appalled at the injustice, appeals to the wealthy landowners for help in restarting Pascoe’s Bank, but while most, including Bassett, are sympathetic, they don’t want to take the risk. Ross suggests that Bassett consolidate his bank with Pascoe’s to form a larger bank. Bassett is wary, but…

George is intent on ruining Ross by causing his bank to fail. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

…the miners still await their wages. To thank them for their patience, Demelza and Ross host a bonfire and feast (“a barrel of ale and stargazy pie”), complete with homemade fireworks. Drake is still depressed; Sam advises him to try again with Morwenna. The next day, Drake does; tearfully, she reveals that Ossie left her with child and whatever they had is over. Dejected, he leaves.

Demelza confides to Caroline that she desperately wants to join Ross in London, but she hasn’t been asked -- perhaps he doesn’t want her there. Caroline offers to invite her there herself.

Members of the gentry, including the Poldarks, Enyses, and Warleggans, gather for the opening of the new infirmary. The Rev. Halse (played by Robin Ellis, the original 1970s Ross Poldark), delivers a long, sanctimonious speech as the lofty benefactors pat themselves on the back for their own generosity. At the reception afterward, Ross and George nearly come to blows, and Elizabeth keels over in a faint. Treating her afterward, Dwight later asks her if she might be pregnant. Elizabeth, knowing that she is, insists that she isn’t. Later, over her protests, George summons Dr. Choake. (Didn’t he hear about Armitage?)

That night, Ross receives a note from Lord Bassett. Meanwhile at Killewarren, a restless Caroline is anxious to return to the social whirl in London. “This time,” she tells Dwight, “I want my husband with me.” Unwilling to be separated from her again, Dwight happily acquiesces.

Bassett convenes a meeting of the newly formed Cornish Bank and introduces two new partners: Pascoe and Ross (Bassett has taken Ross’s advice after all). Afterward, Ross asks Demelza to accompany him to London. Demelza is thrilled – finally, she is going with him! She hates to leave the children, but is excited as they leave.

At Trenwith, Elizabeth, fed up with Dr. Choake’s quackery (and who wouldn’t be?), reveals to George that she is pregnant, lying to him about her due date. George is ecstatic. Cary sourly brings them the news of the Cornish Bank and Ross’s involvement. As usual, the wheels start turning...

Cut to morning in London, where a naked Demelza has overslept and Ross is dressing for Parliament. Somehow, her nightgown has ended up all the way across the room and Ross, playfully leering, won’t fetch it. They end up on the carpet, one thing leads to another, and…breakfast will have to wait.

The Woman in White airs Sundays at 9:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

What better way to pass a rainy day than to chat about murderers? Marian, Laura, Sir Percival, and both Count and Countess Fosco have sheltered in a decrepit boathouse on Sir Percival’s property after being caught in a downpour, and the conversation turns to that most amiable of topics, homicide. Count Fosco condescends to the women, dismissing their opinions as childish, while Countess Fosco is blankly deferential to the men. And then the Count notices blood on the ground.

Marian quickly explains that it is from a dog shot by Sir Percival’s groundskeeper, not a human. She reluctantly tells how she found the dog, and that it was Mrs. Catherick’s. Sir Percival is furious that Catherick was on his estate and that no one told him. The Count calms him down.

When the rain abates, Sir Percival is called to meet with his lawyer. Sir Percival then tries to get Laura to sign a document. She refuses unless he reveals what she is signing; he invokes her marital vows and begins to berate Marian, Laura’s witness, for defending her. The Count again calms him, and the document goes unsigned. From a flash-forward, we know that it was to sign Laura’s estate over to Sir Percival; he’s deeply in debt.

Laura believes the Count has some sort of control over her husband – witness his ability to rein in Sir Percival’s anger – and warns Marian against the Count’s blatant flirting. Marian shrugs it off, but she is concerned about Sir Percival’s document, and writes to Laura’s family lawyer, Mr. Gilmore, for advice.

As soon as Marian puts her letter in the estate’s outgoing mail, she is pulled away by Countess Fosco for a chat. The Countess tells her that if Sir Percival is ever “insolent” again, as he was at the boathouse, she will protest by leaving his estate. She also criticizes her brother, Laura’s father, for forcing a marriage to Sir Percival. He meddled in her marriage, too: he didn’t approve of the Count, and so cut off her inheritance. Kind sentiments, one would think – except that we learn from another flash-forward that the Countess didn’t entirely lose her inheritance; it was just delayed until after the death of Laura.

