Recapping Mr. Selfridge: Episode 8

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Previously, on Mr. Selfridge: Fellow obnoxious American F.W. Woolworth arrives in London, looking to open a store and introduces Selfridge to the concept of sales, Agnes and Henri have date night, Ellen Love is now dating Vile Tony, Roddy the Hipster Painter is now making eyes at Rosalie, and Miss Mardle finally catches the hint that a guy who will cheat on his wife with you for ten years is probably not a guy who will marry you. It’s also possible something happened with Victor, but as no one actually cares about his storyline it’s mostly irrelevant.

So, here we are! It’s time for the season finale of Mr. Selfridge and all the obvious drama that contains. Don’t worry though; the show’s already been renewed for Series 2, so it’s not the end of our shopping journey. (The next season is currently filming as we speak!) But, we still have a finale to chat about, so, onward! Click through to leave your comments, thoughts and general snark about this episode – and the season in general – in the comments. 

The Continuing Saga of Agnes’ Love Life. Actually it’s unclear whether this is a proper date or what, but Agnes is over at Henri’s posh flat after what appears to be another successful evening together. He’s trying to get her to stay longer, she’s complaining about already having been late to work a lot recently and we’re all thinking First World Problems really hard right now.

On the way to work Agnes runs into Victor, who thanks her for the inspiration to go to Selfridge with his Boring Ice Cream Idea We’ve Already Forgotten from last week. They two of them are friendly and still weirdly flirtatious and it’s unclear why, but since their break-up was basically a tourist advertisement for the Island of Mixed Signals, it’s not actually that surprising.

There’s Drama at the Store When Everyone is Late. Strange things are afoot at Selfridges. Everyone’s confused because the store’s been open for five minutes and half the staff isn’t in yet. Selfridge is kind of furious that two-thirds of his staff is missing and Mr. Crab suspects an outbreak of dysentery. (Snort!)  Kitty suddenly rushes in, out of breath and full of apologies. She explains that there’s a problem at the Bond Street underground station and the trains are stuck there. Kitty made it out because her carriage wasn’t in the tunnel, but plenty of people are still held up there and it may be awhile before they get out.

Since so many staffers are unaccounted for, Grove, Crab and Selfridge himself have to go work the counters to make up the difference, with hilarious results. Poor Mr. Crab even manages to get banished from the Fashion department because ladies apparently don’t feel comfortable discussing their undergarment needs in front of a man. (I love Mr. Crab!). Selfridge does manage to get in some Life Lessons time with his son Gordon while selling a customer a pair of gloves, which we haven’t seen in a while. But, mercifully, the underground situation seems to resolve itself fairly quickly, as the upper management only seems to have to sell something to one customer apiece before the actual sales associates make it in.

Poor Miss Bunting. Once the underground situation is resolved, everyone comes rushing into the store, apologizing for their lateness. Mr. Grove tells Selfridge that the reason for the train delay was actually a body on the tracks, which was identified by the person’s personal effects. That person, as you may have already guessed from our glimpse of her during the episode’s opening sequence, was the downtrodden former head of Fashion, Miss Bunting, who threw herself in front of a train and left a personal note addressed to Selfridge himself. Selfridge is stunned. He reads Miss Bunting’s note and has a moment of self-reflection with Gordon about how he treated her. He says that he realizes now that while she stole from him, she did it to buy medicine for her sick mother, and he feels guilty that he never gave her the chance to explain that to him. It would appear he’s never read Les Miserables before, either.

In the midst of this self-reflection, the ever smarmy Mr. Edwards arrives to see Selfridge and announce that he’s been sacked from his newspaper job, one would assume for never doing any actual journalism. He’s there to ask Selfridge to help him find more work, but Harry is too upset about the Miss Bunting situation to really listen to him and he sends Edwards away without ever even fully understanding what was going on. Edwards looks all sorts of hurt and offended and this will obviously be an issue later. 

Mr. Grove is TOTALLY into Doris. Called it. Totally called it. Ugh. Anyway, Doris is hiding in a corner, crying about Miss Bunting’s death when Mr. Grove finds her there. He consoles her, saying that she did everything she could to help the woman during the difficult time she was having. He says it’s natural to feel guilty when something awful happens and he feels terrible that he didn’t just write her a reference himself, since he knows what it was like to care for an invalid at home. Doris apologizes for bringing up bad memories for him and Grove stares at her like she’s a unicorn or something and tells her how kind she is. He says that the two of them ought to go have a memorial cuppa together in the tea shop Miss Bunting liked so much that night, and suddenly the two of them have a date. The thing is, in a weird sort of backward way, the two of them are kind of sweet together, if you can mentally block out the fact that Doris has no idea Grove cheated on his sick wife for a decade with her boss and doesn’t know that now he’s basically cheating on Miss Mardle with her. Ick.

