вЂWould you consider calling me Malcolm?вЂ™ Demelza with Captain McNeil. Demelza booked herself into The Red Room of Pain at Evil GeorgeвЂ™s dodgy boutique hotel and before she knew it The Third Proclaimer was wanting to indulge his appetite and have Demelza do him a very special favour: вЂњWould you consider calling me Malcolm?вЂќ In terms of lines a lady wants to hear, this goes down in screen history alongside When Harry Met SallyвЂ™s вЂњRide me, big Sheldon.вЂќ I will say this though: Ross Poldark is a fiendishly difficult character to portray and Aidan Turner is tackling what is turning out to be an almost impossibly nuanced role with wit and vigour.ДЄs if to underscore the fact that we were meant to buy into ElizabethвЂ™s compliance, DemelzaвЂ™s interaction with the Scottish captain was unambiguous.

He is a right wazzock, isnвЂ™t he? What was I thinking before? Story of my life. Ross seemed hilariously unaffected, just rather inconvenienced by it all. She was left hoping that Ross would leave Demelza and marry her.

(Summary of opinions: вЂњIt was a rape and should have been filmed more sensitively.вЂќ вЂњIt was clearly not a rape.вЂќ вЂњItвЂ™s not clear what it was, but in those days Elizabeth would not have considered herself a gentlewoman if she had behaved otherwise.вЂќ) But this episode put us all firmly in our place: whatever that scene might have looked like to us, Elizabeth was not unhappy with what happened that night. I donвЂ™t want to gloss too quickly over last weekвЂ™s shocking вЂњeventsвЂќ and how they were interpreted.

Poldark season 2 episode 9