After disclosing all of this, the Countess suddenly leaves Marian. Marian checks her letter, and discovers the seal has been broken.

Laura is miserable and abused in her marriage, but refuses to absolutely submit to Sir Percival. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

Count Fosco has read it, and he warns Sir Percival that Marian has reached out to Gilmore. He pries into Sir Percival’s mysterious relationship with Mrs. Catherick, but instead of answering, Sir Percival has a question of his own for Fosco: why was the Count banished from Italy? Neither shares their secrets; instead they agree that Marian’s presence makes Laura too stubborn. “Then I’ll separate them,” Sir Percival vows.

Fosco continues to surveil Marian, watching from behind a tree as she goes to meet the mail carriage. Quickly reading through a letter from Gilmore, she dictates a message to the mail carrier: Laura won’t sign anything until Gilmore can look it over.

Perhaps inspired by all of these secretive letters, Marian finally tells Laura that the letter warning of Sir Percival’s character before their marriage came from Anne Catherick. Laura is angry that Marian hid such knowledge from her. She has endured so much in this terrible marriage: Sir Percival is an abusive rapist.

Anne Catherick can attest to Sir Percival’s cruelty. While Laura is walking the grounds in search of a lost brooch, she spots Anne, who beckons her to the boathouse. Anne hands Laura the brooch, then says that Sir Percival has hurt her but can’t do anything more to her now, because she’s dying. She is about to reveal a secret about Sir Percival that she says her mother also knows – it’s the reason Sir Percival locked Anne up in an asylum – when a sound startles her and she runs off, asking Laura to return the next day.

The Countess again enables her husband’s surveillance by forcing Marian to have tea with her while Laura is meeting with Anne. Marian suddenly feels lightheaded and passes out, though not before seeing the Count running towards the boathouse.

When Marian wakes, Laura and the Count have both returned, and the Count happily shares that he has convinced Sir Percival to drop the matter of the signature, for now. This apparent kindness under his belt, he ups the flirtation with Marian, almost kissing her after requesting a dance and then creepily following her on a walk through the forest. He forces a few kisses before she pulls away and runs back to the house.

Count Fosco is trying to work his charms on Marian, but he is also constantly wtaching the two sisters. Photo: The Woman in White Productions Ltd. / Steffan Hill / Origin Pictures

Laura goes to meet Anne again but finds only a note under a rock. Before she can read it, Sir Percival, presumably notified by the Count, strides up and grabs it, scans it, and rips it up. He then proceeds to attack Laura, slapping and strangling her.

When Marian, unaware of this incident, tries to see Laura, she finds her sister locked in her room, guarded by a servant, her previous maidservant dismissed. Marian goes to confront Sir Percival for keeping Laura locked up, and Countess Fosco makes good on her threat to leave Blackwater in protest of Sir Percival’s abhorrent behavior. He backs down.

Marian, finally able to see Laura, discovers bruises from Sir Percival and says she must leave him. But how? Where would Laura go? Marian devises a plan to write to the dismissed maidservant for help.

We again flash-forward and learn that the housekeeper of Blackwater left employment there because of Sir Percival’s “atrocious falsehoods,” which may have led to Laura’s death. But she insists that Count Fosco should not be blamed; he did his best to protect Marian and Laura.

Sure he did. The Count manages to learn where the dismissed maidservant has gone by telling the housekeeper he wants to send her some provisions. He instead sends his wife, who slips something into the maidservant’s tea. Once the maid has passed out, the Countess takes Marian’s letter.

Laura has taken to locking her door to protect herself from Sir Percival, who demands to know where Anne Catherick is. Flash-forward to an interview with the woman who raised Anne, and we learn some loaded news. Anne’s mother disappeared while Anne was young, probably because she was more fond of fine things than of her daughter. And her father? He left because he caught her mother in bed with someone else.

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street airs Saturdays at 4:00 pm.

Not that mashed potatoes aren't delicious on their own, but sometimes you want to spice them up a bit for something a bit more special. Try this version from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street that incorporates a technique learned from Indian cooking.

