Time has moved on as it's the five year anniversary of the store and the staff have gotten together to pitch in for a bust of Harry Selfridge (Jeremy Piven) which is revealed to him as a surprise and very nearly doesn't happen. He gives them all another speech about family, love and loyalty. As Agnes (Aisling Loftus) returns from two years in Paris, training at the Galeries Lafayette (no chance of bumping into Moray (Emun Elliott) then in Paris, though he was before her time in The Paradise, ha. She has new ideas she wants to get on with and exudes confidence and maturity. She is now Head designer, as shown by her new appearance and fashion sense, which the new fashion head, Thackeray (Cal MacAninch) is not happy with. Asking which college she went to, as she tells him she trained in Paris but taught herself. He's displeased as the new heads seem to be getting younger. Making a comment about such things not happening at Harrods. Thackeray is the replacement for Miss Ravillious as Head of Fashion.
Harry has to give a newspaper interviews and calls it a day when one of them asks about family and his wife, Rose (Frances O'Connor). A sore subject with him. She's still in the US along with his daughters whom he tells the reporter have decided to finish their education there. Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes) has her own cosmetics department now and has two new shop assistants, Grace (Amy Morgan) and Jessie (Sai Bennett) both so giggly and in awe with Delphine (Polly Walker). Don't recall Kitty and Doris (Lauren Crace) being so flighty.
Rose arrives and Harry is surprised to see her. He wants to spend time alone with her but she's not having any of it, as she appears to be not only very abrupt with him but has changed, she's more outspoken and it doesn't appear to be for the better either. She came across as very aloof and condescending in some respects, especially when she meets with Delphine Day. Who has a reputation for being a nightclub owner and she's written a book. Rose tells her Harry would be happy to arrange for a book reading of 'The Summerhouse' here as she prefers to go shopping with her. She met her on the boat over her and seems to be enamoured of her. As she sees a young woman, Ms Spender?? charge some items to Harry with Rose commenting on how "nothing's changed."
Ms Mardle (Amanda Abbington) asks for time off as she wants to visit her dying brother in Geneva and Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) is happy to oblige, he's swamped with three children under five and has mountains of paperwork. Gordon (returns home from school and drops a bombshell on Rose about how he's not going back since he wants to learn the business and will be taking over from Harry anyway. Rose thinks it's a bad idea but knows Gordon and Harry have already discussed and decided on this when she wasn't here. She wants her own way there too although she hasn't been here with him but spending time over in the US. Also Harry doesn't want to spend money on his schooling if he doesn't want it. Harry was already a bookeeper he tells her at 15. Gordon starts from the bottom up as he's put under George's (Calum Callaghan) wing in the delivery and transportation department, well I called it that.
Franco (Sean Teale) is head waiter and cousin to Victor (Trystan Gravelle) is now at Selfridges too and is working with him at the Palm Court which is now run by Victor too. So he didn't get his restaurant in the five years we've moved onto and prefers to stay here. He wasn't too happy with Agnes leaving but he tells Franco she dropped him when she left for Paris. George invites her to his Uncle Gio's (Vincenzo Nicoli) birthday party and she is reluctant to go. Harry also wants her to design the layout for the book reading and Thackeray is to give her complete freedom with it, he doesn't want to help her or discuss the plans with her. She comes up with a Summerhouse gazebo theme which he thinks is going over the top, but Victor disagrees.
Trouble for Lady Mae (Katherine Kelly) as her husband Lord Loxley (Aidan McArdle) returns home, for the foreseeable future. He immediately curbs her spending at the store, infact he ends it altogether and she's really peeved with him to put it mildly. He goes to the store with her and stops her from making any purchases, as well as being rude and humiliating Harry in front of his staff when he tells him not to speak to Lady Mae in that manner and not in his store. He won't even settle up her account and Harry's not getting anymore money from him. War is looming and he wants to get in on some committee in the Lords or government and he blackmails a politician to do so. As Lady Mae overhears him threatening to expose his affair with a young boy. Loxley is probably also on the verge of bankruptcy it seems. Perhaps love is int he air for Harry and Lady Mae as he was so quick to defend her honour and in front of his staff too. Oh so dashing Harry, ha.