Rosalie Gets Flowers and Everyone’s Upset. Fraser the Awesome Butler brings a huge bouquet of roses into the Selfridge sitting room. Rose immediately assumes they’re from her husband, because it’s probably about time for him to be apologizing for something, but it turns out that they’re actually for Rosalie – and they’re from Roddy the Hipster Painter. Ostensibly they are meant for her to use to “practice drawing”, but nobody’s falling for that. Rose takes the flowers away immediately and tells Fraser to return them and refuse any future deliveries. Rosalie is upset and flounces off in a pout, just in time to pass her father in the hallway, who now has to be told about the situation. Selfridge is furious and he and Rose get into an argument about how she’s handled things, complete with an arch remark that Hipster Painter seems awfully persistent for someone who only painted Rose’s portrait that one time. DUN DUNNNNN.

Some time later, Rose finds Rosalie pouting and tries to explain her position vis a vis dating a creeper to her, basically because she’s giving her daughter way more credit for being a rational person than she deserves. Rose says that while some allowances can be made for her daughter’s youth as the reason for making a few inappropriate decisions here and there, it’s her job as her mother to worry about things like a random strange man constantly calling on her with no invitation and sending her gifts like a stalker. She says she hopes that if Rosalie becomes a mother one day, she’ll have set a good example for her about parenting. Even though this whole spiel is clearly selfishly motivated to some degree, it’s actually quite sweet – and makes it very obvious who’s doing the actual parenting in the Selfridge household! 

Henri and Agnes Hit a Road Bump. Agnes and Henri are having a quiet moment together in the design room discussing Miss Bunting’s death and waxing philosophical about regrets and life choices and blah blah. They share a sort of tender moment involving Henri touching Agnes’ cheek and, of course, that’s right when Miss Ravilious walks in. She does that sort of double take, pretend to knock even though the door was open thing and it’s awkward. She says she needs a few minutes of Agnes’ time back in the Fashion department and the two of them proceed to have an almost refreshingly frank conversation. Miss Ravilious says she specifically asked for Agnes to move to Fashion because she thought she would be an asset department and if she’s having an inappropriate affair, she needs to consider how that will affect the future of her department. She claims she understands that exceptions can be made for very strong feelings – so she point blank asks Agnes if she’s in love with Henri. Interestingly enough, Agnes says no. She says she likes Henri very much, but isn’t in love with him. (That sound you hear is opinions of Agnes plummeting nationwide because, well, Henri.) Miss Ravilious encourages her to think of her career instead of her affair.

Sir Ernest Shackleton Visits the Store. Another entry in the long line of Famous People Who Pop Round Selfridges, Sir Ernest Shackleton comes to visit the store. (Shackleton was famous for his expeditions to Antarctica and actually came within less than a hundred miles of reaching the South Pole.) It turns out he and Selfridge already know each other because they gamble together, which is kind of weird. He does a press stop at the shop, posing for pictures and taking questions from the reporters. Selfridge takes him around a heretofore unmentioned outdoor equipment section, whose very existence seems hilarious. Turns out Selfridge has managed to get a hold of the same model of car Shackleton used on his expedition, as well as many of the same accessories and tools. Selfridge’s son is over the moon excited about this and Shackleton takes the time to explain many of them to him. Of course they also pose for pictures with all this gear, which was the point. Selfridge is still depressed, though, and isn’t quite up to his usual grandiose air, except where he does compare exploring Selfridges to exploring the South Pole, which is the sort of hyperbole we all love. 

Henri’s Ex-Girlfriend Shows Up. Further complicating the Henri/Agnes situation, Valerie suddenly shows up while the two of them are working on the Shackelton-themed window display. In case you’ve forgotten, Valerie is Henri’s ex-girlfriend or possibly on-again/off-again paramour or whatever who’s moved off to New York to basically work for the early 1900s equivalent of Sterling Cooper Draper Price. She’s supposed to be exceptionally good at what she does, though we’ve seen no evidence of this. The two of them chat for a minute in French before Henri remembers he should probably introduce her to Agnes, who’s standing awkwardly behind them. They all make extremely stilted small talk for a minute before Agnes says that she can work on the window herself if the two of them want to go catch up or whatever. Henri agrees and Agnes suddenly has her first window display to do. It would seem she was listening to Miss Ravilious about choosing her career….

