Parade's End - Episodes 3 and 4 - Recap and Review
Recap and review of Parade's End - Episodes 3 and 4:
If the second episode made a case for why Parade's End deserves a chance from fans of Downton Abbey and other period fare, episode three is the episode that will justify your decision to stick it out. The salacious, drama-filled third hour is better than the fourth, which follows immediately after, yet both episodes paint a picture of sweeping, romantic grandeur. The characterization of the love triangle in last night's premiere was relatively simple: Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) is a vindictive woman, but she seems to genuinely love her husband; Valentine (Adelaide Clemens) is hopelessly in love with Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch), but her naivete and Christopher's obstinate dedication to honor and monogamy get in the way. It was much easier when Sylvia was simply the bad guy, traipsing about with any number of paramours on the side while making a mockery of Christopher's honor and manhood. But it was also a whole lot less compelling. With tonight's double-header, we get a real story, where Christopher and Sylvia actually appear to have something as verifiable and real as what Christopher and Valentine have (what little they've actually gotten to have, anyway). Also compelling is Christopher's evolving characterization - he still holds fast to honor, but his moral scale is sliding ever so gradually, to where he entertains taking Valentine as a mistress. Ever the anachronism, Christopher must evolve with the times in order to survive, and that's been one of the most engaging stories of the miniseries so far. Tonight makes it evident that Parade's End has a lot more going for it beyond its distinctive, gorgeous look, and its first-rate pedigree.
Credit: BBC/HBO
At the start of tonight's two-hour installment, Christopher wakes up in a military hospital after having been concussed by a bomb, suddenly stricken by the inability to remember who he is. Meanwhile, Sylvia has taken yet another lover, a weaselly little cad named Brownlie (Jamie Parker), who goes out of his way to defame Christopher in the hopes of getting Sylvia to leave him. However, Sylvia knows Christopher better than to take these rumors at face value...well, one of them, at least. While she dismisses the notion that Christopher is sleeping with Edith (Anne-Marie Duff), the mistress of his best friend, Macmaster (Stephen Graham), she doesn't so quickly dismiss the rumor that he's been sleeping with Valentine. However, Brownlie's rumors are hardly the only matter of concern to the Tietjens' good name, as Brownlie looks to further tarnish Christopher by bouncing his checks. As if that isn't enough, the Tietjens' loyalty to the crown has come into question, as public perception has Sylvia sympathizing with the Germans while Christopher is similarly suspected of sympathizing with the enemy. Christopher's questionable loyalty results in Major Drake (Jack Huston), the intelligence officer who might be the biological father of Sylvia's young son, to restrict Christopher's access to classified materials, labeling him as untrustworthy. When Christopher's brother Mark (Rupert Everett) tells their elderly father about these these rumors, he commits suicide upon realizing that his estate and name will someday pass to a child that isn't of Tietjen heritage.
Credit: BBC/HBO
The one bright light in Christopher's increasingly dreary situation is the presence of Valentine. Disabused of his forthright, noble leanings, he confesses his feelings for her and asks her to be his mistress. It's a wonderful sequence, as Valentine prepares for her late night tryst by delicately bathing herself. There's a tension building here that's exhilarating, and it's reflective of how some great action epics will spend an entire movie's length building up to the big battle at the end (films like "Zulu" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"), creating excitement and dread for what comes next. It's similar here, even if the event isn't some huge, climactic conflict. It's scintillating, and exacerbates our disappointment when it ends up not happening. Their plans are diverted by the arrival of Valentine's brother Edward, who I'm not sure is intended to be hateable, but absolutely is, just by sheer force of his irritating nature. Though the relationship isn't consummated, Valentine and Christopher at least get the opportunity to tell one another how they feel. Christopher even gets a poignant scene with Sylvia, where he relates his horrific experiences in the trenches, and we get the sense of a real love existing between them. Although Christopher is returning to the front, he goes with the knowledge that there are two gorgeous women who love him.
Credit: BBC/HBO
While the third hour is better than the fourth, both episodes contribute to the widening scope and sweeping grandeur of the miniseries. There are subplots spread throughout tonight's two-hour bloc that flesh out the world around Christopher, Sylvia and Valentine. For instance, we discover that the pious Father Consett (Ned Dennehy) was a spy, and has been rewarded for his treachery with a hanging. He's hardly the only man of the cloth to come to a bitter end this week, as Edith's husband, the eccentric vicar, Reverend Duchemin (Rufus Sewell) commits suicide (the sight of the unstable vicar's bloody corpse is particularly gruesome). With the vicar out of the way, Macmaster hastily weds Edith. Meanwhile, Christopher, stationed under General Campion (Roger Allam) in a job away from the frontlines (although bombardment remains an ever-present threat), is visited by Sylvia. She not only wants permission to live in Christopher's family home with their son, but she's come to win Christopher's love, which she fears she's lost to Valentine.
Credit: BBC/HBO
It's one of the more touching moments of the episode, as she rails at Christopher for his obstinate dedication to honor, saying "I broke under your forebearance, your permanent well mannered forgiveness for my doing the dirty on you…You forgave without mercy. To scream blue murder and throw me out would have been a kindness compared to 5 years under your roof banished from your comfort. Look at what you’ve bought me too. Throwing myself at you in my whore’s trosseau...". She tells him that she hasn't been with another man in five years, nor has she allowed herself to be kissed, or even touched. This is only a half-truth, since she's arrived in France alongside former lover Potty Perowne (Tom Mison). Though their marriage finally seems back on track, an impromptu fight with Perowne in Sylvia's hotel leads to Campion punishing Christopher by ordering him back to the front.
Credit: BBC/HBO
Tonight's Parade's End is a tremendous work of pacing and well-plotted, well-written, superbly-acted television. I can't commend the three principles enough, as Benedict Cumberbatch imbues Christopher with a wounded reservedness that makes him instantly engaging, while Adelaide Clemens is terrifc as Valentine, portraying her as a woman who is equal parts learned and naive. Yet it's Rebecca Hall who is the real revelation here, as her Sylvia is wonderfully rich in nuance and depth - a woman of contradiction and complexity, who loves and hates her husband in equal measure, a vixen who is equal parts self-absorbed and self-loathing. She's absolutely tremendous in the role, and she's one of the best arguments for going out of your way to watch. Parade's End comes to a close tomorrow night, and I'll be interested to see if the miniseries can maintain this high watermark for quality in its conclusion.
