Episode 2 opens with Joe (Matt Ryan) writing about his next broadcast, dark days for the country and America wondering (more so than other countries) whether it will be dragged into war too, well being a world war there was little doubt that it wouldn't. Also drawing parallels between the Hamilton's as they bury the deceased Hamilton. So it wasn't a surprise that Charity (Charity Wakefield) would turn up" to pay my respects;" which isn't really what she was doing, more gloating, rubbing it in, as Garland (Steven Mackintosh) leads her away.
Plenty of legal London on view here for the location shots and boy do I know my legal London (well all of London of course) but Temple Church, Inner and Middle Temple, as well as Lincoln's Inn etc, so I'm wondering how I always manage to miss out on every show that films there, like Poirot, Downtown Abbey. As for that courtyard, you may recall that from Downton too, when Garland visits Charity and advises her to leave.
Priscilla (Olivia Williams) let's not have formalities here, sacks Garland for helping her husband and it's more about her being hard done by and glaring revenge seeing as he did everything he could to accommodate his wishes and secrets. So instigates Freddie to do the dirty deed. Infuriating Emma (Hermione Corfield) when she finds out about his sacking at the club she and Betsy (Kara Tointon) went for the night. Since Sonny (Sope Dirisu) was ill there'd be no show. Then she finds him working there too. As well as a guest appearance by Beverly Knight as Ruby. Well everyone's got to make ends meet, there's a war on you know. Freddie (Jamie Blackley) turns up there too with his RAF pals and he and Emma manage to get a dance in until she finds out about her father's sacking. Obviously she's none too pleased throwing a spanner in the works and leading to a triangle of course between her, Freddie and Joe (perhaps). Though it doesn't look likely, knowing Freddie for so long she won't exactly alter her feelings for him so soon, especially as he's now doing his bit for the war and putting his life on the line. But Joe is so intriguing.
Joe meanwhile meets with Charity who has an offer for him, which later transpires she's going to write her memoirs and expose her tawdry affair with Hamilton, thus putting their entire family name and reputation in potential flames. Garland getting the idea to take Feldman (Mark Benton) and Billy (Ewan Mitchell) and tell her that she'll be interned most likely for consorting with the Germans and Mosley is being interned for treason. She's not one for jail, which makes her leave and get out of everyone's hair. That's what you get for blabbing to journo, ha, particularly one who is staying at that very same hotel and wants to keep on the good side of management. As he's a stranger in a strange town and it pays to have contacts and friends rather than making enemies in his line of work. You catch more flies with rationed honey.
The staff are worried about Garland as he's only out of debt and has no nest egg saved away. Lillian (Annabelle Apsion) offers him money but he doesn't want it. She has feelings for him. Instead he takes money from the safe and gambles. The actor can't arrive to make an appearance at the do for the military, so Emma is left in charge of proceedings and asks Joe to speak in an effort to redeem himself from the radio broadcast, from last ep. Since he's stuck away in his room on a Friday night and no one wants to have anything to do with him. Asking what's in it for him. He tells them about his father fighting in Ypres (First World War) and how he saw the English as only taking breaks for tea in between fighting and their food stank, but he wouldn't wanna fight with anyone else. To rapturous applause. Freddie getting pangs of jealousy when he sees Emma with Joe, but won't talk to her. That's another reason why Joe wanted to redeem himself by telling Garland about Charity.
Toby (Edward Bluemel) makes a nuisance of himself getting drunk and speaks of how Freddie didn't stick up for him when he used to get berated by their father and continue a scuffle in the kitchen, where Toby says he was the one who told Joe about Charity and her German connections. Joe breaking up their brotherly fight. Also Freddie says that he's glad their father's gone which is overheard by Priscilla. Freddie and Toby apologize and Freddie says he should've spoken up for him more. Toby's going to try at the War Office and do his bit now, telling Freddie he should do his too. Which is reinstating Garland and not doing what their mother says, but what is right, Garland having worked with their father for ten years. Garland comes clean about the gambling and taking the money and Freddie is only interested in whether he won or not. Garland promotes Emma to assistant manager, nepotism hey, works wonders, even when such jobs weren't really open for women, though the war did change things like that in many ways.
As Priscilla takes Garland's reinstatement as a betrayal. He tells her he understands what she's going though losing her husband, someone they love, as he lost his wife; but they can't be ashamed about how they're hurt by losing their loved ones. Er, where's the shame come into it anyway. Death is nothing to be ashamed off and anyway it may get easier overtime, but you don't really move on, just learn to live with it and never forget. Well in the longrun, she would've led the hotel to rack and ruin especially if she continued with her mixed feelings of hate, revenge and grief. But she says that she's been dictated to by men all her life, "why should my son be any different?" Cos he's her son for starters.
The hotel gets a new kitchen hand from Austria, Klein (Nico Rogner) and chef is non too pleased at getting a German and makes his feelings known, by breaking crockery and getting him to clean it up. It's a wonder Garland didn't fire him too. Apparently he's worked with some of the best chefs in Austria and clearly being here he'll be rising up the ranks in no time.
So what are these secrets Hamilton had on Garland as Freddie says to his face, but merely hinted at for us. Anything that will be revealed or was it just something said in passing. As he does have a fiery temper, but he holds it in so well and appears to be so cool about everything. Reinforcing this with his 'do not test me line.' Rarely getting emotional except when he tells Priscilla about his own grief and losing a loved one in general!
Another bit of a slow start to the series in this second ep, which really needed to find its feet early on otherwise as happened, there wasn't another series. There's a war on but you wouldn't notice it much here, except for in passing and even some of the private lives of the staff isn't much to write home about, hey Joe! Ha. Since as he said, "before things gets better, they're going to get a lot worse..." Well they always do!!
And no guardian.com do not describe Matty's character Joe as "cheesy American voiceover man!" He's far more than that and certainly not cheesy. He's a foreign correspondent and no one thought Huntley Haverstock in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent was "cheesy". Far from it, he was the one shining beacon of light to report to the masses as the lights dimmed around the world and in London. There to provide moral support, and see firsthand the devastation the war led to, bringing it closer to home. (See episode 4 which I invariably refer to as "a Joe episode.") As Matt said in many interviews Joe was passed loosely on broadcast journalist, Edward R Murrow.
The period, the war, the fashions, this could've run for longer if it was done right. But alas ITV decided against another season. In the same way it 'spoiled' Foyle's War when it brought it out of the Second World War into the Cold War, it had the potential for far more episodes, just as The Halcyon did.
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