Conflicting Accounts
James is trying to come to terms with the news that Olivia Lytton has accused him of rape. He’s also trying to figure out how to deal with the reporters and journos who are following him around. This is a huge scandal, and it’s given Kate Woodcroft cause to pursue this further. Unfortunately, James and Kate are also in competition with each other for James’ attention.
James is the subject of allegations which have yet to be proven in a court of law. As a result, he has been stripped of his title as an MP and awaits further proceedings. ..
Kate’s aide Maggie believes that James is a rapist, pointing out how good-looking he is and that’s why he’s trouble. Unfortunately, this charge also has a knock-on effect in parliament as the Prime Minister comes under fire for supporting James through all of this. Chris urges him not to let Whitehouse’s mistakes drag him down too. ..
James goes to see Chris, which he does so down the back alleys of the parliament building. There’s some really annoying tilted camera angles (dutch tilts, we’ll be referencing that a lot here!), as he promises James that this will be over soon, praising the Libertines. For now though, James is to keep a low profile, although he urges Sophie to be there for him in court.
Sophie has been struggling with her own issues for some time now. She’s alienated most of her friends and is losing support from her peers. Sophie is particularly regretful of how she never pursued her own dreams and instead devoted herself to supporting James’ political career. ..
The flashbacks here are mostly of James and Sophie’s past, with a few featuring Ellie. However, they don’t really add anything to the show. At least not yet anyway.
The jury is told to stay off the internet and not to conduct their own research. They’re also not allowed to discuss the case outside these four walls. Kate Woodcroft is for the prosecution while Miss Amanda Regan is with the defence.
Olivia Lytton tells the court that she and James Whitehouse had an affair a week after their break-up, and that he committed the rape with her in the lift. She says that she didn’t know what was happening until it was too late.
On May 18th, Olivia started working at the building. A few days later, she had a flashback about bumping into James earlier. James invited her for a drink and they went out together. A week later, James booked a hotel and began their affair. ..
On the 5th October, James broke things off with Olivia but she was distraught as she never wanted the affair to end because she was in love with him. Hearing about this from Sophie, who turns and leaves court, rushing out the doors and tumbling through a surreal bunch of past events before tumbling to the floor is too much for her.
The Episode Review
The Dutch tilts in this show are really distracting and take away from the story.
Olivia is the clear choice here, but it’s hard to know who to root for. She has alternate stories and right now, I’m rooting for her. Whether that’s actually intended or not is unclear, but it’s hard to get behind a liar and arrogant Tory MP like James. Sophie isn’t much better either, and I’m not quite sure what she expected to hear coming out of the court like that.
The first two episodes of the show have been rough around the edges, and hopefully this one will improve in the coming episodes.