Mashed Potatoes with Caraway-Mustard Butter

These mashed potatoes are classically creamy, but get a kick of sweet heat from horseradish. Infusing browned butter with caraway and mustard seeds and drizzling the mixture onto the mashed potatoes is a technique we picked up from Indian cooking. The spices add a complexity that balances the richness of the dish. We preferred buttery Yukon Gold potatoes; use potatoes of approximately the same size to ensure even cooking. Any brand of refrigerated prepared horseradish worked well.

Note: Don't rush browning the butter. It needs to cook slowly over medium heat to properly brown (you'll see brown spots on the bottom of the saucepan).

Start to finish: 40 minutes (10 minutes active)

Servings: 8

Ingredients

4 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
Kosher salt
5 bay leaves
4 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
10 tbsp (1 ¼ sticks) salted butter, divided
1 3/4 cups half-and-half, warmed
1/2 cup drained prepared white horseradish, liquid reserved
1 tbsp caraway seeds, lightly crushed
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tbsp finely chopped chives

Directions

1. In a large Dutch oven, combine the potatoes, 1 tbsp salt, bay leaves, and garlic. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches and bring to a boil over high. Reduce to medium, then cook until a skewer inserted into the potatoes meets no resistance, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander set in the sink. Discard the bay leaves, then return the potatoes to the pot.

2. In a small saucepan over medium-low, melt 6 tbsp of the butter. Add the melted butter to the potatoes. Using a potato masher, mash until smooth. Stir in the half-and-half, horseradish, and 3 tbsp of the reserved horseradish liquid. Taste and season with salt. Cover and set over low heat to keep warm.

3. Return the saucepan to medium and add the remaining 4 tbsp butter and the caraway and mustard seeds. Cook, gently swirling the pan, until the butter is browned and the seeds are fragrant and toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into fine mesh strainer set over a small liquid measuring cup. 

4. Transfer the potatoes to a serving bowl, then drizzle with the flavored butter and sprinkle with chives.

WTTW partners with POV and the Chicago Public Library for this free screening and discussion of Do Not Resist, a vital and influential exploration of the rapid militarization of the police in the United States. The documentary puts audiences in the center of the action — from inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of "righteous violence" to the floor of a Congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments.

The screening will be followed by a 15-30 minute discussion.

This is a free event.

WTTW partners with POV and the Chicago Public Library for this free screening of The Islands and the Whales. On the isolated North Atlantic archipelago of the Faroe Islands, filmmaker Mike Day shows us that the longtime hunting practices of the Faroese are threatened by dangerously high mercury levels in the whales, decimated seabird populations, and anti-whaling activists. The Faroe islanders consider themselves a canary in the mine, their tale a warning to the rest of the world. 

This is a free event.

The final two parts of Native America air on Tuesday, November 13 at 9:00 and 10:00 pm. The series is free to stream for a limited time. Keep Talking, which follows efforts to save an endangered Native Alaskan language, airs Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 pm and is free to stream for a limited time.

Traces are all around, but it is often obscured or even forgotten that Chicago is built on land that was home to various Native American tribes for hundreds of years. Local members of the Miami tribe demonstrated the value of the swampy area to Europeans when they showed the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet a portage between the Chicago River and Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers. The city’s name comes from the Algonquian people, who called the river on which it sits “Checagou” after the stinky wild leeks that grew along its shore. One of the first permanent settlers of the area was a Potawatomi woman named Kittahawa, who ensured the trading success of her husband, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, by acting as a liaison and translator to her fellow Native Americans. Métis, the mixed-race children of Native American and European parents, helped the spot flourish as a hub of interactions between European traders and Native American trappers. Native American trails became integral roads for settlers as the city grew: Milwaukee Avenue, Ogden Avenue, parts of Grand Avenue.

And then Native Americans were almost entirely removed from the region through bloody conflicts and unfair treaties that ceded their land to Europeans. As a result of the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, most remaining Native Americans were forced out of the area around Chicago.

Photo: American Indian Center

“For time immemorial, tribes from across the country congregated here in the Chicago area; it was a central trade hub,” says Heather Miller, the executive director of the American Indian Center in Chicago and a member of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma. “Oftentimes we forget about that important history, and it’s so often overlooked from the history of Chicago.”

