The Fallout From James's Visit Worsens as 'Belgravia: The Next Chapter' Continues

This episode marks the halfway point of Belgravia: The Next Chapter, and everybody in London's poshest neighborhood is just straight up not having a good time. It's possible viewers aren't either. Don't get me wrong, this episode has a couple of genuinely intriguing twists but with 50% of the show under our belts, it seems fair to ask—what's the point of all this? There's progress, of a sort, this week in that almost every character we've met thus far (except for maybe Davidson) is some various shade of unhappy, but at this point in the life cycle of a season, shouldn't we be able to at least easily identify to what end? 

Ostensibly, the big arc of the season is the estrangement between the Trenchard brothers. Yet, after four episodes things between them remain at an impasse. It's true, James seems desperate to reconnect with his brother in any way he can, though he refuses to give Clara any more details about what caused their break. (Is anyone beginning to suspect that the big unnamed secret between them is that one of the Trenchard parents told one of the Trenchard sons that Frederick is illegitimate?) For his part, Frederick remains stubbornly uninterested and often outright rude. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but we're halfway through the show and there's been no discernable movement on what is ostensibly its central plot. At this point, how many people even care about whether this relationship is salvageable? Or what tore it apart in the first place? What on earth kind of backstory could possibly be worse this level of sturm und drang?

On the plus side, we do spend quite a bit more time with James this week, and it's apparent that Frederick isn't the only Trenchard child who has some serious internalized trauma going on. (Truth be told, it's hard to imagine being Oliver Trenchard's son and not needing copious therapy.) His longing for connection—of both the physical and emotional variety—is palpable. He's so desperate for someone to talk to that he tries to guilt his housekeeper into having dinner with him, it's probably no wonder that he ends up at the bathhouse hooking up with some random man. 

That Frederick's valet Fletcher is also there—and appears to be cruising for a similar activity—is the sort of twist that's absolutely going to come up again in the worst sort of way. 

The revelation that James is gay kind of explains a lot. He radiates a kind, non-threatening male energy (particularly when compared to his bullish brother), which is clearly why Nell is willing to open up to him and why he's so impervious to Emily's Good Christian Girl cosplay act. Though, truly, I had just assumed he wasn't all that into Emily. It's not like anybody could blame him. Her dress for the job you want energy (i.e. begrudgingly do all the jobs around the parish a vicar's wife might do) when it comes to him is painfully obvious and her jealousy over his attention to Nell is just sad. How did Mrs. Dunn raise two daughters as different as Emily and Clara? 

Clara, is trying so darn hard. To make peace in the family. To force her dumb husband to talk to her. To try and help him process the obvious pain he carries around. To find a way to inject some meaning into her life. She fails at virtually every one of these tasks, but she's trying. Which is more than anyone can say for Frederick, who is not doing anything but whining. 

He's furious that Clara reached out to James. He's back on his soapbox about how everybody in his life betrays him eventually. His wife's sobbing, clearly torn up about everything that's happening, and he basically sits there looking like a serial killer. He starts avoiding her, staying out late and leaving early. He rebuffs her when he tries to talk and refuses to meet her halfway even when she specifically asks him too. Whew, just...the goodwill this character has squandered over the past few episodes is honestly breathtaking. 

But, not content to simply be a terrible husband, Frederick finds new ways to suck in other areas. Despite having just made a fairly successful deal with the Marquise D'Étagnac to go into the steel-making business together, he's wildly jealous and upset when he realizes she's working on some other complicated money-making scheme involving a silver mine in South America that she hasn't invited him to be part of it. At this point, given how rich he already seems to be, his obsession with being a big deal businessman is just another thing he needs to work out in therapy. If he's already making money with the Maquise, why does he care what else she's involved in?? He barely even knows her it's not like she owes him anything! 

To her credit, Clara pushes back quite strongly against Frederick's behavior, calling him out for his refusal to not only accept love when it is offered to him, but to consider what a difficult position his actions put her in. ("There's a selfishness in you, which I didn't know was there.") And in response to his increasingly childish behavior, she spends most of the episode trying to figure out what her identity is outside of being Frederick's wife. 

This involves a laundry list of activities, including one last clandestine meeting with James, a trip to an art show that features Dr. Ellerby's roommate, and a visit to their shared apartment, which also doubles as Richard's studio. It's all very bohemian, and Clara's charmed by the carefree lives the group lives as various colorful friends spill in and out of their living space, which is covered with canvases, lamps, and even an adorable small child. She's also remarkably oblivious to the fact every one of them seems 100% aware of Ellerby's crush on her — not that he's doing all that much to hide it — but after the way her husband has been behaving, we probably shouldn't begrudge her the opportunity to feel both attractive and heard. 

Clara even goes so far as to stay and join the group lunch when asked, completely blowing off the trip to the Rochesters she and Frederick had planned. It's unlikely any of us suspected Clara had this level of rebellion in her, but it's nice to see. Even if I wish she'd have found literally any other outlet besides slumming it with the most annoying and pointless characters on the show's canvas. As the episode ends, we're treated to several shots of Frederick looking concerned and/or angry, so I hope the Bohemians at least had some decent food.