'Belgravia' Episode 6 Review: Hasty end to the predictable period drama will leave you disappointed
Spoilers for 'Belgravia' Season 1 Episode 6
Julian Fellowes' 'Belgravia' came to an end with a season finale that we were expecting a lot more out of. The ending of the series is quite predictable. It was working towards an ending where Charles Pope (Jack Bardoe) would be recognized as the rightful heir to the Earl of Brockenhurst (Tom Wilkinson). By this point in the series, the truth about Charles Pope is very much out in the open. The Trenchards and the Brockenhursts might as well have printed it in The Times.
When Ellis (Saskia Reeves) is confronted by the Trenchards, she quickly puts the blame on Turton (Paul Ritter) and begs for a referral before agreeing to quit. It is hardly surprising that she would turn against her own, against the very person she schemed with most of the last few episodes when caught red-handed.
The concluding instalment of the first season of 'Belgravia' begins with zest. But the plot hardly has any element of surprise. From the servants turning on each other and John Bellasis' (Adam James) desperate plans of killing Charles to Oliver's (Richard Goulding) acceptance of Susan Trenchard's (Alice Eve) baby — given the journeys each of the characters had embarked on, the end is predictable and fitting for an old school British royal drama.
In addition to that, there is no doubt that it was a rushed, busy episode stuffed with so much that it literally does not have any space for more. The final episode for 'Belgravia' is in fact so detached from emotions that you feel nothing for any of the characters — neither for the ones who have successfully gotten what they deserve nor for those who have seen their fall. It is difficult to genuinely care about any of the characters and what they have been through with such a hasty end.
There is more than one reason why the finale could be deemed disappointing. A show that had spent most of the run of its season establishing the social difference in 1800s Britain hardly had any comment in its final episode.
Yet, there is a chance that John might return. Towards the last few minutes of the series, John is shown in what is presumably France on a rainy night. Back home, his father and his mother have no idea about his whereabouts. He may have denied anything to do with the baby that Susan was bearing but the opportunist that he is, he might just return someday and we will get a Season 2.
Until then, Fellowes' 'Belgravia' bids farewell.
