As the sixth episode of Rivals begins, Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) receives flowers in her hotel room. Joyce calls her to say Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) won’t be joining her. He’s been invited to dine with Princess Diana this evening. Cameron isn’t happy and throws the flowers over. She’s surprised to learn that Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) is staying nearby. Cameron explains she’s there for Spain’s answer to the British Television Awards. Rupert invites her to join him for dinner. Cameron ends up hanging out with Rupert. At home, Tony complains about Declan to Lady Monica (Claire Rushbrook). Tony insists he does not need Declan. Rupert introduces Cameron to Mary Gordon-Lennox (Anna Acton). The British Ambassador Nicky joins them moments later. During dinner, Cameron is told about going to a bullfight.

Nicky claims the Spanish are obsessed with death. They talk about the award show and whether Cameron will win one. Nicky catches Cameron in private and asks her to be careful with Rupert. He believes Thatcher will call an election this summer. If it goes poorly, Rupert could drift again. Nicky argues that Rupert needs something more permanent to fulfill him. Rupert comes over and tries to find out why Cameron is with Tony. She tells him he’s wasting his time. He tells her to think about the fun they could have. Cameron argues it’s not fun when he makes it this easy. Monica and Tony talk about the Princess. Monica suggests Declan’s departure is a good thing because he can take things in a new direction now. She pitches the idea of showing off his caring side. Monica invites him upstairs. Rupert walks Cameron back to her room. She goes inside alone before walking onto the balcony. Rupert walks onto his balcony.

He ends up coming over and they have sex. Tony has sex with Monica. Rupert and Cameron watch the sunrise together. They have sex again. Cameron tells him that Declan has left them with a hole to fill in the schedule. She needs to come up with some ideas fast. Rupert tries to get her to go out with him. She goes with him. Later, Cameron gets ready for the awards show. Rupert gives her an Indalo. She admits she wishes he could come with her. Rupert is going to catch up on some paperwork. While she’s away, Rupert tries to break into her suitcase. He gets an envelope and leaves. Rupert tries to get the documents copied. Mateo takes care of it while Nicky drags Rupert out. Nicky reveals that Mary is pregnant. He tells Rupert to settle down and he’d be lucky to have Cameron. Rupert says she’s out of bounds. Nicky reminds him that’s never stopped him before. Once Rupert returns and gets the copies, Mateo tells him about a fun club in town.

Rupert sees Cameron coming. He asks Mateo to distract her and he’ll agree to dinner next time. Mateo stops Cameron who doesn’t stick around for long enough. Rupert rushes to return the documents. She doesn’t expect anything when she returns. In the morning, Cameron asks Rupert if he’s running out on her. He says the hooligans started a riot at last night’s Millwall game. If he had been in England, he could’ve intervened sooner. Tony speaks to Bas and Monica about the fiasco. Bas suggests it might be time to try something new. Tony thinks they’ll be set for the next ten years once the IBA gets Cameron’s pitch for the franchise. Cameron makes it home. Taggie dreams about running into Rupert. Ginger arrives outside because he is delivering a message to Declan from Tony. If Declan doesn’t come good on the money he owes, it’ll be the bailiffs next time. Declan (Aidan Turner) hangs out with Maud (Victoria Smurfit) and Caitlin (Catriona Chandler) outside.

Rupert joins them a short time later. They speak to a Reverend about a franchise. Declan says Christmas Mass can be a fixed televised event at Cotchester Cathedral if they win the bid. Once they leave, Declan and Rupert share whiskey. Declan mentions that they’ve approached multiple people, including Enid Spink and Wesley Emerson. They’ve also spoken to Lord Lieutenant Henry Hampshire and Toshi Yamazaki. Toshi’s technology would put them way ahead of Tony. Taggie and Rupert speak in private. He gives her a gift. Freddie is surprised Tony didn’t call in the loan earlier. Rupert suggests he can buy the bluebell wood. He says they can’t risk Tony forcing Declan into bankruptcy. He also has something that will give them an advantage. Rupert gives them the pitch Cameron has been working on. Taggie hears that he sent Tony to meet Princess Diana while he mingled with Cameron.

Declan doesn’t like the idea of using the same dirty tricks as Tony. Taggie agrees. Declan burns Cameron’s draft. Rupert calls them idiots and says principles won’t pay the bills. Freddie agrees with Declan. He says they need to be better. At Corinium, Tony tells everyone about his plans for Corinium Cares. Cameron thinks she’s solved their Declan problem. She discusses creating a glamorous drama following the lives of expats in Malaga. Sab interrupts to say they’re having an emergency meeting in the House of Commons about the Millwall Riots. In private, Cameron tells Tony that she booked them a table for tonight. She’s tired of being locked away. Tony suggests he put her on that stage getting that away, but Cameron says he put herself there. Cameron visits Rupert and finds him playing with his dogs outside. They end up having sex outside. Kevin and Archie (Louis Landau) have sex on the golf course. James (Oliver Chris) has sex with Sarah (Emily Atack).

Cameron wakes up in Rupert’s house and says she thought she’d go home. Rupert has a meeting. He offers to come back and give her a nice send-off. She looks around his house while he’s gone. The doorbell rings. Rupert tells Taggie he knows he deserves the cold shoulder. Cameron takes a package for Rupert. When he returns home, he finds Cameron in a Venturer t-shirt. She asks if he wants to tell her about it. Cameron guesses it’s a sports initiative he’s campaigning for. Rupert says he has something to tell her. He admits he’s working with Declan and Freddie and they’re putting a bid to get Tony out of the picture. Rupert also admits to stealing her work. Cameron knew something wasn’t right. Rupert thinks she would’ve done the same. He insists it wasn’t personal. Cameron says he’ll just make her work harder to be the best in the business.

 

Rivals Review

The sixth episode of Rivals went back off the path and really achieved very little. Instead, it added another angle to the love triangle with Rupert and Cameron hooking up. They fell for each other in the blink of an eye and Rupert’s actions really made no sense. That was cliché and a little silly overall.

For starters, Rupert was the one who was willing to use Cameron and steal her work. However, his entire attitude flipped and he was telling her the truth about Venturer. The relationships have been rushed a lot so that obviously didn’t work. He’s already moved on from Taggie or not. Who knows?

The episode focused far too much on sex scenes without delving deeper into Freddie and Declan’s work to get Venturer off the ground. We also see nothing important such as Tony’s meeting with Princess Diana. The same can be said about the interview with Thatcher which was glanced over previously.

This should’ve been shortened to six episodes so it could’ve gotten to the point much sooner. However, it’s really going nowhere and it’ll probably go nowhere when the series has concluded. This episode had a few moments where the story moved forward but not many. It scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Rivals can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.