'Gentleman Jack' Season 2, Episode 1 Recap: "Faith is all"

Finally, Jack is back.

Anne Lister (Suranne Jones, Scott & Bailey), industrialist, writer, explorer, and LGBTQ+ champion, bursts once more onto our small screens with Gentleman Jack Season 2. Add a wife to that list of accomplishments since she and Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle, Peaky Blinders) exchanged vows and rings at a quiet ceremony in a York church. It's not your typical 1830s love story, but  Lister was a woman way ahead of her time in so many ways. Her frank, coded diaries form the basis of this series from director/writer Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax). Add gorgeous vistas (check out the Riveaulx Abbey scene), fabulous clothes, a witty script, and superb acting (Jones and Rundle are outstanding), and it's the whole package.

Dapper in masculine-inspired black, with a cane and top hat, Lister approaches Crow’s Nest, Ann Walker’s house. She turns on her heel and addresses us directly: “You’re here. Good,” before paying a call on Aunt Ann Walker (Stephanie Cole). Aunt Ann is fuming over her niece, becoming besotted with the scandalous, unnatural Miss Lister instead of trusting her own family. Even a trip to Scotland to visit her sister Elizabeth (Katherine Kelly) and her unscrupulous husband, Captain George Sutherland (Derek Riddell), did not help. Lister drops the bombshell. Ann gave £1,000 to Sutherland, and, by the way, Lister is now executor of Ann's will. Aunt Ann splutters in indignation. Why? “She likes me,” Anne smirks.