Every season, GBH Drama prepares to bring you coverage of the latest and greatest in British dramas. This month, we're getting a brand new series from MASTERPIECE: Tom Jones. Featuring romance, class struggles, and an delightful cast, this series does not disappoint. GBH Drama contributor Amanda-Rae Prescott is here to recap the magic as it happens.
This week on Tom Jones we find out what Lady Bellaston is up to, and it’s not good news for Tom and Sophia reuniting. Meanwhile, the Westerns and Blifil are hoping Sophia will decide that marrying Blifil is a good idea. Let’s discuss all the chaos Lady Bellaston causes our young star-crossed lovers!
Sophia The Socialite
The episode opens up on Honour tight-lacing Sophia’s stays. She’s wearing a fancy new gown. Lady Bellaston is shouting at Honour to add feathers and other adornments. Her agenda is clearly to match Sophia with some nobleman who’s far richer than Blifil. The most shocking detail of Sophia’s transformation is the white makeup Lady Bellaston makes her wear. Sophia feels like a fish out of water but she feels obligated to trust Lady Bellaston’s advice. The gathering Sophia attends is pretty clearly an audition for Blifil’s replacement. After the party, Sophia tells Honour to get rid of the paint because she doesn’t feel like herself.
Queen Of The Fairies
Tom and Partridge find a crash space to resume the hunt for Sophia. A mystery package arrives addressed to Tom. The package contains a fancy outfit and an invitation to a masquerade.
Poor Tom thinks he’s going to see Sophia, but instead, he meets Lady Bellaston in a Queen of the Fairies costume. Tom is clearly out of his element with the entrancing folk beats and booze. One man hits on him and several ladies tell him they have no idea who he is. Lady Bellaston tells him to follow her out of the party and they end up at Aunt Harriet’s house. Tom thinks she’s interested in friendly conversation but it’s very obvious she’s out to seduce him. She convinces him that he’ll never get together with Sophia so he should move on. Tom can never disappoint a woman, so he ends up sleeping with Lady Bellaston. Nooo Tom!
This situation is exactly what Sophia’s voiceover warned us about at the end of Episode 2. Tom tries to refuse Lady Bellaston’s money because he can’t pay her back but she insists anyway. Lady Bellaston’s carefree attitude is having a negative influence on him, but he doesn’t see it yet. She tells him that she has no use for family and that life should be about pursuing pleasures. Is the life she’s offering the one she really wants?
“Mr. Smith”
Sophia, meanwhile, attends another elite party — this time without the whiteface. She’s introduced to Lord Fellamar, who probably has way more money than Blifil. She’s not a fan of him, but he keeps trying to woo Sophia. He makes a comment after their encounter about having “nature in the proper place” which is definitely a coded racist statement that some people may not catch. Sophia tells Lord Fenimar she’s not marrying anyone, especially him. It looks like another suitor will have to be found.
Tom receives another package from Lady Bellaston, this time with a fancier outfit since he’s being invited to her actual house. He declines an invite to the theater but also admits that he wants to break it off with Lady Bellaston, but doesn’t know how. While he’s waiting to see Lady Bellaston, he sees Sophia. He gives her back the missing money and pocketbook but calls himself “Mr. Smith” to cover up how he knows Sophia. He also admits he still loves her and wants to be with her but of course, it’s clear now Lady Bellaston stands in their way. Sophia is then forced to admit that “Mr. Smith” is really Mr. Jones. Of course, she’s advised once again to give up and do her family duty and get married to someone in her own class.
Awkward Stirrings Of Conscience
Tom returns to Aunt Harriet’s, where Lady Bellaston is waiting for him. He finally tells her that their affair is wrong because he’s now seen Sophia which gives him hope that they may still have a future together. Partridge tells Tom he has another visitor and it turns out to be Honour. Lady Bellaston has to awkwardly hide in a corner while Honour gives him a letter which tells him that Lady Bellaston is a terrible person with mucky habits and zero ethics. The corner wasn’t a great hiding spot because Lady Bellaston ends up revealing herself to Honour. She leaves realizing that her situation is about to get worse.
Tom tells Lady Bellaston that their affair needs to stop. She begs Tom to give her the letter otherwise her veneer of respectability is shattered, but he refuses. Tom’s finally figuring out that once again he was too trusting, and he refuses to be manipulated by Lady Bellaston’s “come back to me” pleas. Poor Tom (and Partridge) are rewarded with eviction for doing the right thing.
A Gilded Cage
Aunt Harriet is fed up with Lady Bellaston’s behavior so she writes a letter to the Westerns revealing that Sophia is with the terrible people of London. She calls Lady Bellaston a “fleshpot”’ which honestly carries a real sting compared to today’s words for sexual pleasure seeking. Squire Western is horrified and packs up for London immediately with Aunt Western and Blifil. His goal is to make the promised engagement happen which is clearly going to hit some resistance from both Sophia and Lady Bellaston.
Sophia has no idea the Westerns are coming because she’s very busy trying to stop Lord Fenimar from trying to marry her. Lady Bellaston tells Lord Fenimar to try to force Sophia into ruining her reputation in order to ensure the wedding happens. Sophia isn’t having it at all and stops him from touching her. The Westerns arrive at Lady Bellaston’s right in time to yell at Lord Fenimar to go away. Sophia is dragged into their carriage and to her dismay, Blifil is sitting right next to her. Honour is fired with barely any time to defend herself. Squire Western locks her up in a room in their 1750s Airbnb until the wedding can happen. Blifil at one point visits and tries to woo Sophia into kissing him but he turns angry and forceful because he believes Tom has already successfully seduced Sophia. He’s also of course mad that Tom is way more popular. Sophia kicks Blifil in the privates and shoves him out of the room. He locks the door behind her.
Tom foolishly tries to appeal to Lady Bellaston to save Sophia from the locked room but she tells him Sophia is destined to marry someone rich. Meanwhile, Sophia sees Black George delivering her breakfast in the prison bed and tells him to deliver a letter to Tom about her situation. Black George promises to deliver the letter.
Partridge and Tom find a crash space in an old fishing shack and weigh their options. They could go to America and live as free men or they can try to start a new life in London. Partridge admits he’s tired of London but at the same time neither really has a home to return to.Tom jokes about the irony in his life that he was supposedly saved from poverty only to be living in it now. The episode ends with Sophia’s voiceover about how life isn’t a fairytale and both of them are clearly sad that they’re running out of options.
Will Tom and Sophia get a chance to reconcile? Will Sophia escape marrying Blifil? Will Lady Bellaston find another chance to interfere? Will Honour and Sophia find each other again? We’ll have to watch the final episode of Tom Jones to find out.
