‘Victoria’ Season 3 Finale: “The White Elephant” Recap

Previously on Victoria: After two thirds of a season at odds, Victoria and Albert finally make things up between them, complete with a dramatic chase through the rain and a sort of awkward realization that they are, well, the people they are. All of this, of course, happens just in time for Albert to dream up the idea of the Great Exhibition, a huge event meant to highlight the best in invention and industry from countries the world over. He engages a gardener/architect to design him a massive glass structure, which will come to be known as the Crystal Palace, to house all these wonders in the middle of Hyde Park. In his element hyping the wonder of modern invention, Albert’s the most likeable he’s been in weeks, and it’s nice. Elsewhere, the Duke of Monmouth has poor Duchess Sophie dragged off to an insane asylum (maybe?) after he deduces that she’s stepping out on him with the help. Read our full recap of “A Public Inconvenience” here.

Now that we’ve officially arrived at the Season 3 finale of Victoria, a lot of plots suddenly need to resolve themselves, so it becomes clearer than ever why the season’s penultimate episode had to deal with the Vicbert rift on its own. Their main storyline this week concerns the Great Exhibition and whether or not Albert will pull it all off. (Spoiler alert: He does.) The Exhibition itself is the sort of season finale extravaganza we expect from shows like this, with plenty of glorious costumes, huge crowds and massive setpieces.

Victoria is now her husband’s ultimate cheerleader, reminding him to sleep at regular intervals and using herself and her royal status to help sell season tickets to the event. This is, I suppose, sweet, but not super interesting – though Victoria’s multiple affirmations about her belief in Albert’s vision and ability are well done, and likely a balm to those who needed some Vicbert cuteness after weeks of fighting. Albert finally manages to be a great dad, realizes that Feodora is a total grifter after weeks of ignorance, and admits Victoria was right about all of it. It’s basically what we’ve been waiting all season to see! It would have been rather nice to see some of this before the last fifteen minutes of Season 3, but we can't have everything.