#BTNC 1x07

[frary-us]

EMILY: I can't tell you how much this means to me.

REV. JAMES: Dear, dear Emily you are the finest friend I could ever wish for.

(x)

[frary-us]

EMILY: "But Martha was cumbered by much serving and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not see that my sister hath left me to serve alone?'"

Nell, thank you for coming.

NELL: How is he, Miss Dunn?

EMILY: Physically, the doctor says he's mending, but he is still refusing to eat. I fear he doesn't wish to live anymore. Forgive me, but sorry, I would be so grateful if you would talk to him. Please.

[frary-us]

mgmplus “He hasn’t told you, has he?” Watch #Belgravia: The Next Chapter on #MGMplus (x)

CLARA: How is James? Please tell me he's better.

EMILY: I believe he's out of danger.

CLARA: Thank God. Thank God.... What's the matter?

EMILY: Mother and I have just suffered the unspeakable indignity of listening to the Duchess of Rochester the Duchess of Rochester, warning us about the dangers of your reckless and inappropriate behavior.... Apparently, there is talk about you, which is exactly what I told you would happen! Your reputation is ruined. What she hinted at will be a fraction of what is being said!.... I hate you! In this moment, I truly... hate you. You are ruining my chances of happiness with James. You are ruining mother's last years. You have everything, and still it is not enough! Still, you look for more and more and let everybody else just drown in your wake!.............

CLARA: I don't know if one can ever really know someone. You think you've found solid ground and then it's so much more complicated than that. Em... I don't think you should marry James. I don't think you can really know him.

EMILY: Don't compare James with Frederick. James is worth ten of Frederick. A hundred.... You know, if there was any justice in this world, James would be Lord Trenchard, and your husband would be nothing less than nothing. And perhaps then you wouldn't feel you had the right to play fast and loose with other people's happiness! Not that you would have married him, of course, because God forbid that you don't get to be the great Lady Trenchard.

CLARA: What are you talking about?

EMILY: He hasn't told you, has he?

[frary-us]

REV. JAMES TRENCHARD: Nell…

NELL: Is it the loneliness, Reverend which frightens you? 

REV. JAMES TRENCHARD: I’m… I’m not frightened. I’m guilty of so many sins. I’m not fit to walk upon the Earth. Certainly not fit to stand in a pulpit and pretend I know how people should behave. 

NELL: Your words your thoughts have often been all that holds me to the world. If there’s wickedness in you, there is so much more in me and…

REV. JAMES TRENCHARD: Nell, you don’t understand. God despises me, rightly. (sighs) He’s… He’s turned his back on me. 

NELL: I think you’re wrong. I think that’s something we tell ourselves to justify our inability to face the truth and live with it, day after painful day. The least we can do is dedicate our lives to others our usefulness, our hearts. Through serving others, we are serving God and reaching for a way back to him. I’m certain of that now. Only try, and you will see it, too.

[frary-us]

x

[frary-us]

"...At this point, anyone still watching this show pretty much has to be rooting for Clara by default. Nearly every other character — save for James, a literal man of God, and Davison, the Platonic ideal of the ride-or-die servant who is also your bestie for no real reason — has turned out to be not just annoying, but also a genuinely awful person. Dream husband Frederick has turned out to be borderline abusive and dangerously self-obsessed, seemingly sweet Dr. Ellerby abandoned his pregnant girlfriend before arriving in Belgravia, Mr. Ross is not just a thief but a would-be rapist, and Emily Dunn is an awful sister and a mega-beyotch too.....

But at least they're nicer than Emily, who marches directly into her sister's home to yell at her, accusing her of everything from selfishness to greed, that she's never satisfied with anything, and her behavior is ruining her life and her family's. Clara bursts into tears and tries to tell Emily how unhappy she's been, and her husband's increasingly psychotic behavior. Emily (who is, again, The Worst) responds Clara should shut up, sit down, and try harder to make Frederick love her because she's not about to have anything threaten her shot at a happily ever after with the good Reverend James. (Emily has a whole different reckoning coming her way on that front, and, as the kids say, I will be seated when that happens.)

 .....Having borrowed against his home to drop money into this scheme despite everyone's insistence he shouldn't, Frederick is devastated, and, reader, it is a delight to behold. Rarely has a period drama leading man gone from hero to zero quite as quickly and thoroughly as Frederick Trenchard, and I celebrate his ruination, except that it'll all inevitably turn out okay because Clara doesn't deserve this. At least let me watch him suffer for a while, show. 

....With one episode to go, our central romance is on the rocks, Frederick and James remain estranged, the Trenchards are ruined financially, Emily doesn't know the guy she's crushing on can never love her back the way she wants, and Enwright's clandestine letter-writing campaign has been exposed (though not the reasons behind it). How are we ever gonna wrap all this up? "

[frary-us]

"3 Frederick's Memories Prove James Could Be Right - Even If He Can't Accept It

Remembering seeing Susan cheating on Oliver might lead Frederick to forgive Jame

Alice Eve’s return as Susan Trenchard to Belgravia: The Next Chapter episode 7 via Frederick’s memories fully supported what James told Frederick about his being illegitimate. While remembering how unfaithful Susan was to Oliver wouldn’t be enough to convince Frederick to trust James, it nevertheless proved the plausibility of his brother’s words. Were someone else like Enright or Enright’s letters’ addressee to corroborate James’s words, Frederick might even be willing to forgive his brother, especially considering how James also was never at fault, no matter what Frederick told himself to survive how his father Oliver mistreated him.

7 Emily's Preoccupation With James Proved Only Mrs. Dunn Stood By Clara

Clara & Emily's mother believed her when the Duchess, Frederick & Emily didn't

Despite not expressly counting as Belgravia: The Next Chapter’s central characters, Emily still affected their lives a great deal in episode 7. Championing only James’s wellbeing and the future she believed she could have with him made her completely disregard her sister Clara’s struggles, taking the high society’s gossip at face value without truly listening to Clara’s problems, indirectly making her feel even more alone, which prompted Clara’s escape from London. Of all those close to her, Mrs. Dunn was the only one who defended Clara, disregarding the Duchess of Rochester’s suggestions and believing in her younger daughter’s good nature."