Lady Mae visits with Rose and tells her managing her husband is easy especially if she doesn't love him and thinks it might be different for Rose with Harry. But Rose is advancing to pastures new as Lady Mae insults Delphine in front of her. Harry having to tell her she's Rose's new friend. Seems Delphine does have a repuation and can't tell at this point whether she's a gold digger or just plainly likes trouble and is the wrong type of woman to know as a friend. She's looking for a business partner to go into her with the club and Rose wants to do it. She has money of her own even if Harry doesn't approve, she doesn't need his consent. Not known if their meeting on the boat was accidental or whether Delphine knew exactly who Rose was and thought she might be able to get a few perks and finance if she befriended her. Rose refuses to spend time with Harry and attend the pictures with him, choosing to go to Delphine's party instead. Well she could have invited him and if she took advantage of Harry's generosity of having the book reading at the store, why didn't she invite him to her party too?
At the club Rose notices Henri (Gregory Fitoussi) who is drinking and dishevelled to the point where Harry doesn't notice him when he bumps into him. He was meant to have been in New York in an attempt to be with Valerie but obviously that didn't work out but we'll have to wait and see what his big secret is and what transpired. Harry sees Rose drinking and being happy at the club and tells Gordon she won't be coming home with him but he promises to get their family back together. Rose is giving Harry a dose of his own medicine in this episode as she's getting him back for everything he's done, his past (and future) indiscretions by throwing back his behaviour in his face and behaving like him too. Don't like Rose, true there's only so much she can take from Harry's behaviour last series, but then she's hurting her family, and doesn't even realize it. Henri leaves as does Harry and walks over the newspaper headline which reads "Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated." Spelling war for Europe and Selfridges. Say what you will about Harry and his womanizing ways at least he doesn't want to hurt his children and is a good father in that respects.
Elsewhere Kitty steps out with Frank Edwards (Samuel West) to the club and he tries to have his way with her. Kitty putting him right about thinking he can take advantage of her just cos she's a shop girl. She walks out on him and clearly he has got the wrong end of the stick. Kitty and Frank do seem to make a good couple, they're very matched in terms of what they want and are very straight with each other, at least Kitty is. Frank's now a freelancer since his book failed and he has to get work wherever he can. He has to write a piece on five years of Selfridges since he wrote the first one when the store opened and Harry hopes he's not going to go though the same fiasco with that play again from last series.
Agnes saw Victor with Gabriela (Crystal Leaity) and left the party as she and Victor look as though they have unfinished business but then she doesn't seem all that keen on him anymore. Especially after she saw him with Gabriela who is now his girlfriend. Not to mention how she wanted to get the store ready for her creation and didn't want his help when she dropped the chandelier.
So where did Harry's bust disappear to anyway, as if he needed another trinket to place around the store. What do you give the man who has an entire store for a fifth anniversary being the question here, since it wasn't supposed to be something that immortalizes him and places him on a pedestal. It did look that way. All he wanted was some alone time with Rose but that's not going to happen. Delphine is going to cause trouble between them one way or another, she has gotten through three husbands and the last one left her broke with just the club to her name. Befriending Rose she could get in close with Harry and get whatever she wants from him through Rose, as she already showed this opening episode.
Lady Mae's husband is creepy no wonder Poirot killed him in the series' final episode Curtain. Well he killed the character Aidan McArdle played; wonder if we'll be getting a bit of a murder mystery here, just to liven things up. He's do despicable he's bound to have many enemies. So what led Henri to become down and out, casually speaking. Will he arrive back at the store and will he and Agnes be as love struck as last series? So many questions, so much to see. Here's hoping this series 2 will be as watchable as its debut. Still the grand gestures from its star and yes the must-be-included scene in the lift with his entourage, (can't help myself had to get that in at least once this series) as Mr Selfridge aims to tackle loves lost, new tawdry arrivals as well as the more grim and harrowing advent of World War I. Could call Harry's gilt bust a tad tawdry too! Ha.
Jumping forward five years we've missed the opening of the Bargain Basement in 1911 and it wasn't mentioned here. It was aimed at "thrifty housewives." As well as the world's biggest bookshop and a pet department. Skipped too was the performance of the famous dancers Florence Walton and Maurice Mouvet for a charity ball on the roof terrace in 1913.
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