Season 1 - The Spoils of Poynton (1971-1972)
After the deathly dull adaptation of The Golden Bowl I was hesitant to say the least about diving right into another Henry James miniseries. But thankfully The Spoils of Poynton is my kind of jam. Firstly, it is not at all what I assumed it was based on the title. I thought Poynton was a location in some far flung locale that was being sacked. Perhaps I'm forgetting here that Henry James wasn't British and therefore wasn't all about King and Country and conquering. Instead Poynton is a house. A house jammed to the rafters with a lifetime of collecting by Adela Gereth. Mrs. Gereth's collection and home are actually the rightful property of her son Owen now that her husband, Owen's father, has died. The problem that has arisen is that Owen has fallen for one Mona Brigstock. Mona is entirely unsuitable in Mrs. Gereth's mind to understand and revere the collection belonging to Poynton. Mona is the "sporting" type and has designs on putting a billiards table where the classical music instruments are. Into this contretemps walks Miss Fleda Vetch. Miss Vetch is exactly the kind of girl who would look after Poynton and Mrs. Gereth is going to try her best to see that Owen sees this as well. Mrs. Gereth bides her time by removing herself from Poynton, along with all the contents of the house, enraging Mona to no end. Which annoys Owen. Which means Miss Vetch must act as a go-between for Owen and his mother, all the while falling in love with Owen, as Mrs. Gereth had hoped. Fleda doesn't play her hand right and Mrs. Gereth reacts prematurely and no one lives happily ever after. And here's the thing, I so needed a happy ending right now. It's not that I thought the character of Fleda deserved it, but she was played so magnificently by Gemma Jones that I couldn't help but root for her. I mean how could I NOT root for her!?! It's Bridget Jones's mom! It's Louisa Trotter! It's the actress behind so many roles I have loved over the years! Sure she was nothing more here but the crown jewel in Mrs. Gereth's collection that turned out to be paste, but I SO wanted her to have a happily ever after! Even if Owen was a total loser and when he was Elizabeth's husband on Upstairs, Downstairs he was nothing but trouble. But I think Fleda could have succeeded where Elizabeth failed! And as for Mrs. Gereth... well, she's really just an older version of me I fear. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed this so darn much! OK, where's a Maltese cross I can run off to the country with?
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