#9: Sarah
The episode opens in West Africa, where King Gezo is telling British Captain Forbes that he can do what he wants; it’s nobody’s business if he sells his people to make money. Forbes tells him the greatest queen in the world would disagree, so Gezo gives him a child who is being kept as a slave. He wants to make her a gift for Queen Victoria. Forbes takes her home and he and his wife take her in. After they provide love and comfort for Sarah, the queen tells Forbes to go ahead and bring the “gift” from the King, thinking it’s something like a baby elephant. No one is more surprised than Victoria to find out that the “gift” is a person. In all her queenly obliviousness, and to the consternation of Albert, she declares Sarah as part of the family and spends the whole episode trying to make her feel like she belongs, even though the little girl is homesick for the Forbes family.
#8: Albert really loves Christmas
Albert touts his love for the holiday all through the episode. It felt off to me, as he has been so sober throughout the whole season and now he is almost giddy with anticipation of Christmas. He directs the servants on how to decorate the palace, including asking Penge to please hang a large evergreen tree from the ceiling, with smaller ones for each family member, and tables under them all for gifts. Penge doesn’t hold with “foreign ideas” about the holiday, and neither does the Duchess. She says “an orange was good enough for us” as children. We find out later that Albert has one great memory from childhood, and that is a Christmas where his parents were happy, and that meant everyone was happy. Ernst later tells him that they remembered that Christmas in two drastically different ways. For Ernst, it was the Christmas that their father told their mother to leave, and he tells Albert that he is trying to recreate something that never existed. “No one escapes unhappiness. Even you.” Bubble, burst.
#7: The servant life
Speaking of Penge, it turns out he’s invested in a railroad company and believes he will be able to retire a gentleman. He finds out after Christmas that the company went under and he has lost his life savings. This is the one time I have felt bad for him this whole season. Skerrett gets some welcome news – we hear from a lawyer that Skerrett isn’t her real name – it’s Harker, and her dad’s brother has died in America and left her a substantial amount of property that could be worth a boatload of money if it were to be sold. She says “go ahead,” until she finds out the property is actually…people. He was a slave trader. Gross. Skerrett leaves to contemplate what she should do. I was a little aggravated with Francatelli when he found out about the possible windfall and said “We could buy a hotel!” First – not your money, dude. Second – it’s people. Even Penge doesn’t agree with slavery. Skerrett makes the right choice and wants them freed; Francatelli thinks it was a good choice, and thinks it would be even better if she’d decide to marry him. #finally
#6: Albert loves Christmas so much
Albert has decided to invite Victoria’s mother and his Uncle Leopold for Christmas without consulting with her first. No one is happy about it, except the invitees and Albert. Even Princess Vicky remembers her grandma as “the lady who makes mummy so cross!” Albert is really weird in this episode – almost manic about the season, and says if he can get along with Leopold for a while, then Victoria can get along with her mom. He says it is the season to forgive and to be generous. He’s not very generous with Leopold, however; he doesn’t even speak to him. Victoria’s mother brings a parrot to replace Lehzen (what?), and Leopold brings Princess Gertrude von-something for Ernst. I am still not sure why they were even in this episode. I mean, they get a very small bit of forgiveness at Christmas dinner, but not a lot.
#5: Wilhelmina
Miss Coke is getting harped on by the Duchess when she says she feels bad for Harriett, since Ernst will obviously have to be with Princess Gertrude. The Duchess tells her “better a widow than a spinster!” Paget is still moping about, and Wilhelmina very kindly gives him a locket with Drummond’s hair braided into it. (I know this used to be a thing. But it’s strange.) He is overwhelmed by her kindness and chases her down, telling her that she was a boon that helped get him through his grief. He wants to marry her. She asks him if he’s sure, because…you know. He tells her there is more than one kind of love, and kisses her. It was kind of sweet, but also a little too contrived. So I guess Wilhelmina got her man, but at what cost to both of them?
#4: Cumberland…why is he here again?
The Duke of Cumberland/King of Hanover (Victoria’s uncle) returns after several years in order to take back a diamond necklace of his mother’s that just happens to be one of Victoria’s favorites. Albert eventually tells her she should just give it over, since it is only a necklace. They fight, and she says that Lehzen understood her and would have supported her. Albert returns to organizing Christmas, rather than listening to his wife, and Sarah finds her crying in her room and comforts her. Leopold tells Albert he should intervene on Victoria’s behalf, but he can’t be torn away from shiny Christmas memories. At Christmas dinner, Cumberland interrupts and tells Victoria she may keep the necklace. She invites him to dine with them. Albert asks Leopold if he made it happen, and he says that with the help of the Duchess he was able to point out that when Cumberland comes to town, he stays in an apartment owned by the Crown. Forgiveness might be in the future.
#3: Ernst and Harriett
I don’t know about anyone else, but I am really tired of this storyline. Harriett secretly goes to Ernst’s room, and she is in her nightgown. They become passionate, and then Ernst does the right thing the wrong way and tells her “it appears I am only interested in forbidden fruit.” She leaves and cries in the hallway, where Leopold finds her and lets it slip about the syphilis. Ernst confesses that he has it to Albert, and they hug it out like the good brothers they are. Harriett finds Ernst later and tells him she doesn’t care about it – she loves him and still wants to be with him; he says they are star crossed. JUST NO.
#2: Sarah gets to go home; oh, and Albert almost dies.
Victoria can’t find Sarah anywhere in the palace, and as she panics she is running around outside. She sees Albert manically ice skating on the pond when the ice cracks and he falls through. She runs onto the ice to save him and can’t get to him. I was actually afraid he was going to die here, even though I logically know that didn’t happen. He manages to find the hole in the ice and she helps pull him up to safety. All of this makes her realize what is really important. She finds Sarah with Skerrett and asks if she would like to go back to the Forbes’ home, to which she says yes. Everyone agrees it was past time for this to happen.
#1: Victoria and Albert
Even though I didn’t love this episode, Albert and Victoria are still the best part of the whole season. At the end of the day, they always seem to find comfort in each other. Victoria confides that Christmas was a terrible time for her, and that Lehzen was the only one who ever remembered her, so Albert understands why she hasn’t been quick to enjoy the whole season. Albert tones it down and it does turn out to be a nice Christmas for everyone, including the pregnant Victoria.
Overall, I felt that this episode had an excess of things that were supposed to be sweet, but were really just boring filler.
What did you think of this episode? Do you agree that the Scotland episode could have ended the season and we all would have been just fine with it?
