Toby is working at the War Office when he hears that Squadron 392 has gone down – that’s Freddie’s squadron. He can’t get any more information at this stage, but tells Garland and Emma – she is aghast, but tries to stifle it – she’s got work to do.
Joe has drinks with Peyton Delane, the owner of his station. He’s “calling him up to the majors” – his own chat show, focusing on news and entertainment. He’s done well in London, but this show’s going to be in America…and it’s going to make him a star. Delane puts the package forward to Joe: it’s very lucrative. He can’t refuse. Joe comes into the reception and sees Americans everywhere leaving – as he explains to Garland, he’ll have to add his name to the list. He’s leaving on Monday evening. Emma is icily restrained about it, but hints that she’s unsurprised that Joe is fleeing the country as war sets in.
Adil sends room service up to Toby via Tom, who doesn’t understand why Toby’s so awkward.
Betsey comes across Sonny playing a trumpet – his father’s. He can’t master it and she teases him about it, but he intends to persist. As they go onstage, a woman appears who doesn’t quite fit with the average clientele of the Halcyon. Betsey sees Feldman remonstrating with the woman, and rushes forward: it’s her mother, Gloria. Betsey’s embarrassed, but also delighted to see her. Gloria seems to have made a fresh start. But Sonny watches on, unsettled and wary of Gloria, and the reaction she incites from Betsey.
Lucian and Lady Hamilton continue their flirtation: she reveals she’s never been to the cinema, thinking it a pastime of the lower classes. He’s charmed, and promises to take her.
Freddie returns, and Emma realizes how tense she’s been until this point, waiting for news of him: he’s unharmed, but his copilot Radimsky’s plane crashed, and he’s recovering in hospital. In sheer relief at his luck, Emma and Freddie go to his room they are interrupted when Lillian comes in, almost catching Freddie and Emma together. After catching Lillian gossiping about what she nearly saw, Garland reveals to Peggy that he suspects Emma and Freddie are seeing each other. He fears he’ll break her heart – through his status or the danger he faces.
Joe’s producer reveals that his show’s been cancelled: Delane doesn’t intend to leave a correspondent in London to cover the war. Joe’s horrified – how can Delane leave the English alone like this? Impassioned, he continues to persevere with Emma, trying to make it clear that he’ll still be supporting England from the sidelines. She remains skeptical. Meanwhile, Lady Hamilton goes to Toby ahead of her date to the cinema with Lucian, and tacitly asks for his blessing: it’s clear she’s nervous. When they arrive at the cinema, she wonders whether, in holding back from new experiences, she’s been the one missing out.
Toby rebukes Adil for sending coffee up to his room: he crossed a line. Adil’s embarrassed and chastened. Meanwhile, romantic awkwardness has reached Lady Hamilton: while her attention is rapt in the cinema, the lights go up to reveal Billy, Kate and Robbie there too – and they’ve spotted her. Mortified, she rushes out in a panic and demands that Lucian find her a car.
Gloria feels small and out of place in the hotel: she gets slightly too drunk and makes a scene, before disappearing. Panicked, Emma and Betsey go on the hunt for her upstairs, before finding her passed out in an empty room. Betsey shows her pain over her mother: she realizes she’s never going to be what she needs.
Joe finds Peyton Delane, and makes the case for staying in England, and the moral responsibility they have to tell the story of the war. Will it fall on deaf ears?
Written by TomSouthwell on Jan 10, 2017