The Endless Victor Restaurant Plot. Because this storyline will seriously never end, Victor shows up at Lady Mae’s to pester her further about being his financial backer in a new restaurant. Mae balks again, claiming that she’s not going to be rushed in making any decision about helping him. Oh, and also by the way, her allowance from Lord Locksley isn’t actually that big after all. She says he’s young and unproven so finding a backer for him could be challenging. Victor finally wises up  to what we’ve all known for weeks now - that Mae has only been dangling the promise of the restaurant in front of him to keep him sleeping with her and basically breaks up with her. He says he doesn’t believe in him and wishes her well. This storyline is like the visual equivalent of Sominex, but at least there’s finally some progress.

Later, Victor’s serving drinks at the Shackleton festivities when Agnes asks how his business venture is going. He tells her the truth, which is that his backer’s not that interested in helping him actually find a restaurant. She says she believes in him and that nothing’s going to keep him down, etc. etc. This is clearly a ham-fisted attempt to illustrate why Victor’s still got a torch for Agnes, given his waxing poetic about the importance of having someone believe in him earlier. Not subtle, show. Anyway, Mae comes up to him at one point to tell him that she’s going to ask Lord Locksley for the money to pay for Victor’s restaurant. She says Victor will owe her and that she does believe in him after all. Victor quite astutely says that what she really believes in is getting her own way, so it’s thanks but no thanks because he doesn’t want to be under her control. I woke up enough to actually appreciate that moment, and quietly rejoice that at least Victor’s out of the immediate sphere of Lady Mae. So, here’s to the show finding something for Victor to do that’s at least somewhat interesting. 

Thunderdome: Roddy vs. Selfridge. The Selfridge ladies come to the store to have lunch but all hell breaks loose when they catch Rosalie talking to Roddy in a corner. Selfridge is livid and can’t believe that Roddy would come into his store like it’s a public place of business or something. He stomps up to Roddy and tells him that he will leave immediately and never speak to anyone in the Selfridge family ever again. Roddy is remarkably nonplussed and points out that the Shackleton lecture is open to the public and he’s just making conversation with a charming lady. Selfridge puffs up further, pointing out that Rosalie is his daughter. Roddy smirks that Selfridge’s wife had plenty to say to him at one point. He says he doesn’t understand why Rose stays with Selfridge when he publically humiliates her repeatedly. He also says that even if she can’t to admit to it at the moment Rose is in love with him. Selfridge looks like he’s maybe going to explode and says he can destroy Roddy in a minute by keeping him from having his work displayed anywhere. He forces him to leave.

Bad Habit Theater Continues. After a surprisingly interesting lecture from Shackleton and a subdued Patented Pep Talk to the Heads of Department, the Selfridge family returns home. Rosalie is busy swooning over the thought of Antarctica, but Selfridge has decided that it’s time to finally Have A Talk with his wife. He says he’d like to commission another portrait of her because he doesn’t think Roddy’s accurately captures who she is. Rose – whose entire body language is basically screaming how much she doesn’t want to be having this conversation – says that she’s had about enough of portraits, thank you. Selfridge tells her that Roddy says she’s in love with him. Rose looks sort of stricken and tells him to believe whatever he wants and walks off. (It is interesting that she doesn’t – and hasn’t – denied this accusation however.) Selfridge looks like he’s been slapped and tells Fraser to tell his wife he’s gone out. Because he can’t actually respond to anything like an adult, but okay. He then heads to the Nameless Gambling Establishment to lose money and flirt with the ladies while Rose looks forlornly at her reflection in the mirror and rips up the sketch Roddy did of her. Woohoo, everyone’s miserable!

Wow, Mr. Grove is Literally the Worst Person Ever. Miss Mardle comes in to work to find Kitty and Doris squealing with excitement behind the Accessories counter. She hushes them, but softens when she hears that the reason is that Doris is engaged. She asks who the lucky man is, but Doris says she’s promised to keep it a secret. Kitty, being Kitty, immediately blurts out that Doris is going to marry their own Mr. Grove. Miss Mardle looks stunned and then immediately assumes it’s a joke before Doris confirms it. All the air goes out of poor Miss Mardle at once and she basically runs away from the counter and heads straight to Grove’s office.

