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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 236333" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes Nine to Twelve...  continued Political ambition in soapy drama series rarely excites me. By necessity, it can only be taken so far  or highlight that the world these characters inhabit is different from ours. This is perhaps especially true with historic drama such as this.That said, this series is almost tailor made for such ambition. After all, the PM has been a recurring character since Season One. Such a story also highlights the appeal of the speed with which the stories can move in this series with its short seasons and frequent time lapses.With George’s political ambition well-established, things are taken to the next level by Regina’s suggestion that Jack should run as an independent in order to keep Sir Richard occupied. Wisely, Jack is shown to resist the idea, giving sound reasons:Jack’s also concerned about the impact such stress could have on his drinking. Indeed, he’s already popping pills from the stress of Richard investigating him to try to find dirt. Episode Nine is the first time Jack’s named his condition as alcoholism, showing he recognises the severity of his illness and the importance of avoiding triggers. George and Carolyn are disappointed but accept Jack’s reasons for saying no.In the meantime, having earlier outright stated his intention to Regina to try and put Elizabeth in an early grave, Richard pays Elizabeth a visit:Although Richard doesn’t realise it, this forces Jack’s hand, and he steps up to run.And it’s here again that the series’ Reader’s Digest approach is also used to good effect to give us a tantalising and crucial piece of instant gratification in a non-linear way. Immediately after this scene there’s a “Three Months Later” caption. And as the episode comes to a close we see Jack staggering round a field at night, almost empty bottle in his hand.Episode Ten is a classic “plan coming to fruition” episode that made last season such fun to watch. It begins with Jack still staggering round in the dark, until he falls over and passes out. Then we flash back to fill in the gaps.Richard is lured to Inverness by George introducing Sarah and David to the community as his fiancée and son during one of his podium speeches. Through Regina, they’ve got wind of Richard’s plan to rally local bigots (including Stan O’Rourke) and disrupt Jack’s campaign on the basis of his friendship with Frank, who is of Aboriginal descent. While Richard stands in the crowd, smirking, Jack faces it head-on as they’ve planned:The majority of the town rallies to support him and drown out the bigots, and Jack raises a knowing eyebrow at the furious Richard. Richard then demands dirt on Jack from Henry, with the threat that the medical board will learn that Henry is a “shirtlifter” if not. So at the next hustings, they collude with Doris and Roy to nip that one in the bud:But the victory is short-lived as Richard has a bombshell of his own. After a furious glare at Regina, Richard walks calmly to the podium and grabs the microphone:[Jack walks off. Richard continues][George punches him to the ground]There follows a scene in which Richard is essentially pilloried by the Inverness community, beginning with young Larry Grey throwing Leah’s toffee apple at Richard. He’s then pushed back to his car and told in no uncertain terms to leave. Before leaving town, he pays a visit to Regina at her farmhouse:Roy walks into the room from  where he’s been waiting:Richard leaves after promising to ruin the town. Roy goes outside to check he’s gone. Regina is left alone:With Jack, now drunk and missing, Carolyn and Elizabeth are frantic with worry and searches have shown up nothing. It’s over breakfast the next morning that George gets a phone call as the family listens with increasing horror:We cut to the scene. Beyond a police car, we see a group of people gathered on a sandy bank near the water. Then we join them. The camera pans past an officer interviewing a fisherman who found the body. Then to officers looking down on the body. And finally the camera moves round and between the officers to reveal Regina’s lifeless corpse.continued...</blockquote>

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