After the removal of Native Americans from the region, Chicago did not have a significant Native presence for over a hundred years. But in the 1950s, the federal government enacted a new policy to address what it saw as the Indian problem – one in a long line of disastrous and discriminatory policies that have removed Native Americans from their land, led to high rates of poverty, and otherwise disadvantaged and disenfranchised them. The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 sought to disperse Native Americans into cities from their reservations by ending federal recognition of many tribes and discontinuing federal funding for many of the reservations’ services, such as schools and hospitals. While the government paid to relocate Native Americans and provided some vocational training, many Native Americans struggled to find work and adapt to an urban lifestyle upon arriving in cities. And that’s why the American Indian Center was founded: to provide both social services and a gathering place for people faced with a drastic and overwhelming life change.

Photo: Warren Perlstein, courtesy American Indian Center

“With relocation, Native folks on reservations were given a bus ticket and told, ‘Here are a list of cities you can go to – they’ll have a lot of opportunities for you,’ “ Miller explains. “Natives start arriving in these cities and find that there isn’t this breadth of opportunity that was promised them. They start coming to brand-new places that they have no experience with. They don’t necessarily speak English very well, they’ve never seen these big buildings before, some don’t even know how electricity works.

“Chicago was one of those relocation cities, so quite a few Native folks from all across the country ended up here. Our older folks came together and said, ‘We need our own place, we need a gathering spot for connecting Natives who are coming to the city. We can provide them with resources, with education, and just be a place where everyone can come and hang out. So the Indian Center was born.”

Chicago today has the third-largest urban Indian population in the United States, with more than 65,000 Native Americans in the greater metropolitan area and some 175 different tribes represented. The American Indian Center, founded in 1953, is the oldest urban Indian center in the country. For decades, it was located in a former Masonic lodge on Wilson Avenue in Uptown, near where many Native Americans settled when they first came to Chicago. (“Uptown had the nickname ‘Hillbilly Heaven and Redskin Row,’ because this particular area of it was populated by poor white people and Indians,” Miller says.) Last year the AIC sold that building and moved to a new location in Albany Park, close to the intersection of Kimball and Lawrence Avenues.

The previous location of the American Indian Center, on Wilson Avenue

While the AIC originally offered social services in addition to cultural and educational programming, in recent years it has scaled back that aspect of its mission, Miller says. “There have now been a couple generations of Native folk here in Chicago. They’ve established themselves and they’ve stepped away from needing a lot of that social service aspect. But we still need a place to gather and to practice our traditions and our heritage.”

Because the AIC supports so many different tribes, celebrating all those traditions can be a bit tricky – but also rewarding. “Imagine having a family of 175 different people, and what that dining room table at Thanksgiving is like,” Miller says, laughing. “Nobody’s going to want to eat the same turkey, there are going to be 30 different potato dishes, everyone will have different opinions.” So the AIC focuses its educational efforts, such as an after-school program and land-based education involving community gardens, on common themes instead of specific tribal traditions.

“Something that is very true to many of our communities is how we take care of and interact with the land and with plants and animals,” Miller explains. “We have plants – like sweetgrass, sage, tobacco, and cedar – that pretty much all of us use for ceremonies, for medicine, and for different ways of being Native.” The AIC has small garden plots in which they grow some of those plants, and they recently acquired a city lot at Pulaski Road and Wilson Avenue to provide more opportunities for community gardening and land-based education.

Photo: American Indian Center

The AIC also organizes events that allow tribes to share their distinct traditions with each other, such as a recent social dance. “It was so cool, because we got to share these pieces of our own heritage and history and learn more about what makes each one of us unique,” Miller says. There is also an annual powwow, a gathering that includes dances and competitions.

Nor has the AIC completely dropped its social service aspect. It provides support and resources to Native people who have been trafficked with its Project Beacon, through partnership with homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, drug counselling centers, and places that provide employment opportunities, among other organizations.

This year the AIC received funding from the National Urban Indian Family Coalition for get-out-the-vote efforts in an election that saw allegations of discrimination against Native Americans in North Dakota by means of voting laws but also the election of the country’s first two female Native American congresswomen. The AIC also served as a polling place and hosted a party to watch the returns from Illinois and for the record number of Native candidates across the country.

Members of several Native American tribes attended a land acknowledgement ceremony at the Field Museum on Oct. 26, 2018. Photo: The Field Museum

Two ongoing projects expand the AIC’s educational outreach to non-Native peoples. The Field Museum recently announced that it has partnered with the AIC to renovate the Museum’s Native North American Hall in order to better represent the Native peoples of the region. (Watch Miller discuss the renovation on Chicago Tonight with the Field Museum’s Anthropology Curator, Alaka Wali.) The Museum also held a land acknowledgment ceremony to recognize that it stands on the traditional homeland of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes.

