The Penultimate Episode of 'Belgravia: The Next Chapter' Gleefully Ruins Everyone's Lives

After a season that often felt like it was struggling to get to the point, the endgame of Belgravia: The Next Chapter is finally in full swing. The penultimate episode is stuffed to bursting with subplots, surprise revelations, emotional meltdowns, and unexpected twists. This hour goes so hard that it's hard to imagine that all its disparate plot threads can possibly be resolved in the single episode remaining in this season. But it certainly is the show's most propulsive and watchable installment yet.

From the final implosion of the Trenchards' marriage to the collapse of the Marquise D'Étagnac's investment scheme, with some lower-class scheming and theft thrown in for good measure, the show finally manages to draw some (albeit often tenuous) connections between the many seemingly random subplots that have been going on for the past six episodes. The hour certainly never drags, but it's difficult not to feel a little resentful that so much is being crammed into these final two episodes. The season's meandering midsection might have been improved by tackling some of these stories before now. But here we are.

However, it does beg the question: Is MGM+ banking on a second season to wrap some of this up? The sheer number of dangling plot threads twisting in the wind at this precise moment is painfully daunting, and there's no way this series ends without Frederick and Clara getting back together. Given where this episode leaves them — Clara having vanished into the night, Frederick broke, both angry at each other — a happy ending in 50 minutes or less seems like a lot to ask for.