It was even taken by you to mean something more.” The two of them need their heads banged together. My sympathies were with neither of them in the end, especially not after Demelza’s passive-aggressive note: “My wish to be friendly and polite was taken by some to mean something more. Equally idiotically, Ross insisted on sulking about Frilly Shirt Man, even though it was obvious that Demelza was innocent. Yes, Demelza remained chaste, but she did tolerate Frilly Shirt Man’s attentions and she was unwilling to draw the line when Ross asked her to. Here we returned to the central issue of Demelza and Ross’s partnership, as showcased at length in previous series: they are both as bad as each other. If Demelza had thrown them out, as Ross suggested, none of this would have happened. Photograph: Mike Hogan/BBC/Mammoth Screen And yet Ross just had to let him get under his skin, even though Frilly Shirt Man had got nowhere near Demelza (not for want of trying, admittedly).īoth as bad as each other. It was known to all of London that Frilly Shirt Man was a bonkers psychopath with a death wish. Dr Enys was right, of course: there was absolutely no reason to duel with Frilly Shirt Man.
We had been allowed to forget for much of this series that Ross can be a right idiot sometimes and here his stubborn stupidity was firmly to the fore. I’ve lost it a bit after those hotel scenes at the beginning.) (I know it doesn’t quite match up, but humour me. I guess that makes Sindy Doll Glenn Close and Demelza Uma Thurman. The duel was like something of out Dangerous Liaisons, with Ross as Keanu Reaves and Frilly Shirt Man as John Malkovich. Thank goodness Dr Enys is handy with implements that can pick bullets out of people’s flesh without anaesthetic. Ross saw him off almost as quickly as he appeared, occasioning scenes so gory that even the hardy Demelza was looking queasy. It’s the penultimate episode! How did that happen so quickly? After last week’s light entertainment, things took a dark turn this week, mostly thanks to Frilly Shirt Man, who finally had his moment in the sun, after weeks of trailing his louche presence.