Farther north, for the Northwest Portage Walking Museum, which will cover an eleven-mile stretch of Irving Park Road between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River, the AIC has partnered with the Portage Park Neighborhood Association and the Chicago Public Art Group. “We’re trying to figure out ways to connect all the communities that have called that area home over the centuries, in a way that presents their history in a positive public art space,” Miller says.

A rendering of a proposed Serpent Mound for Schiller Woods on the Des Plaines River as part of the Northwest Portage Walking Museum. Image: American Indian Center

The two ends of the Walking Museum, at Horner Park and Schiller Woods, will be marked by two contemporary mounds designed by the Native artist Santiago x and built with the help of volunteers. “The tribes that called this area home were mound builders,” Miller explains. “They used them as wayfinding tools or to honor spirits and family members. We wanted to bring that part of their history back and celebrate it.” The hope is to eventually partner with other communities between the two sites to create a Walking Museum trail that connects all the communities in the area.

“The mounds will provide education to the greater community and remind folks that we’re still here; the Native community hasn’t gone away,” Miller says. “We’re still very much connected to this land and to our history, and you can come to the AIC to learn more about it. Oftentimes, it’s easy to forget that Native people have a presence here in Chicago, but we’re living, we’re thriving, and we do really awesome stuff. We don’t keep it to ourselves, and we love having people come and participate with us and learn more about us when we have events or opportunities to share our culture.”

The Durrells in Corfu airs Sundays at 7:00 pm and is available to stream. Read our recap of the previous episode here.

The two men Louisa loves most on the island, besides her own family, are in trouble. The police are going to arrest Sven and his partner Viggo on charges of moral indecency. Leslie hears of the plan beforehand, allowing Viggo time to leave the country, but the superintendent soon sends Leslie himself to arrest Sven. Leslie tries to defend him, but the superintendent threatens to fire him. Sven is brought to the jail.

Spyros is also suffering a crisis, having become a despondent recluse since his wife left him with their children. Louisa and Margo visit and find both him and his house a mess. Even his car is broken, and he can’t afford to fix it. Louisa offers him money, but the Durrells are currently living off a loan and waiting for Louisa’s inheritance from Aunt Hermione to come in, so Spyros refuses.

Louisa goes to Theo for advice on Spyros. He suggests asking Spyros’s uncle Leonidas to check in on him. Leonidas is happy to help, and eagerly offers to move in with Spyros while he recovers from his funk.

Larry is indignant at the police’s treatment of Sven. He’s joined in his righteous fury by his friend and fellow writer Henry Miller, who is enjoying a stay at the Durrell home. (He takes special advantage of the beaches and sun, swimming and writing and reading in the nude while a scandalized but titillated Margo watches from afar.) Larry and Henry march to the jail and protest Sven’s imprisonment. They find Louisa already visiting Sven with a basket of baked goods. Larry promises to fight on behalf of justice, but Sven doesn’t want to be a cause célèbre – he just wants to go back to tending his goats.  

Too bad: Larry senses a chance for grandstanding. He asks Margo to borrow legal books from the library of her old employer, the countess. But the countess has become a feisty shut-in who keeps a gun near her in case of burglars, and she refuses to lend the books. So Larry breaks in at night and swipes the volumes he wants, but not before alerting the countess to his presence.

She calls the police the next day to report the theft. Leslie quickly offers to cover the case, suspecting that Larry is the culprit. Unfortunately, the countess also knows it was Larry, but Leslie tries to cover it up and protect his brother nonetheless.

Larry is determined to fight on behalf of justice in his usual grandstanding manner, and enlists some friends as help. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE

As Larry and Henry research legal rights, the Durrells receive another visitor, the opposite of the libertine Henry: Louisa’s second cousin Basil, the stodgy executor of her Aunt Hermione’s estate. He evades questions about why he has come to Corfu. Louisa eventually confronts him and learns that there may be less money in the estate than everyone had hoped; Basil wants to be safe in another country when Louisa’s other cousin back in England finds out this unfortunate news.

Turns out Basil made an unlucky investment with Hermione’s money and most of her estate will be taken up by paying that debt – so Louisa won’t be receiving the hoped-for money to pay off her own debts.

