‘Rivals’ Season 2 Returns in Time for the Funeral

What I love most about Rivals is that it sneaks up on you. One minute you are howling with laughter at a beautifully staged, old-fashioned comedy of manners, chortling over the parodies of 1980s-era British TV shows, and gasping at the lavish sex scenes. The next, you’re crying harder than you thought possible over characters who don’t really even deserve your compassion.

Disney programmed the first half of Rivals Season 2 to maximize its Emmy chances, only to see its work be in vain. The announcement that Part 2 would arrive in mid-November during Emmys week was clearly originally designed to ride whatever nominations it got. (Clearly, no one expected “all but snubbed,” but here we are.)

One might have seen the move to Wednesdays – creating a three-episode mid-season premiere drop mid-week! – as punishment for the show’s failings. However, in this case, the Wednesday in question isn’t just any old Wednesday. It’s Armistice Day, a day of mourning in the U.K. for the lost generations of World Wars I and II, and the empire that collapsed in their wake. British viewers are already primed to be emotional; staging Lady Monica Baddingham’s funeral as the opening salvo of this trio of installments arriving today is simply taking advantage of an opportunity. Tony would approve.