Pretty good episode here, featuring an interesting main plot for Anne and Miss Walker and a bit more to do for Peter Davison’s Mr. Priestley. Also, nothing like some good old-fashioned Victorian travel porn!
After beginning the committed portion of their relationship out of town, Anne and Miss Walker set off for a long holiday in Europe before returning to Shibden Hall. As they tour Paris and conquer the Alps, Anne rebuffs insinuations from old friends that she’s out of Miss Walker’s league. Back home, the Listers are left to deal with Miss Walker’s angry relatives.
I enjoy the Europe stuff. In addition to the fun of seeing the sights with Anne and Miss Walker on their holiday, some nice tension is injected by the arrival of some of Anne’s friends. Chief among them is Tib, played by Joanna Scanlan (Terri from The Thick of It.) She’s as outspoken as she is shrewd, and you can feel Anne’s discomfort radiating off the screen as Tib sizes Miss Walker up. She’s super judgy over the new missus and is decidedly Team Mrs. Lawton, which makes things even more uncomfortable because Miss Walker doesn’t know about Anne’s history with Mrs. Lawton.
I’m not the main demographic for the representation here, and I’m sure some viewers are annoyed/upset that Anne is emotionally over the honeymoon phase, even while they’re still effectively on their honeymoon, but I find it intriguing. She’s well aware that Miss Walker loves her more than she loves Miss Walker, and she gets edgy when others clock that fact, but she’s decided she’s very much all in this. Anne craves commitment, and in Miss Walker, she’s finally found someone who’s willing to give that to her. This makes her sacrifice some passion for stability, which leaves her in the tricky position of not letting on to Miss Walker that the ardor of her feelings has cooled.
Meanwhile, Miss Walker’s family is up in arms. No one told them beforehand that Miss Walker was going to Europe with Anne, and since they’ve been gone, they’ve only heard about her via Marian, who shares details of Anne’s letters with them. They can feel they’re being “managed” and find that insulting, and they’re angry at Anne for stealing Miss Walker out from under them, even as they worry about Anne’s influence.
In this episode, there’s a full-on conference where the whole extended family comes together to talk in scandalized voices about Miss Walker’s actions, rag on Anne, and plot how they can bring Miss Walker to heel again. There’s a lot of concern-trolling going on, fretting about wanting what’s best for Miss Walker as their homophobia colors the entire conversation.
This is where Mr. Priestley comes in. He’s been on the front lines, so to speak, of all this supposed disrespect, so he’s in the thick of it at the conference, filling his relatives in on all these scandalous occurrences. In contrast to him being a bit feckless in the last episode, he’s very forceful and outraged here, free to unleash the full brunt of his disapproval. When he says, “And she turned up,” meaning Anne, the disgust in his voice is palpable.
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