Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Rival Season 2, Episode 4.Now four episodes into its second season, Hulu’s Rivals continues to prove itself as one of the most entertaining television shows on streaming right now. Based on the second novel in Dame Jilly Cooper‘s Rutshire Chronicles series, Rivals follows the contemptuous rivalry between two very power men in the fictionalized English county of Rutshire in 1986. Since the start of the series, television mogul Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) has wanted nothing as badly as to take down MP and Minister for Sport Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell).
Tony may be a clever and powerful villain, but for the first season of Rivals, it looked like he would never be able to truly hurt Rupert beyond repair. As of the early episodes of Rivals Season 2, though, Tony has unleashed an attack on Rupert’s reputation that has already done permanent damage to his life. Rupert has now had to give up his seat in Parliament, and he’s been asked to leave Venturer, the rival TV production company that he formed with Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner) and Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer). This is a major change from the books and a huge risk for the show, but it might be exactly what Rupert needs to kickstart the next step in his character arc.
‘Rivals’ Season 2’s Bold Shake-Up Is Exactly What Rupert Campbell-Black Needs
At the start of Rivals Season 2, Rupert was on a flawed but well-intentioned path. He has been trying to hide his feelings for Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean) and forget about their kiss, in part to keep from messing things up with Venturer. He is still in a seemingly strong and committed relationship with Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), and he was previously committed to holding onto his seat in Parliament. Tony’s very public attack on Rupert’s reputation destroys most of the great things that Rupert had going for him, taking him to a place where the books never did. In Cooper’s novels, Rupert not only maintains his seat in Parliament, but the scandal hardly seems to put any real dent in his reputation, at least no long-term ones. In the show, Rupert has now lost nearly everything. He’s no longer a part of either Parliament or Venturer, his reputation has been destroyed, and his ex-wife, Helen (Hayley Atwell), wants to fight him for full custody of their children. This is all a major body blow for Rupert, but losing everything might be the only thing that can force Rupert to really change.
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The series stars Aidan Turner.
Rupert is far from the person he was at the start of Season 1. He’s proven himself to be a caring person who can step up when he needs to. That said, he’s still got a ways to go before he can become the business partner, husband, and father that fans of the books know he has the potential to become. Rupert’s journey was always going to end in true character development, but making him earn it through such painful and public losses is the best way to ensure that Rupert’s development can fully stick. In the books, Rupert still slips up and falls back on harmful behaviors even after he’s grown, and changing his arc in the show in such a bold and brutal way could prevent him from falling back on old patterns down the line in the show.
‘Rivals’ Biggest Change Gives Rupert Development Outside of His Relationship With Taggie
Rupert and Taggie are a fan-favorite Rivals pairing, both in the books and in the show. As of the start of Season 2, Rupert suddenly disappeared on Taggie after their kiss, to help Cameron after her confrontation with Tony. Now, Rupert and Taggie have shared some charged moments this season, but he is still keeping his distance from her. Even without Venturer, Rupert and Taggie still aren’t able to be together yet. As he told her earlier this season, he is afraid that being with him would break her, the way it broke Helen. Rupert may have changed since then, but he still isn’t all the way there yet, and he needs to learn to be a devoted and faithful partner before he can ever be with Taggie.
Season 2 of Rivals has taken Rupert to lower depths than he ever reached in the books. Instead of changing primarily for Taggie, Rupert has other factors at play that will be pushing him to finally drop his old patterns and grow as a person. Now, Rupert also has to think about retaining custody of his children, and of possibly convincing the rest of Venturer to welcome him back one day. Rupert no longer has the option of coasting along and choosing which changes to implement into his lifestyle. Now, he’s been pushed out of his previous life and into something new and unsteady, and the result could lead to a more evolved and self-actualized character than even his eventual book counterpart.
Rivals is available to stream on Hulu.
