'Flesh and Blood' Episode 2 Preview: Vivien's plan to sell cottage rings alarms about Mark's intentions
In the last episode, we saw how Vivien's (Francesca Annis) mysterious illness has Mark (Stephen Rea) conveniently install himself as a house guest to take care of her. Even though her children, Helen (Claudie Blakley), Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard) wanted to take turns to take care of her, Vivien turned them down. None of them are happy about Mark moving in. Similarly, Vivien's neighbor, Mary (Imelda Staunton), also doesn't like Mark taking up all of Vivien's time and attention.
The official synopsis of Episode 2 states that "as Vivien and Mark grow closer, her kids become progressively more unhinged, while Vivien’s inquisitive neighbor Mary does some investigating of her own".
In the trailer for the episode, we see Vivien gather her children around for another announcement not long after they have recovered from the shock of her first one about her boyfriend Mark. She tells them that she has decided to sell the cottage, their childhood home, to go travel. She tells them, "I've always wanted to see more of the world and so does Mark." Jake immediately pins the blame on Mark, saying, "so this is his idea, is it?"
We see the three kids meet up on the beach after the family meeting where they discuss their mother's health since she met Mark. "She was perfectly healthy before she met Mark," says Helen, which might mean that Mark is not only making her sick but is now encouraging her to travel for "her health".
Mary can't believe that Vivien is selling the house either, after living so many years next to her. She starts doing some sleuthing of her own to figure out Mark's intentions. Just like the children, she worries that Mark is in it for the money. She asks Natalie to find out what Mark's first wife died from, to dig out any possible skeletons. Could Mark be planning to kill Vivien after he gets her money? Travel could be just an excuse to make her marry him under duress, isolated and away from her family, and kill her once he gets legal rights to her wealth.
But unlike Mary, who can devote herself to the mystery that is Mark, Vivien's children already have a lot on their plate. Jake is incensed to find out that instead of waiting for him to get out of debt during their trial separation, his wife is already seeing another man. After his wife tells him that it is "none of his business", he screams at her saying that who his wife sleeps with is his business. This smacks of a wee bit of a double standard since he too has been sleeping with a rich woman for money.
Meanwhile, Natalie is spying on his boss' family trying to figure out if he will leave his wife for her. It is a situation without dignity, but as we have found out, Natalie has invested too many years, "being patient", to let all of it go anymore. She is also a romantic, who thinks love will conquer all. It seems that she tries to get advice from his sister Helen without telling her that she is the "other woman" in the equation. But this plan backfires because Helen immediately condemns it, saying "who would do something like that". Will the children be too caught up in their own problems to take crucial action to save Vivien?
'Flesh and Blood' airs on Sunday, October 11 at 9/8c on PBS Masterpiece.