Round Two: A Very English Scandal

A Very English Scandal: Season 1, Episode 2 (B+)

This second installment was a fine follow-up to the first, continuing along the story in the same buoyant fashion. I love that Jeremy started casually talking to Peter about where to dispose of the body the moment they stepped out of a heated Parliament session, never letting up on just how much he wants to happen even if the people he’s relying on to get it done are determined to stall so that eventually he’ll forget all about it. The moment that Jeremy actually saw Norman right in front of him riding a horse made clear that he’s never going to let it go, and the way that this hour ended cemented Jeremy’s closing threat from the first installment and made sure that, even if he wasn’t the one who (tried to) pull the trigger, Jeremy is going to go down for his act of attempted murder. There exists such a disparity between the life experiences of Jeremy and Norman, no starker than in how they respond to the deaths of the women closest to them. We didn’t see Jeremy cry for a moment, and instead he invoked the car crash as a way of baiting a political nemesis who tried and failed to take him down. Norman seemed genuinely horrified, and he’s fighting as hard as he can to stay on the right path after getting beat down by those well aware of both his sexual orientation and his addiction. Norman’s insistence while reporting on his affair with Jeremy on his status as a lover rather merely a footnote in his story was interesting, signifying the strength of the connection that goes far beyond simple tabloid fare.