Miss Mardle drops the bomb on Grove that she knows about Doris’ engagement. He says he wanted Doris to not say anything until he’d had a chance to talk to her himself. He then apologizes, like he just you know, stole her seat in a café or something, instead of completely upended her life. Apparently Mr. Grove managed to do this after their awesome tea date the other day but wow, talk about knowing each other for five minutes. Eeesh. Grove asks her if he can come see her that night to explain and she says okay, because Miss Mardle is an idiot. I mean, really? What’s he going to say? Oops, I just accidentally asked this girl I barely know to marry me, sorry? Pity about the years of your life you’ve wasted on me. Laterz!

The King is Coming to Selfridges. Lady Mae comes to see Selfridge to tell him that a “very special friend” wants to come by the store, quietly, after hours, with no fuss. She doesn’t tell him who it is but it’s clearly a big deal. Selfridge says he’s not crazy about that idea because he likes thinking that all the customers at his store are free and equal and that’s why he doesn’t do special requests. Mae smiles archly and says he might change his mind when he finds out who her friend is.

A bit later, Selfridge is smiling stupidly, haven been told the secret that the King wants to come to the store. Turns out he’s also invited them to come along to the opening night of Vile Tony’s new play with Ellen Love, which why on earth the King cares about that, is anyone’s guess. Mae says Selfridge has to bring Rose along and he balks, but she says an offer like this can’t be refused DUN DUNNNN. Mae also says it’d do him good to be seen in public with Rose more often, hint hint, and Selfridge looks taken aback.

Once Mae leaves, Selfridge immediately calls a meeting to discuss everything they have to do to get ready for their Royal guest. They’re setting up special displays, Mr. Crab is assigned to teaching the salesgirls how to curtsey and everything is amazingly entertaining. Obviously, King Edward VII loves his visit to the store. He even actually brought actual money so that he can truly “experience” shopping by purchasing something, because he’s never done it before. He compliments Selfridge’s vision, is sort of gently flirtatious with some of the shopping staff and generally has a great time. 

Gasp! Henri Decides to Leave Selfridges for New York. Valerie and Henri have an afternoon together, smoking and playing cards and speaking French. Valerie – who is epically dull – again attempts to convince Henri to come to New York with her. She says she’s gotten him a job offer and that New York will better allow him to explore his creative vision or something and also they will pay him more. He says it was never about the money, but she begs him to consider it because she misses him. Henri doesn’t say anything, but it’s apparent we’re meant to see that he’s at least going to think about it.

Henri then spends a tremendous amount of time trying to get a meeting with Selfridge, ostensibly to talk about this situation. Selfridge continues to ignore him and Henri looks frustrated. He then opts to go talk to Agnes instead, where he tells her that he’s been offered a job in New York and has decided to take it, because he gets to be an Artistic Director. Agnes says that he has to follow his heart and says that since he’s never lied to her about Valerie, she can’t get mad about it. (Agnes is remarkably composed.) Henri says thank you and tells her that it’s been an honor to get to know her. This is seriously the nicest break-up in the history of time.

Henri finally manages to see Selfridge in order to tell him he’s tendering his resignation. Selfridge first laughs, thinking it’s a joke and is deeply shocked, claiming that this is their finest moment with the King coming to the store and everything. Henri says that no time would ever be a good time for him to go and Selfridge offers him more money. Henri insists that it’s not about the money – it’s about the opportunity. To be specific, he wants the chance to spread his wings and prove he can be successful without Selfridge. Selfridge, of course, immediately takes all of this personally, going on that he can’t believe that Henri could do this to him and just take your stuff and get out. Henri writes Selfridge a goodbye letter, packs up his stuff and leaves. This would be more upsetting if we didn’t already know that Gregory Fitoussi was coming back next season, but it’s still rough to watch the Henri/Selfridge bromance have problems because their friendship was one of the most humanizing influences on Selfridge.

Rose is Unhappy, Because Duh. Rose and Lois watch the Selfridge kids recite their lessons from school – including amazing daughter Violette’s awesome observation that Henry VIII’s six wives were “excessive” – and Rose mopes about the kids sounding more English. She says she thinks the kids could do with some more time back in the States, but Lois points out that Harry’s not going to drop everything to take her to Chicago. Rose archly asks why not, since she dropped everything to come to London. She complains that she had a whole life in America and she just gave it all up for him and thinks Selfridge ought to take his familial responsibilities more seriously. Lois admits that things have been hard for them lately and Rose says she has no idea. Lois – being awesome – says that she can guess what’s been going on and the important thing for Rose to remember is that her son knows that he’d be lost without her. 

