‘Victoria’ Season 3: “London Bridge is Falling Down” Recap
Previously on Victoria: As revolution sweeps through Europe, everyone is increasingly concerned that such dangerous ideas could cross the Channel and make problems for Victoria. Though the queen insists her subjects are not a revolutionary people, the growing Chartist movement indicates otherwise – and an angry mob even makes it to the very gates of Buckingham Palace. Elsewhere, a bunch of new faces abound for the new season, including a nondescript new Prime Minister (Lord John Russell), a belligerent and manipulative new Foreign Secretary (Lord Palmerston), a new Mistress of the Robes (Sophie, Duchess of Monmouth) and a heretofore unmentioned German half-sister to the queen (Feodora). Need more? Our recap of "Uneasy Lies the Head That Wears the Crown" can help.
Victoria continues its Season 3 flirtation with darker subject matter as the Chartist rebellion grows more dangerous in London. Despite Victoria’s insistence that the movement means her no harm, no one else seems to agree with her, and the tumultuous times even bring previous Prime Minister Lord Wellington back into the public fray. After a secret cache of weapons is discovered during what appears to be a routine raid of the Chartist headquarters, Wellington, Palmerston, Albert and friends insist that Victoria must give the order for armed soldiers to be present during the group’s next big planned demonstration. The Chartists argue that they merely want to present their demands – known as The People’s Charter – to Parliament, but nearly everyone else is skeptical about this, especially since a big gang of angry people showed up with torches and rocks at the palace while Victoria was giving birth to Princess Louise.
To be fair, Victoria is trying to present this issue in a multifaceted way – it’s just not doing the best job of it. Skerrett’s friend Abigail has become our “Good Chartist” avatar, who insists that no one intends to overthrow the monarchy, even though it’s quite obvious that some do. (And say so!) Her manfriend Patrick agitates for more violent solutions to the problems of poverty – he even complains about Victoria giving birth to another royal baby while so many English children starve – but his feelings aren’t exactly presented with nuance or sympathy. The decision to have him turn out to be a government plant sent by Palmerston and Russell to hide weapons on the unsuspecting citizens group in order to convince the queen of their evil is shocking, but not necessarily from a plot perspective. (Palmerston is exactly that kind of guy.)