She may not be able to solve that problem, but Louisa can at least focus her attention on other crises. After visiting Spyros again and finding him drunk with his uncle Leonidas and his house still a mess, she begins sending helpers to clean and cheer him up. Luga, Gerry, Margo, Henry, Basil: they eventually diminish his funk, by driving him out of the house and away from their company into the beautiful fresh air of Corfu.

Louisa also applies herself to saving Sven. She marches to the jail and flirts with the superintendent while also implying that her relationship with Sven proves he isn’t gay. Sven’s release is secured – but not before Larry, having failed in his legal arguments despite the help of Henry, Theo, and Basil, chains himself to a file cabinet in the jail. Sven is freed just as Larry shackles himself in protest – a typically embarrassing situation, from which Larry is quickly saved.

One tricky run-in with the law is over, but the countess’s charge of theft still remains. The superintendent seems to have accepted Leslie’s equivocations that the burglar can’t be caught, until Leslie’s partner accidentally lets slip that Larry is the culprit. Leslie takes a stand and refuses to incriminate his brother, leading to his firing – but he saves Larry from jail.

Having fixed several problems by means of their own gumption, the Durrells receive help in the question of their debt through pure luck. Specific items of Aunt Hermione’s estate are exempt from her debt, so they will go to Louisa after all – she can sell them and thus pay off her own loans.

And a last vexing complaint has ended as well. Louisa, tired of cooking a separate meal for the vegetarian Gerry, had forced him to prepare his own food - and he ended up being a surprisingly talented cook. But he has finally grown weary of cooking, and is once again eating meat. Another victory for Louisa.

Poldark airs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream. Recap the previous episode here.

London. We start with some soft-focus Ross-and-Demelza sexy times, then dissolve to them strolling through a pleasure garden as Adderley sizes up Ross’s attractive companion.

The Warleggan family disembarks at their elegant London digs, George informing Elizabeth they will be hosting a masked charity ball to benefit the foundling hospital. Ross and Demelza are surprised to receive an invitation. The Enyses will be attending, too, and Caroline decks out Demelza (and Dwight) in the latest Regency fashion.

Back in Cornwall, Drake and Sam are surveying a new forge. It’s a major fixer-upper, and they set to work. Meanwhile, Lady Whitworth, continuing to be horrible, has found a doctor who will commit Morwenna to an asylum as soon as she gives birth.

Everyone meets up at the Warleggans’ ball. As Ross and Dwight watch cynically, George and Elizabeth make a grand entrance, George making a great show of his phony altruism. Adderley arrives with a dim young courtesan, Andromeda Page. Caroline cautions Demelza not to take Adderley seriously.

Adderley, eyeing Demelza acquisitively, asks George about her. The two men wager ten guineas that Adderley will manage to seduce her within the week. Adderley palms off Miss Page on Ross and smoothly draws Demelza away; oozing with swampy innuendo, he puts the moves on her. Ross, Dwight, and Caroline come to her rescue, and Demelza, anxious not to make a scene, suggests they all meet in a few days at the gaming rooms.

Drake has a new forge and is still pining after Morwenna. Photo: Mammoth Screen for MASTERPIECE

At the roulette table, Adderley is all over Demelza like a cheap suit. Later, Ross is concerned that Demelza is encouraging him – Demelza maintains she was just being polite. The next morning, an extravagant bouquet arrives from Adderley. Ross is all for throwing it in the gutter, but Demelza, who loves flowers, cannot bring herself to do it.

That evening while Ross is in Parliament, Demelza arrives back at their darkened lodgings alone to find Adderley waiting for her; the landlady thinks he is her brother. Taking her acceptance of his flowers as a “yes,” he goes in for the kill, but, outraged, she pushes him away and rings for help. He angrily departs. Ross later accuses Demelza of leading him on. She vehemently denies it.

Early the next morning, Morwenna wakes to find blood on the sheets. She has miscarried.

A session of Parliament is commencing; asked to save a seat for another Member, Ross places his gloves on it. Adderley, making a rare appearance, slides into the empty seat. Ross points out that the seat is taken and that Adderley is sitting on his gloves. “Why would I wish to touch any of your worn possessions?” retorts Adderley. Ross forcefully yanks him to his feet, retrieves his gloves, and drops him red-faced back onto the seat. As the other Members point and laugh, George enjoys the fracas.