Selfridge arrives home to tell Rose all about his big news about the King coming to visit. Rose responds as though he has just told her that he’s found a new flavor of peanut butter that he enjoys. Selfridge insists that it’s an honor for their whole family and that he needs her there. Rose agrees that it’s her duty to be there, but it’s a lot to ask her to be excited. He then drops the bomb about them having to go see Ellen Love’s play. Rose is shocked that Selfridge would have the nerve to ask her to go watch his mistress in a play. Selfridge says her going would mean everything to the store and their family, because…reasons I guess. Rose agrees to attend, with the same level of excitement in her voice that most people get about visiting the dentist.

Seriously, Miss Mardle. Kick Him. At the end of the day, Grove chastises Doris for spilling the beans about their engagement before he heads off to Miss Mardle’s to explain how he accidentally is now set to marry someone that isn’t her. Miss Mardle actually lets him into her house and sits down with him, because she clearly needs an intervention of some type.

Grove – in that obnoxiously patronizing way he has – says that his wife’s death really affected him and has reminded him of his own mortality and as a result now he suddenly wants to have kids. (Which he can’t do with Miss Mardle because he strung her along for years and years and now she can’t have them.) Shut Up, Mr. Grove. But, Miss Mardle – who has not even raised her voice during any of this yet, seriously – says that she hopes Grove will be a good husband to Doris. Ugh. Seriously. Anway, Grove says that no matter what happens, she’s the love of his life, not Doris. Miss Mardle actually thanks him for saying this, because apparently her brain has fallen out of her body along with her spine. (Shut Up, Miss Mardle!) Mr. Grove then says that things don’t have to end like this between them, that they can carry on having their regular Tuesday evenings just like always while he’s married to Doris. All together now: Shut Up, Mr. Grove! (How has this character become so gross? How?)

Miss Mardle at least finally seems to come back to reality enough to tell him that carrying on having an affair while he’s married again is a terrible idea and asks him to leave. She immediately starts crying and the audience is yet again stuck in this particularly strange limbo of being both sympathetic toward and frustrated by her character. Possibly there needed to be a scene here that allowed Miss Mardle to really get angry – to scream and yell and vent at Mr. Grove for wasting twelve years of her life for nothing when he was just going to turn around and marry the first kind shopgirl he met after his wife’s death. If we could have seen Miss Mardle at least give voice to some of the frustrations we’re feeling as viewers with their relationship, both of these characters and how their interactions were presented then sympathy might come more easily, but as it is, Mr. Grove not only looks like the worst boyfriend in history, but Miss Mardle just looks like a doormat. It’s unfortunate.

Okay Sure Agnes and Victor is A Thing Again. Since it’s Victor’s (plot point) birthday, Agnes goes down to see him in the Palm Court restaurant after the King’s visit. They basically recreate their first time there from the first episode, except that Agnes is now much more confident and sure of herself so when Victor asks her to dance she says yes. They’re just as flirty and bantery as ever, so it would appear we’re meant to assume Agnes’ heart isn’t exactly broken over the departure of one Mr. Leclair. They twirl around the room for a while as the music swells so it would seem the show certainly wants us to think they’re romantic or adorable or whatever, so let’s go with it.

Awkward Play is Awkward. After the King’s visit, Selfridge pops into the dressing room to say hello to Ellen Love and Vile Tony before the play they’re being forced to see with the King starts. It’s super awkward, especially when it turns out Mr. Edwards is there, who’s still angry about Selfridge snubbing him before even though Selfridge has no idea what he’s on about. Selfridge tells Ellen he hopes that there’s no hard feelings between them and he’d like to still be friends. He is clearly lying. Ellen says she bears him no ill will and warns him that he’s not going to like the play he’s about to see. Selfridge blusters that of course he’ll love it, because she’s in it, without picking up ANY of the vibes everyone’s been throwing that of course the play is in some way going to refer to him in a negative light. From the shallow end of things: Ellen’s done something jolly with her hair and looks exceptionally lovely.

