Spoilers for Rivals season 2 episode 6 ahead.
Readers, I’ll level with you: after watching Rivals season 2 more doggedly than Rupert’s (Alex Hassell) fixation on a new woman, I feel like an absolute mug.
If you’ve been reading my weekly coverage of the new Hulu and Disney+ series up until now, you’ll know how much I’ve been championing Monica’s (Claire Rushbrook) personal development.
In season 1, she was downtrodden, meek and sidelined at every opportunity, while Tony’s (David Tennant) repugnant behavior meant her pet dogs were in her bed more often than her own husband.
By season 2 episode 5, she’s a changed woman. She has stood up to Tony to try and regain control in their marriage, leveraging his adultery in an attempt to gain the upper hand. She’s hellbent on Tony remaining successful against Declan (Aiden Turner) and Rupert’s rival TV company Venturer, and is prepared to go rogue to make this into a reality.
In season 2 episode 6, this has changed yet again. Finding out about Tony’s affair with Maud (Victoria Smurfitt), she not only threatens to tell Declan the truth, but she claims she wants a divorce. Driving off in a storm to get her revenge, she’s killed by a falling tree before she gets to the O’Hara house.
It’s a tragedy, and one that Tony is clearly bereft about. But while you might think that Monica is a lost cause who has to pass in order for the storyline to move forward, I’m seething at the decision for a very different reason.
Rivals season 2 episode 6 killing Monica before she could explore her feelings for Enid is shameful
As episode 4 explored, a romantic tension has been simmering under the surface between Monica and Enid (Selina Griffiths). Enid has been laying the groundwork for her attraction carefully, subtly flirting with memories of Monica’s school performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and getting a signed photograph of her favorite German athlete.
The sense of longing between the two was stronger, and over the last three episodes of Rivals season 2, Monica was growing more confidently into her feelings. The divorce only proves this further, meaning she would have had the agency to explore what was there, and whether that felt right for her.
But of course two women who are attracted to one another can never be together in TV world! It’s a tale as old as time, seen in The 100 to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Killing Eve. This is known as “Bury your gays,” in which a TV show will kill off an LGBTQIA+ character and prohibits their love story from fully being explored.
When it comes to queer women in particular, death or a man usually prevents a romantic connection from happening, which makes shows such as Gentleman Jack or Feel Good, where this doesn’t happen, so rare. Rivals has fallen straight into an incredibly dated trap, and for such a sex-positive show, it’s beyond disappointing.
When I think of Jilly Cooper, I think of a “bonking for everybody” policy. She didn’t discriminate when it came to who felt the full force of physical passion in her books (obviously, that’s why there are so many affairs), and she also never killed off Monica either.
Cooper apparently gave her approval on all 12 Rivals season 2 episode scripts, but I’m yet to understand the benefits of episode 6’s shock ending. Nobody will care if Enid, hidden in the ensemble, will pursue another woman in time, closing the doors to fleshed-out representation.
But hey, at least we got to enjoy some stolen looks while everybody else is falling in love and having lots of sex, right?
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