Later that day, Ross receives a note – Adderley is challenging him to a duel at dawn two days hence. Dwight laughs it off, but Ross has already accepted. Aghast, Dwight tries to talk him out of it – Adderley is a renowned duelist; duels are illegal; and is he crazy, risking his life over something so trivial? Ross is unmoved, and makes him swear not to tell Demelza and Caroline. Disgustedly, Dwight agrees to be his second – a doctor might be needed. He tries to negotiate with Adderley’s second, John Craven, but Adderley is bent on revenge.

George is eager to exploit Ross's rivalry with Adderley, though he also has his own problems with Elizabeth. Photo: Mammoth Screen for MASTERPIECE

The combatants meet up; Adderley is seething and Ross is eager to dispatch him. Dwight pleads with them to reconsider. Adderley, anything but conciliatory, sneers that he will if Ross will apologize, but he “will think very ill of him if he does.” Ross will not consider it, so they take up their weapons, agreeing that the uninjured party will hurry away to avoid arrest. Ross and Adderley go through their paces, turn, and fire. Both miss their targets, and Dwight quickly calls a halt. But they fire again – Ross is hit in the forearm and Adderley is on the ground, shot in the groin. Despite a grimacing Adderley’s angry warnings, Ross, having applied a tourniquet, refuses to leave until Craven returns with a carriage. Dwight, frantically treating Adderley’s wound, forces him to go.

Demelza is shocked when a bloodied Ross staggers into their lodgings, followed soon after by Dwight, who has to extract the bullet without anesthetics. Later, Demelza blames herself for the duel. Caroline tries to reassure her – at least it’s no worse. But it is: a note reveals that Adderley is dead -- he “shot himself during pistol practice.” Adderley had to bribe the coachman ten guineas for his silence, and the note requests that Ross “pay that sum to George Warleggan in settlement of a wager” (for failing to seduce Demelza, but Ross doesn’t know it).

George learns of Adderley’s death and Ross’s incapacitation, and, naturally, vows to Elizabeth that he will ensure that Ross is charged with murder, despite an inquest verdict of “death by misadventure.” At a gathering, George spots the Attorney General, Sir John Mitford*, and to Elizabeth’s discomfort, loudly insists that Ross murdered Adderley. Mitford cites the verdict, thinks Adderley got what he deserved, and coldly dismisses George’s claim as “drawing room gossip.”

Lady Whitworth, hard as nails, tells Morwenna that as she has clearly “lost her wits,” she will be taken to a place where they can be recovered. Later, Drake is at work at his new forge when a fragile Morwenna appears – Ossie abused her “in every possible way,” and now the very thought of “carnal love” repulses her. She runs off, weeping.

Dwight advises Ross to get out of town fast; more witnesses may come forward. Demelza agrees, but Ross thinks that would be an admission of guilt. As Dwight and Demelza restrain themselves from throttling Ross, Geoffrey Charles breezes in, glad that he’s “not the only Poldark to misbehave.”

Caroline and Dwight are beginning to work out a compromise in their relationship between their different needs. Photo: Mammoth Screen for MASTERPIECE

George is still brooding when a letter arrives from the Prime Minister -- a knighthood may be in the offing. Geoffrey Charles, seeing Valentine astride his rocking horse brandishing a toy gun, disastrously observes to his mother, “Is he not the spitting image of Uncle Ross?” That evening, George and Elizabeth share a tense and silent dinner; seething, George stalks off, leaving her alone at the table.

Dwight must return home to his patients; Caroline, flippant as always, tells him that “Horace” wants him to stay longer. They accept that their needs won’t always coincide; he will go back to Cornwall, and she (and Horace) will follow soon.

The next day, Demelza and Ross are in the park with Dwight and Caroline when Ross sees Elizabeth and George passing by in stony silence. Remembering Adderley’s request, Ross approaches George as the others try in vain to dissuade him, handing him the ten guineas for the unknown wager Adderley lost. George, in a rage, hurls the coins in Ross’s face and storms off. Elizabeth is mortified – this was bad, even for him.

The next morning, Ross wakes alone; Demelza has caught a ride back to Cornwall with Dwight. She is “out of her depth in London society. When he returns, they’ll “see what there is to be done.” Has Ross lost her for good?

*Sharp-eyed fans of British drama will recognize the actor Adrian Lukis, who played Wickham to Colin Firth’s Darcy in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice.