As the third episode of Rivals begins, everyone is in the Christmas spirit. Taggie O’Hara (Bella Maclean) finds a present with her name on it on the Christmas tree. Caitlin O’Hara (Catriona Chandler) helps her read it and find out that it came from “R”. Before long, Patrick visits the O’Hara residence. Patrick reveals that he and Lavinia broke up so he came earlier than expected. Maud (Victoria Smurfit) can’t believe he’s going to be 21. Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) calls Helen to ask if the kids are around. She tells him to try again tomorrow even though tomorrow is not Christmas. Helen ends up hanging up on him. Lizzie Vereker (Katherine Parkinson) joins Taggie and Caitlin a bit later. Caitlin mentions Ralphie who she claims is Patrick’s friend. She points out the bracelet Taggie got from him. Maud enters and speaks to them briefly. Once she leaves, Caitlin suggests Maud is going to try to ensnare Rupert tonight.

Taggie hopes Rupert isn’t coming. Lizzie tells Taggie to make sure she has time for Ralphie tonight. At the office, Declan (Aidan Turner), Cameron (Nafessa Williams) and others talk about Rupert. Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) joins them and discusses the possibility of annihilating Rupert on national television. Charles comes in and says his mom hasn’t been well. Declan returns home and finds people moving things around. Maud admits she invited a few people. She insists they need a party and it’s their son’s birthday. Shelley and Kevin arrive to help Taggie. Taggie finds out Maud wants to sit next to Rupert. She questions why she’d do that after Rupert sexually assaulted her. Maud thinks Taggie should consider herself lucky. Later, Caitlin changes the name tags. Shelley Makepiece (Emma Shipp) tries to get Patrick to sleep with her. Patrick warns Taggie that Ralphie has arrived. Taggie is surprised to learn that Ralphie brought his girlfriend, Georgina.

Patrick tries to cheer her up and convince her that she’s not stupid. Caitlin tells her she’s the best person ever. Freddie Jones (Danny Dyer) approaches Tony to talk about the business plan and anime. Paul Stratton (Rufus Jones) tells Sarah (Emily Atack) he still believes he’ll be invited to join the Corinium board. James Vereker (Oliver Chris) decides to speak to Joanna Lumley. Maud makes a grand entrance. She speaks to a man about going back to London and starring in one of his films. Tony comes over and speaks to Patrick’s godfather Malhar Verma. Lizzie and Freddie speak in private. Taggie sees Rupert when he arrives at the party. Sarah and Maud notice him as well. Tony prevents Declan from confronting him. Cameron, Deirdre Kilpatrick (Bryony Hannah), and others continue working at Corinium studios. Caitlin tells Rupert she doubts Taggie will ever forgive him. He reveals he sent the bracelet before learning about Ralphie. Monica (Claire Rushbrook) tells Declan not to worry about Rupert.

Caitlin tells Taggie about the bracelet. Taggie decides to take it off. Declan speaks about Patrick since it’s his birthday. Patrick begins speaking until Cameron enters and grabs his attention. He walks over and begins making out with her. Monica joins Tony. Patrick admits he’s very confident. In private, Charles asks Gerald Middleton (Hubert Burton) if he could give him his key so they don’t have to sneak around. Gerald apologizes. If he wants to do anything political, he has to find a wife. Charles suggests he just had too much to drink. Gerald leaves and Charles cries. Rupert approaches Taggie and tries to get her to dance. She grabs the bracelet and tells him to come on. Taggie agrees to accept his apology but not the bracelet. Rupert says Caitlin told him about the mix-up. They continue dancing until Taggie finds a reason to excuse herself. Sarah tells Rupert he’s been ignoring her all night and she expects more from a lover.

Rupert doesn’t expect anything from her. He hopes the feeling is mutual. Tony tells Sarah she should consider a career in television. Cameron watches Tony dance with Sarah so she turns her attention to Patrick. Sarah speaks to Lizzie about Tony who might be trying to hook up with her. Lizzie mentions that Cameron is his mistress. Caitlin runs into Archie (Louis Landau) who makes her laugh. She invites him upstairs for some Malibu. Maud gets prepared and approaches Rupert. She takes him somewhere private and suggests there is something he wants. Rupert says there is something so different about Taggie. That upsets Maud who reminds him that she’s just a child. Declan sees Maud and realizes she is distraught. Tony asks Taggie about the children. She believes they’re up in Caitlin’s room. They find Bas with Felicity and others. Taggie finds Charles crying. He says he has no one. Charles begins experiencing a medical emergency. Tony finds Archie and the others partying.

He learns with Archie and Monica moments later. Tony urges Archie to stay away from Shelley and Caitlin. They see an ambulance arriving. Taggie tries to stop a journalist from taking pictures of Charles who gets into an ambulance. She tells Charles to call her whenever. Rupert finds her inside complaining about all of her responsibilities. She tells him about Charles. Taggie worries that no one will love her. Rupert tries to convince her otherwise. She says he’s not that bad really. They nearly kiss until the dog interrupts. Rupert removes Gerald from the bed so Taggie can have it. He tells her she’s a remarkable person but she might already be asleep. Cameron tells Patrick that her dad is a teacher and her mom is an activist. They divorced when she was 14. Patrick insists he’s going to look after her. Rupert tries to get the film role from the photographer. He agrees to pose drunk for him.

It works and Rupert gets the film roll. Declan asks Maud if he touched her. He realizes she wanted him to. Maud claims he gets to be a big man and she was left there to rot. Cameron insults English people. Patrick claims Kedgeree is another thing they stole during the empire. He offers to take her home. Cameron admits she’s sleeping with her boss so that wouldn’t be a good idea. Rupert returns and speaks to his horse, Rocky. He realizes he has the bracelet in his pocket. Tony surprises Camera when she returns. He asks if she wants to leave now or work her six-week notice. Tony reminds her he told her not to go to that party. He says she doesn’t get to mess with his life. Tony suspects she was jealous. Cameron says nothing happened with that boy. Tony wants her to promise that she’ll never see him again. Cameron agrees. Tony makes her have sex with him if she wants to become the Controller of Programs.

Patrick says goodbye to Caitlin and Taggie. Before he goes, they talk about Cameron. Once he goes, Caitlin tries to find out about Taggie’s love interest. Tag says she hasn’t slept with anyone yet.

 

Rivals Review

The third episode of Rivals had the same issues as the prior episodes. There are far too many characters and none of them are easy to care about. In fact, most of the characters are horrible people who are far easier to hate. The series has pushed its agendas along the way although it does so subtly.

The series really lacks any imagination and any passion leaving it to be a pretty tedious experience overall. The cast is obviously strong, but the script is lacking anything compelling. Throwing in a few sex scenes isn’t going to be enough to hold viewers’ attention through eight glacially slow episodes.

This episode added more characters to an already bloated cast. At this point, it just feels like useless information and won’t matter in the big scheme of things. Again, everyone is horrible. Declan and Maud are obviously terrible parents. Taggie is ready to leap into bed with a sex fiend who already assaulted her once.

Cameron is the most annoying character in the show while Tony is a cheater who controls her. The list can really go on and on. The only characters that may salvage this thing are Lizzie and Freddie. The issue with that is that viewers will have to wade through the trash to reach those scenes that may actually achieve a compelling conclusion.

Otherwise, Rivals is a dull affair. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Rivals can be found here. Find out how to support our independent voice at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying about Rivals here.