Every season, the Drama After Dark team gathers ‘round the (virtual) conference room table to watch the latest and greatest in British dramas. This month, we’re covering North and South: a killer period drama that will air on GBX 44 in May (and is currently available to stream on Brit Box).
The description for this episode on BritBox is “Thornton is heartbroken and humiliated, but at least the strike is over,” and if that’s not a big pandemic mood in all the worst ways I don’t know what is! Anyway, as you can imagine, things are not great for our guy Thorny after he got turned down hard by Mags last week. And TBH, this isn’t even a Pride & Prejudice situation where he was being a jerk and has to deal with the consequences; this is a “sorry bud, she’s just not that into you” moment.
Anyway, everyone is having a bad time, so at least Thorny isn’t alone. That dummy from last episode is sad that he ruined the strike by amateurishly chucking rocks around. Mags is bummed out because that convo… didn’t go great, and also all the women she knows are on death’s door. It’s a mess! But Mags soldiers on, trying to cheer up New Friend with the time honored gift of fancy hand-me-down clothes and good company. It’s working pretty well until the conversation turns to the strike.
Mags: How’s your dad?
New Friend: Well, not great, Mags. He’s really disheartened that everything broke down after the violence at Thorny’s mill.
Mags: Oh, you mean the time I got hit in the head with a rock, or the time I told Thorny to buzz off because I don’t like him?
New Friend: The former, and dad’s furious at that rock-throwing doofus. He’s real angry and I’m worried about what he might do to that guy.
Uh oh! Chez Thorn, Ol’ Battleaxe tries to be cool about Thorny’s unrequited romance by cheering him up with some super fun business talk.
Ol’ Battleaxe: The mill is back in action, so that’s something at least!
Thorny: Yup, and it’s the only thing keeping me together because I was right: Mags turned me down.
Me: Wow, ok, that’s hilarious AND incorrect, pal.
Ol’ Battleaxe, has read too much Freud: Don’t worry, I’ll love you forever and ever. I hate Mags; I tried to like her but now? She’s dead to me.
Thorny: I knew I wasn’t good enough for her, but now I’m even more into her somehow? Should I maybe look into that impulse? Anyway, if you want to help me feel better, mama, never say her name in my presence again.
Ol’ Battleaxe: With pleasure.
Across town, Country Family is enjoying a nice bowl of fruit sent over by Thorny. Why is he doing this to himself? Is he just really that nice? Is he trying to win Mags over? Who can say! Country Mom, in particular, is all about the fruit, and wants Mags to go thank Thorny in person.
Mags, sweating profusely: Can’t I just send a note or something?
Uncle Creepy, here as always to stir the pot: You know, I saw ol Thornster earlier, and he looked ALL bent out of shape. And it seemed like he came from a visit here. Care to weigh in, Mags?
Mags: Nope! Bye!
Uncle Creepy: Ok, so now that Mags is gone, you know there’s something going on between her and Thorny, right?
Country Dad: Whaaaat? No way — I mean, maybe on Thorny’s end, but Mags hates him, which is a huge bummer. I hope he doesn’t get his heart broken!
Too late, Country Dad! Speaking of oblivious people, guess who just showed up at Bates’ Earthy Granddad’s doorstep asking for help?
Alas, it’s not actually Gritty — it’s Mister Loves-To-Throw-Rocks-And-Generally-Ruin-Things (should I have given this guy a proper recap name earlier? Yes, probably, but he sucks so I don’t regret it).
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: You think I would help YOU? I want to kill you myself! Your selfish actions made the rest of us look bad AND you broke the strike so we’ll all suffer.
The Ruiner: It wasn’t my fault, Thorny used her as a human shield! Please let me use you as MY human shield?
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: You’re the WORST. I would never hide you; they’d think I like you, and frankly, I’d like to maintain my reputation. I’ll absolutely tell the cops where you are; get out of my house.
And with that, Bates’ Earthy Granddad kicks that jackass out, hopefully to never be heard from again. Speaking of jackass behaviour, across town, Uncle Creepy runs into Thorny on the street, and decides to make it awkward.
Uncle Creepy, knows he’s pouring salt on a wound and going full Morton Girl: Hey buddy, congratulations!
Thorny: What??
Uncle Creepy: I mean about ending the strike, so awesome for you!
Thorny: Yeah, I guess.
Uncle Creepy: Oh, LOOK, some friends, including that cute gal from your party! And who’s that across the street? Why, it’s Mags! Mags, get that cute butt over here!
Mags:
Thorny:
Mags, reluctantly, answers Uncle Creepy’s summons.
Thorny:
Uncle Creepy: Isn’t this fun? We have two of the prettiest girls in town in one conversation! Mags, this is my banker and his globe-trotting, just got out of finishing school daughter Ann. Where you headed, girl?
Mags: Uhhh. Nowhere?
Uncle Creepy:
Thorny: Well this has been fun, but I have to be literally anywhere else. Bye!
Banker Dad: Man, I can’t believe I paid for my kid to go to this fancy finishing school and now I’ll have to pay for a wedding too? Ridiculous. Anyway, off to be annoyed about my privilege elsewhere. Bye!
Uncle Creepy: Wait, Mags, are you ok?
Mags: Now listen here, Uncle Creepy: I know you’re friends with my dad…
Uncle Creepy, self-aware now?: Aw man, I’m sorry — my meddling clearly made that interaction uncomfortable. I’ll quit it, promise. But I want you to know; I may be bad at minding my business, but I hope you know you can count on me if you ever need help.
Mags: Noted!
Uncle Creepy, apparently cool suddenly, escorts Mags home, where she finds Country Dad having a bit of a crummy evening. Two of his students, including Thorny, decided to cancel their lessons tonight.
Mags: Maybe he’s just stressed from all the strike stuff.
Country Dad: Yeah, probably. I’ll write him a quick letter to try and cheer him up! Hey, you’re lookin’ weird btw — were you expecting mail?
Mags: No. Yes? I might have sent brother Fred a letter about mom.
Country Dad: I see. So you think it’s that serious?
Mags: Yup.
Country Dad: Well that is a bummer. And Fred would be in serious danger here; the government is super harsh on anyone who might want to overthrow the system, for some reason. There’s a hefty bounty on his head — maybe we can get the letter back?
Mags: I sent it too long ago. But they probably don’t care about it much anymore, right?
Country Dad: LOL, wrong. The government absolutely hates dissidents, and the institution has a long memory. They’ll for sure still want to kill Fred if they catch him. But look, you did what you thought was right for your mom, and that was brave. I’m glad you didn’t say anything; I definitely would have stopped you.
As if this stressful day of puzzling over moral dilemmas wasn’t bad enough, Mags heads over to talk with New Friend only to get the news we were dreading: New Friend has succumbed to her illness. Everyone is miserable, especially Bates’ Earthy Granddad, who’s understandably shattered to have outlived his daughter. The only comfort is that New Friend isn’t in pain anymore, but that’s cold comfort indeed for everyone left behind. Later, Bates’ Earthy Granddad stops by Country Squad’s home to talk about his daughter. He’s particularly upset about how hard New Friend’s short life was — in addition to the horrible illness, there was a lot of work and not a lot of fun.
Country Dad: At least she’s in heaven?
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: Bad news, dude: I think you’re full of it. Why would god make life so unfair that some of us suffer like this?
Country Dad: I mean yes, people suffer, but we all have the ability to see the best in people and collaborate. Like don’t you think you could have an interesting conversation with Thorny?
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: Absolutely not! He literally shipped in scabs from another country, and that’s what broke the strike. And when we need him to be a hardass and bring down the full might of the law on that rock throwing strike ruiner, he decides to be all soft about it. “Oooh, everyone hates him and he can’t get work; that’s his punishment” Shut it, Thorny, that guy deserves so much worse.
Mags: I know you hate that guy, but let’s not be ridiculous. Even you know that if Thorny went after him it’d be revenge, not justice.
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: My poor daughter — this strike business was just too much for her, and it failed because of people like firebug projectile hurler.
Mags: Not everyone is as strong as you — you’re amazing.
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: They should have stuck together, but we’re sticking together to shun that dude now. And before you get on a high horse and say that’s horrible, sometimes you have to do bad things to make change. But it’s worse to just sit by and do nothing. Anyway, I gotta run. Try to pretend I didn’t just make a super ominous pronouncement.
Mags walks him out, only to find our pal Thorny across the street. Instead of coming over to visit, as he seems to have planned, he takes his betrayed face and scoots away before Mags can say anything.
Me, at everyone:
Anyway, Country Mom looks pretty good today, and she’s got a classic period drama plan: City Mom has invited the family to go visit London for an exhibition (like the world’s fair, but now with even more colonialism!), and Country Mom thinks Mags should go.
Mags: Ma, please, I know how sick you are.
Country Mom: Look, I’m not above a guilt trip, kid: if you go you can bring back a souvenir and tell me all about it.
Mags: Ok, you got me there, I’ll think about it.
Country Mom: You wrote to Fred, didn’t you. I’m a little worried about what might happen if he comes.
Mags: Don’t worry — we’ll be careful, and no one knows him here anyway. Dixon will guard the door, it’ll be perfectly safe!
Well, that mom guilt trip worked, as they usually do, and Mags has indeed headed down to London for the exhibition.
City Mom, proving that rich folks in urban centers don’t actually have the moral high ground: I mean I guess it’s good that they brought in stuff from all over the empire, but wow are some of these exhibits eXoTiC.
Mags: Well I think it’s swell!
Cousin Edith’s Boring Husband: I’m just impressed by all the machinery! Seems like we were silly to have judged the mill work after all; maybe we should go into the cotton trade, brother of mine.
Mr. Rogaine: Yes, it’s me, your brother! I think you’re a little too lazy to get into that field, and we’ve got other ways to make money. This way we don’t have to live in horrible squalor like those northerners, right Mags?
Mags, out loud: Sure, the air is less clean up north.
Mags, unsaid, but still clear as day: But I’d rather suck on a mill smokestack than spend another moment sharing air with you!
Clearly, Mr. Rogaine still isn’t over being turned down. Speaking of which, I’m sure none of you are surprised to hear that Thorny is also here to tell exhibition goers about the might of British Industry, the challenges of strikes, and how he has hope for understanding between workers and owners.
Thorny, noticing Mags: But Mags over there can tell you how wretched things are up North. We owners just love to ruin lives, right Mags?
Mags: I don’t think that at all, and you’d know that if you actually knew me at all.
Thorny: Well since I thought I knew you that other time and then got my heart CRUSHED, I think I’ll pass.
Wannabe Caroline Bingley, still has an insatiable nose for mischief: Oh hey, Mags!
Mags, sincerely: Hi! I’m glad you finally got a chance to visit London!
Wannabe Caroline Bingley: Well, Mom okayed it since Thorny is here escorting me and the other eligible young lady from Milton, Ann, who’s much more sensible than me and of whom mama, of course, approves very much.
Thorny:
Mr. Rogaine, annoyingly still here: Oh wow, look, a mill person. My brother is interested in dabbling in your line of work!
Thorny, offended: Well I wouldn’t know about dabbling, I’m too busy kicking ass. Must run, I have to get back to my mills.
Mr. Rogaine, apparently deciding to go full on Regina George: Well tell the Country Squad we said hi, and that London seems to be agreeing with Mags. Doesn’t she look great?
Thorny:
Awkwardness awkwarded, Thorny runs out of there, much to the chagrin of Wannabe Caroline Bingley. The rest of Mags’ city relatives join the conversation, where Mr. Rogaine persists in trying to knock down Thorny. Mags, who apparently subscribes to the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” school of thought, defends Thorny. Vociferously.
Back in Milton, Ol’ Battleaxe stops by the Country Squad’s house to visit Country Mom, who’s deteriorated since Mags went off to London, and is now abed.
Country Mom: Look, I’m going to die soon. Please look after Mags. My sister travels often, and Mags doesn’t have any female role models.
Ol’ Battleaxe: Your kid isn’t looking for role models though. She makes up her mind and won’t be moved. Why isn’t she here, anyway, if you’re so sick?
Country Mom: I made her go — I was feeling better. Please, just be a friend for her?
Ol’ Battleaxe: I’m bad at showing affection, even if I feel it. But if she asks for help, or if I see her doing anything wrong…
Country Mom, unaware of the irony of what she’s about to say: But Mags never does anything wrong!
Ol’ Battleaxe: … I’ll give her advice like I would my own daughter. And that’s a deathbed promise, so you know I mean it.
Country Mom: God bless.
Ol’ Battleaxe:
Mags makes it back home, but Country Mom is worse than ever. Mags feels guilty for going to London, but soon has a reason to be happy — brother Fred has arrived, just in the nick of time! There are hugs all around, and everyone is generally very happy to see him after such a long time. It does create a little dilemma: no one can know that Fred is here, so when Thorny comes to visit with a book for Country Dad and fruit for Country Mom, Mags stops him at the door.
Thorny: Hurtful! I thought I'd still be welcome, despite our differences?
Mags: You are, of course you are.
Thorny, spotting Fred’s stuff in the hall: But you have company already. Male company. Message received.
Mags, not a good liar: Nooo, no one’s here.
The rest of the family, from inside the house, with terrible timing:
Thorny: Great. Well, bye!
Mags: Dude, you have the wrong idea — Mom is sick and things aren’t what you think. Please believe me!
Thorny: Nope!
Inside, brother Fred bemoans the fact that the whole family is stuck in this weird town, and he can’t even meet their friends because of the whole “wanted fugitive” thing. He’s feeling guilty about abandoning the family, and tells Mags that she could always come live in Spain, if she wanted. He’s got a good job, and a great lady friend, who he’s sure the whole family would love. Before we can get more info on Fred’s Spanish adventures, however, the whole family is called into Country Mom’s sickroom, where they all sit with her while she dies.
As if things weren’t already bad enough, a shady character whom I immediately dislike shows up on the scene. He runs into Dixon on the street, and tries to strike up a conversation. Thankfully, she’s not easily fooled, and keeps her distance while Shady Character tries to convince her that he’s just in town looking for work and isn’t at all up to no good.
Shady Character: So what are you doing in town? Still working for that Country Family? They’ve got that mutineer son, right?
Dixon: Dunno what you're talking about, I’m visiting my sister.
Shady Character, not buying it: Well that’s fun. See you around!
Dixon, who’s low key been the hero of this story the whole time, rushes home to tell Mags what just happened.
Mags: Yikes. We better get Fred out of here asap — I don’t think he can stick around for the funeral even. Did dad talk to you about arrangements for that, BTW?
Dixon: Nah, he said Uncle Creepy would come up from Oxford and take care of everything.
Mags: Oh, good — we can trust Uncle Creepy. But Fred should still leave before he gets here, just in case.
Me: Did I misjudge Uncle Creepy when I gave him that name? Jury’s still out.
Like all the rest of the hotheads in this family, Fred is annoyed to have to do something he doesn’t want to do, and willing to screw up his own life to prove a point.
Mags: I mean, Fred’s never been able to defend himself against the charges…
Country Dad: Absolutely not! A court martial is not a place where Fred is going to get justice, let’s not do anything foolish.
Fred: But dad, Foolish is our whole family’s shared middle name! You’re probably right though, it’s not like I can get a bunch of pamphlets printed, even if people would read them. I'm not Ross Poldark!
Mags: What about a lawyer though? I know an honorable and smart one too, and he’ll definitely help if I ask… it’s Mr. Rogaine!
Country Dad, somehow the sensible one: Do whatever you want, but wait until Fred is back in Spain.
Fred: Oh, Mr. Rogaine is Cousin Edith’s brother in law, so I totally trust him for some reason! I’ll write all the details of the case, and I can meet up with him in London on my way out of the country.
Well this is definitely gonna go great and not end in disaster, I’m sure of it! Speaking of disasters, Mags walks Fred to the train station, and gives him a totally normal “goodbye beloved brother who I won’t see for quite a long time” hug. Unfortunately, to Thorny, who happens to see this and doesn’t KNOW about Fred, it looks a lot like a “goodbye beloved future sex partner” hug.
Mags: Yikes, that’s not good.
Fred: Who was that guy? What a grump, I sure don’t want to be his friend.
Mags: Be cool, Fred, he’s grumpy for a reason. Anyway, let’s get you out of here.
Shady Character, melting out of the shadows: Aha! It’s you! I thought I recognized you!
Fred: Who me? I’m no one!
Shady Character doesn’t believe that for a second, and gets into a tussle with Fred that ends when Shady Character tumbles down a flight of stairs. He’s relatively unharmed, but still out of commission, which gives Fred just enough time to get away.
With Fred gone, the guest list for Country Mom’s funeral is even shorter, which of course Mags laments: if they were still down south, the church would have been full of friends! Uncle Creepy, who I’m starting to think should get a new recap name, shows Mags that the Country Squad has been accepted by the northerners, because Bates’ Earthy Granddad and the rest of New Friend’s family is in attendance. Also in attendance is Thorny, who’s for some reason still very annoyed that Mags is friends with Bates’ Earthy Granddad. Does he think that that’s the guy Mags was hugging? Unclear! After the funeral, Thorny sidles up to Uncle Creepy to check in on the family.
Uncle Creepy: They’re doing ok — see, they’ve got some friends here at least. It’s a bummer City Mom couldn’t make it, I guess they’re abroad. But I am surprised Mr. Rogaine isn’t here.
Thorny: Wait, Mr. Rogaine?
Uncle Creepy: Yeah, he's a friend of the family. A lawyer. I get the sense that he takes an interest. In Mags, specifically, if you know what I mean. But don’t worry, I’ll let you know if they need you.
Before Thorny can escape, a cop stops him. As a local magistrate, they want Thorny to come look at an unclaimed body that was found near the station a few days before, to see if he can help with the identification. You guessed it: the body is Shady Character, who apparently fell down those stairs harder than the stunt guy led me to believe.
Meanwhile, Country Dad and Mags pay a visit to Bates’ Earthy Granddad so he can pass along some vital exposition regarding the union situation in Milton. He’s still out of work, because the mill owner he used to work for has forbidden workers to pay into a strike fund, which is essentially a combination of union dues and crowdfunding to help support the worse off families during a strike. The thinking is that without a strike fund, the union won’t strike. Bates’ Earthy Granddad won’t work for a company that’ll tell him what to do (or rather, what not to do) with his wages, and all of the mills have adopted this new policy despite Thorny’s earlier insistence that he wasn’t his employees’ dad.
Bates’ Earthy Granddad: Here’s the deal: the union is our only power. That’s why I hate that snake who the recapper still hasn’t come up with a consistent name for so much: he’s always going to be a problem. He started a riot, he went into hiding, and when he didn’t get punished by Thorny he came crawling back here and tried to get a job at one of the mills, which means that he agrees to that new anti-union policy. At least the mill wouldn’t give him a job.
But before we can pile on TOO much, the constables come ‘round with a body, and you guessed it, it’s that very same man, dead. He apparently drowned himself in a canal. No one wants to tell his wife, so Mags volunteers, but her comfort doesn’t help: within days, the widow dies herself, leaving their six children orphans.
Me, started writing this recap thinking we were gonna just clown on Thorny’s post-breakup routine for 45 minutes:
Anyway, everyone is miserable, which makes sense since, so far, we’ve killed off five people this episode, and apparently it’s about to get worse. A policeman has stopped by the Country Squad home to ask some questions about Shady Character. Mags, who’s just now finding out that said creepo didn’t survive, plays it relatively cool, probably helped by the copper telling her way more details than you’d expect someone to share with a random citizen.