Selfridge makes his way back to his seat and the play starts. The Selfridges discuss whether the play might be inappropriate for children and what “satirical” in the program means, which obviously should be more warning signs for Selfridge that go right over his head. The play begins and to the surprise of what is likely no one at this point, it’s pretty bad. It first skewers Lady Mae via a thinly veiled representation called Lady Lushington who sports an exact copy of one of Mae’s ridiculous hats and has her voice down exactly.  The guy meant to be Selfridge doesn’t show up until a bit further on, but “Horace Spendrich” is also pretty much Harry to the life. He has an American accent, talks about growing up poor, waves his arms around in that patented Selfridge way and chases after chorus girls. There’s even a line thrown in about Rose and Roddy. It is exceptionally awkward. (But kind of hilarious, in a schadenfreude kind of way.)

Mae and Selfridge both look thunderous as the play progresses, but the audience is laughing uproariously. Once it’s over, Mae vows she’ll have the play closed in a week, but all the Selfridges rush out. Rosalie in particular is deeply upset.

Rose Finds a Backbone. The Selfridges arrive home after the World’s Most Awkward Play and, well, as you might expect there’s a tiny bit of fallout. Rosalie starts shouting at her mother that she should have told her the truth about Roddy. She says she’d still have hated her, but at least she’d have understood, and then stomps off.  Okaaaaay. Rose abruptly says that she’s going to bed. Selfridge asks her to stay (For coffee? A chat?) but she says she really needs to be alone right now. Rose retreats to the bedroom and stares forlornly at herself in the mirror some more. Selfridge chain smokes in the parlor and the music swells in the background, so you know the tension is rising.

Anyway, Rose comes downstairs to see Selfridge and finally have the conversation we’ve been waiting for for like five episodes. He tells her that they can get through this, because it’s just a stupid play. Rose says it matters because what the play said was the truth. She says she was so ashamed watching Rosalie’s reactions to what she was seeing and felt so horribly guilty.

Selfridge repeats his standard mantra about Rose and the kids being everything to him and that he’d be so lost without them blah blah blah wash rinse repeat. Rose (FINALLY) says that Selfridge always says that. Which, you know, is total truth – he says it all the time but apparently it doesn’t actually mean anything. Selfridge asks where things stand between the two of them and Rose says she doesn’t know. Selfridge says he has to go into the store the next day and face crowds of people who saw the play and read the paper and he doesn’t think he can do it if he doesn’t know he’s coming home to her. (Wow – way to yet again put all the agency and responsibility for your feelings onto another person, jerk!) Rose sniffles and asks why it is that he needs other women then, if what he’s said is true. Selfridge insists that he doesn’t and is just a fool and yet again doesn’t actually apologize for or take responsibility for anything. Rose says she’s sorry, but she’s taking the kids and going to Chicago for a while. She leaves a stunned Selfridge in the parlor and we all maybe cheer a little bit, because it’s about time that Rose is allowed to stand up for herself and stop just taking whatever her husband is willing to give her. (Even though it’s apparent this won’t last at all, it’s one of those moments viewers need to see in order to keep caring about Rose’s character. It’s the kind of moment Miss Mardle didn’t get earlier.)

Ending Montage Time! On to Series 2! Our very last ending montage of Series 1 is here! Selfridge returns to the store to face crowds of reporters asking about Vile Tony’s play. He walks the gauntlet of the store floor, getting stared at by all the staff. Mr. Crab, who has clearly gotten the Awesome Stick for this episode, manages to make him feel better by telling him that he’s read the papers and  in response is bringing forward umbrellas because it’s supposed to rain. Rose packs the kids up and exits the Selfridges’ London house as Lois looks on with worry. Rose starts having what looks like a panic attack in the car as it drives away. Selfridge reads his goodbye note from Henri and makes a super hilarious about-to-cry face, ostensibly because he realizes that basically everyone who will tolerate him has left. Agnes stands outside the lovely King Edward VII display window and looks terribly proud of her accomplishment. Victor comes up next to her, smiles and offers her his arm. She takes it and they walk off together. Selfridge roams the halls of his empty store and runs into George Towler, who’s moving boxes around. He tells George that he used to do his job and that he should remember that. George smiles and asks if he could be like Selfridge some day. Selfridge says he doesn’t want to be like him. George says yes he does because he has the store and all his success and a great family too. Selfridge grimaces and bids George good night, telling him to keep up the great work.

And there endeth Series 1. What’d you think? What would you like to see in Series 2? Let’s talk about it! 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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