Gentleman Jack: Season 2
The second (and final, I hear) season of the series based on the diaries of 19th century entrepeneur, land owner, and lesbian Anne Lister. Like season 1, it was immensely enjoyable, and the few nitpicks I had did not stop me of regarding it as excellent tv. All the more so because unlike s1, it tackled the tricky part that is featuring a relationship after the getting-together-part of their story is done, you know, when you have to face actually living together day in, day out, have to partly adjust the pictures you have of each other, and then there's still the families and the outside world to deal with. Also, as in the first season, it manages to firmly anchor the story it tells in the world it's set in - so stormy election campaigns, railway vs shipping battles, legal quarrels over legacies and Anne Lister's ever growing list of investments form as big of a plot as, say, the ex she wants to leave behind but can't quite as said ex has very different ideas.
The nitpicks first, so I can get on with the praise: the subplot about the Sowden family suddenly disappears mid season in a way that reminds me of the Timon subplot in s2 of Rome, and I suspect perhaps for a similar reason, i.e. the producers getting the news there won't be another season. But even before the abrupt subplot disappearance, it ended on an odd note, with the scene between Thomas and his mother feeling as if he's doing a 180% turnaround in characterisation. My other nitpick is that I felt Anne's sister Marian was somewhat dumbed down in comparison to last season. In the first season, she has political arguments with Anne, and I had the impression she knew about Anne's orientation and the nature of her relationship with Ann Walker. This season, she repeatedly gets scenes where not just other characters take her as naive but she's written as naive, only starting to understand Anne's a lesbian, with no more political arguments.
Now on to the good stuff. As last season, I am impressed by the fact the series makes no attempt to hide Anne's unambigous conservativism in all things other than her personal life, and the way it manages to depict this without endorsement. (As a point of comparison, the very entertaining series "Jennie" about Winston Churchill's mother manages to depict its titular heroine, wife and mother of politicians and a seasoned campaigner herself, without ever making it clear what exactly the arguments of the day were about, why Winston changes parties and back, or what Jenny's personal take on all this is, other than "this is our heroine, so of course she is doing a good thing".) As a matter of fact, the "zomg, Anne is lesbian Margaret Thatcher as a 19th century Yorkshire industrialist!" aspect occured to me even before the episode in question tongue-in-checkly let Anne recite the St. Francis of Assissi originated prayer as Thatcher did when becoming PM(and here I felt like Captain America for the first time in my life and said "I got that reference!" - that she did so after Halifax got nearly completely trashed following an election night was very apropos.
Depiction without endorsement works partly via the servant pov's, but also because Ann Walker keeps having an growing into herself arc in which she figures out not just how to stand up to her family but also to Anne when she disagrees with her. Also because Sally Wainwright has a sense of humor and scenes like Anne's St. Francis recital are hilarious. And then, of course, most of Anne's opponents are even nore dastardly industrialists, not to mention this season's Big Bad, Ann Walke's brother-in-law, so them getting outfoxed makes for satisfying viewing.
It's all held togehter by Suranne Jones' stylish and swaggering lead performance and Sophie Rundle's able second lead as Ann Walker. It says something about how good the later is that the season risks various of Anne's previous girlfriends and friends and of course her previous greatest love Mariana question whether Ann Walker isn't too milquetoast and boring for Anne - and trusts the viewer to respond with a sound "no", simply because of how Ann is depicted. Because no, flamboyant isn't the only way to be interesting.
Iin conclusion, I enjoyed this second season as much as I did the first, and though on the one hand I regret there won't be more, otoh googling has already told me what's in for both Ann(e)s in the long term because real life is mean lilke that, and so I'm glad we won't ever get there. As a Neil Gaiman character says in Sandman, the problem with every story is that if you tell it long enough, it invariably ends with death, after all. Much better to stop on a high note, with both our heroines in good health, having faced town internal and external challenges and with more adventures to come for them.
The nitpicks first, so I can get on with the praise: the subplot about the Sowden family suddenly disappears mid season in a way that reminds me of the Timon subplot in s2 of Rome, and I suspect perhaps for a similar reason, i.e. the producers getting the news there won't be another season. But even before the abrupt subplot disappearance, it ended on an odd note, with the scene between Thomas and his mother feeling as if he's doing a 180% turnaround in characterisation. My other nitpick is that I felt Anne's sister Marian was somewhat dumbed down in comparison to last season. In the first season, she has political arguments with Anne, and I had the impression she knew about Anne's orientation and the nature of her relationship with Ann Walker. This season, she repeatedly gets scenes where not just other characters take her as naive but she's written as naive, only starting to understand Anne's a lesbian, with no more political arguments.
Now on to the good stuff. As last season, I am impressed by the fact the series makes no attempt to hide Anne's unambigous conservativism in all things other than her personal life, and the way it manages to depict this without endorsement. (As a point of comparison, the very entertaining series "Jennie" about Winston Churchill's mother manages to depict its titular heroine, wife and mother of politicians and a seasoned campaigner herself, without ever making it clear what exactly the arguments of the day were about, why Winston changes parties and back, or what Jenny's personal take on all this is, other than "this is our heroine, so of course she is doing a good thing".) As a matter of fact, the "zomg, Anne is lesbian Margaret Thatcher as a 19th century Yorkshire industrialist!" aspect occured to me even before the episode in question tongue-in-checkly let Anne recite the St. Francis of Assissi originated prayer as Thatcher did when becoming PM(and here I felt like Captain America for the first time in my life and said "I got that reference!" - that she did so after Halifax got nearly completely trashed following an election night was very apropos.
Depiction without endorsement works partly via the servant pov's, but also because Ann Walker keeps having an growing into herself arc in which she figures out not just how to stand up to her family but also to Anne when she disagrees with her. Also because Sally Wainwright has a sense of humor and scenes like Anne's St. Francis recital are hilarious. And then, of course, most of Anne's opponents are even nore dastardly industrialists, not to mention this season's Big Bad, Ann Walke's brother-in-law, so them getting outfoxed makes for satisfying viewing.
It's all held togehter by Suranne Jones' stylish and swaggering lead performance and Sophie Rundle's able second lead as Ann Walker. It says something about how good the later is that the season risks various of Anne's previous girlfriends and friends and of course her previous greatest love Mariana question whether Ann Walker isn't too milquetoast and boring for Anne - and trusts the viewer to respond with a sound "no", simply because of how Ann is depicted. Because no, flamboyant isn't the only way to be interesting.
Iin conclusion, I enjoyed this second season as much as I did the first, and though on the one hand I regret there won't be more, otoh googling has already told me what's in for both Ann(e)s in the long term because real life is mean lilke that, and so I'm glad we won't ever get there. As a Neil Gaiman character says in Sandman, the problem with every story is that if you tell it long enough, it invariably ends with death, after all. Much better to stop on a high note, with both our heroines in good health, having faced town internal and external challenges and with more adventures to come for them.