Cop: Yeah, so this guy died — we think it was after a fall that happened during a fight at the train station at the exact time you were there the other night. It probably seemed like it was no big deal, but the coroner says the victim was a drinker and probably had an undiagnosed illness. So obviously we have to have a lil' inquest, and one of the witnesses said the fight started because the dead man was being a real creep to a young lady walking a man to the station… and we’re pretty sure that young lady is you. Care to comment?
Mags: No. But it wasn't me!
Cop: Look, the witness said the gal we’re looking for is super hot and he recognized you because you buy your groceries from him.
Mags: Well as flattering as it is to be called super hot, I have to double down. I wasn’t there. Any other questions?
Cop: Guess not… but you should know that if the witness insists it was you, we’ll have to bring you in for the inquest, and you’ll need an alibi. I’m sorry, but I have to do my job.
And do his job he does, following up with Thorny (who you’ll remember is a magistrate) about the whole thing.
Thorny: Well look, the guy was an alcoholic, but this was still a violent death. Apparently he was engaged to one of my mom’s servants and she’s really upset.
Cop: YOU might be upset to find out that your pal Mags is mixed up in this somehow. She was walking with a man who almost certainly was involved with the death, but she won’t admit it.
Thorny: Wait, hold the phone — when did this happen? And you’re sure the man she was with is involved?
Thorny of course recognizes that he saw Mags and the suspect that very night. While the cop explains that his witness still thinks he saw Mags, even though she’s denied being there, Thorny takes a second to digest this new information and make a plan.
Thorny: Look, I’m a friend of the family — don’t do anything until I have a chance to talk to her about this.
He heads home, probably assuming he’ll have some quiet to think, but no such luck. The maid is crying over her dead fiance, and Ol’ Battleaxe is being her usual disapproving self.
Thorny: Can we give this chick the week off? She’s better off without that scrub, but she’s clearly distraught.
Ol’ Battleaxe: You know everyone is gossiping about Mags being out after dark with a strange man, right?
Thorny: I don’t care what everyone says, and neither should you.
Awfully definitive for a man who cares a lot about what one particular person says, but I digress. We can deduce, from this most recent defense of Mags, what Thorny’s going to do about the situation, but everything comes crystal clear when the cop stops by to talk to Mags again.
Cop: Well, I guess we’re not going to have an inquest after all. Here’s a note from Thorny, who’s a magistrate on the case, and also my friend.
Thorny, in the note: There won’t be an inquest. There isn’t enough evidence anyway, so just leave this to me.
Mags: So Thorny knows I wasn’t there?
Cop, clearly annoyed at this circumvention of the truth: Yup. Sorry to have questioned you; that witness was just so sure he saw you. Anyway, I guess I’ll be going.
Thorny, it seems, is even more ride or die than I had assumed. Do I like that he stuck up for Mags? Yes. But I don’t like that he did it while assuming that the strange man with Mags probably did a murder, even accidentally. I’m also not thrilled with Mags, who could clear up this entire thing with one relatively short conversation.
Anyway, Thorny stops by the house for his lesson with Country Dad, and Mags tries to apologize.
Thorny: Don’t. I didn’t do this for you! I don’t think you know how indiscreet you’re being — it looks absolutely awful for your family that you were just walking around with a man in the middle of the night without a chaperone!
Mags: I know what you think of me, and how it looked. But I can’t tell you anything without sharing a secret that’s not mine to tell.
Thorny: Well I don’t care about that! I only care about how your reputation affects my friend, your dad, and I definitely don’t love you anymore!
And Mags, for some reason, takes his word for it! And then he storms off! Look, do I admire someone who can keep their mouth shut when it’s called for? Sure! But since this secret is shared by the whole family AND is actively hurting Thorny, I say spill that tea! Will Thorny and Mags ever get on the same page? Will the body count for this series ever stop climbing? And what’s going to happen to brother Fred? We’ll just have to watch the final episode to find out!
Episode 1 Recap: This is Hell
Episode 2 Recap: The World Will Know
