Rivals Season 2 Episode 5 Review

The highs are high, and the lows are low on Rivals Season 2 Episode 5. Corinium and Venturer throw down the gauntlet in front of and behind the camera as their bid for the TV license heats up.

While Declan and Cameron are in scenic Ireland filming their Yeats documentary, Rupert makes a bold move to create a celebrity competition program they can sell to the BBC. (Personally, I’d rather listen to Aidan Turner narrate a documentary, but Rupert was ahead of his time with his reality TV bid.)

Yes, even though he’s been kicked off the board, poor Rupert needs something to do with his time and still wants to help his friends. His only other hobby seems to be pining after Taggie.

The show hasn’t advanced to full-on love triangle yet, but Taggie’s overlooked birthday provides an opportunity for it to inch closer. Rupert swoops in, her knight in shining armor, bringing her a puppy (an insane gift in real life but a sweet gesture on a TV show), but Bas has already beat him there with dinner.

Are “Tasil” going to be a thing before this first half of the season is over? It couldn’t be worse timing considering it looks like Rupert and Cameron might be on there way to an ending.

You cant complain Rivals isn’t sexy enough, after all that’s why many people tune in, but this episode’s steaminess comes at a cost. Maud’s affair with Tony isn’t new, but Declan cheating on her for the first time and with Cameron is quite shocking.

Declan’s whole saving grace is that despite being a bad husband at times is that he’s unwaveringly loyal, so changing that about his character makes you question whether he deserve the grace he’s given. Maybe he is just another Rutshire cad with a nice ‘stache. 

The show’s attempt to humanize Tony with the story about him wanting to be a photographer and his father also feels forced. Just let him be the villain! The urge in modern storytelling to always have to be morally grey or redeem the villain isn’t necessary on a soap opera like Rivals.

That’s doubly true when the episode ends with… Tony being the villain!

The “Golden Gauntlet” competition is good cheesy, sweaty fun and a reminder that in between the melodrama Rivals also knows how to serve lightheartedness. The sliming of the loser, or as they call it in the UK “gunge,” will make any 90s kids feel like they are watching an old-school Nickelodeon competition.

That bliss is short-lived though when the next day it’s revealed someone at the celebration stole Venturer’s tapes and replaced them with blanks before they could be delivered to the BBC. Despite his protests it’s revealed Tony does have the tapes (with a great needle drop of “I Think We’re Alone Now.”)

So, viewers are left with a cliffhanger and a whodunnit. Maud seems like the prime suspect as she urges Declan to stay at the post-competition celebration even though he offered to head home. However, in the messy world of Rivals it’s not always who you first suspect.

With one episode left in this first half of the season, there is likely much more drama to come.

What did you think of this episode of Rivals? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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Rivals airs Fridays on Hulu. 

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