If you want better cliffhanger effectiveness
Choose A Woman of Substance, Season 1. It scores 4.4 vs 3.0 for cliffhanger effectiveness, with a 3.8 overall score.
Rivals, Season 2 Review
Bottom Line
Choose it for exuberant acting, sharp comedy, lavish 1980s style, and richer character drama. Skip it if crowded storylines, abundant sex, or a frustrating split-season release outweigh the fun.
Best for
Best for adults who enjoy glossy ensemble soaps, outrageous British comedy, tangled romance, 1980s style, and morally messy character drama.
Not for
Not ideal for viewers seeking restrained sexual content, realistic drama, simple plotting, or a complete season that can be watched without a long release interruption.
Verdict
Rivals Season 2 largely improves on its breakout first run by giving the ensemble more emotional depth without sacrificing the outrageous comedy, sex, glamour, and corporate scheming that define Rutshire. David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Emily Atack, Claire Rushbrook, and the broader cast earn strong praise, while the costumes, sets, soundtrack, and dialogue make the 1980s world feel vivid and distinctive. The main tradeoffs are structural: too many simultaneous relationships can blur together, several supporting stories feel rushed, and the split weekly release interrupts a naturally bingeable soap. Most critics embrace the excess, though one finds it vapid, and Monica’s midseason death draws serious criticism for mishandling queer representation.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
49 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.024 (49%)
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Positive 3.5-4.416 (33%)
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Neutral 2.5-3.49 (18%)
Pros
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The season drew overwhelmingly enthusiastic notices, including several maximum-score reactions and claims that it improves on the first season.
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The playful operatic vocal score gives the show a distinctive comic voice that comments on the onscreen excess.
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Lavish estates, pastel pools, polo fields, television studios, and tactile period details create an immersive, affluent 1980s world.
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Enthusiasm for more episodes is very high, with several critics eager for the second half and a future season.
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The comedy ranges from sharp dialogue to full physical farce, with many critics highlighting the season’s relentless laughs and eccentric English silliness.
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The leads bring swagger, menace, vulnerability, romance, and comic warmth to an intentionally exaggerated world. David Tennant and Alex Hassell receive especially strong praise.
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The strongest romantic pairings feel unexpectedly tender and emotionally charged, especially Lizzie and Freddie and the scenes between Rupert and Taggie.
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The dialogue is consistently witty, cheeky, and packed with knowingly outrageous period jokes.
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This is exuberant grown-up escapism for viewers who enjoy glamorous soap, broad comedy, and unapologetic excess.
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Large comic set pieces, interlocking secrets, and multiple revelations are handled with impressive control, particularly in the dinner-party episode.
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Carefully chosen 1980s songs reinforce the period, sharpen jokes, and heighten romance and conflict.
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Rutshire feels expansive and lived-in, with interlocking homes, companies, political circles, and social hierarchies that support the sprawling ensemble.
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The ensemble is widely praised for committing fully to the show’s heightened tone while keeping its characters human. One sharply negative take found some performances embarrassed by the material.
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The expanded ensemble is a major strength, with Claire Rushbrook, Emily Atack, Lisa McGrillis, Bella Maclean, and others turning quieter roles into memorable highlights.
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Big hair, crushed velvet, bright florals, and deliberately tacky fashion make the 1980s setting vivid, funny, and instantly recognizable.
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The adaptation preserves Jilly Cooper’s wit, sensuality, class satire, and larger-than-life characters while making thoughtful modernizing changes.
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The writing successfully juggles comedy, melodrama, romance, satire, and character depth. Occasional overcrowding and rushed subplots are the main weaknesses.
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The corporate feud, affairs, betrayals, and emotional fallout create rich soapy drama without abandoning the show’s playful tone.
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Reversals, betrayals, scandals, and romantic shifts remain juicy and frequently jaw-dropping.
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The best set pieces, especially the crowded dinner-party farce, are staged with precise comic timing and escalating visual chaos.
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Rutshire expands beyond the central feud, adding new histories, families, social layers, and links to other Cooper stories.
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Rupert’s public destruction shows how scandal, broadcasting, and political image can be weaponized to dismantle a person’s career and relationships.
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Its unusual blend of 1980s broadcasting politics, country-house soap, sexual farce, and social commentary gives the series a distinctive identity.
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The expanded episode order gives the story more room to deepen characters and broaden Rutshire beyond the first season.
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Rupert, Monica, Maud, Taggie, Sarah, and several supporting women receive richer, more mature arcs. The season is strongest when it lets the glamorous surface give way to vulnerability and consequence.
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Beneath the glossy debauchery, the season explores class, power, sexism, hidden sexuality, loyalty, consequences, and the fragility of love.
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The tangled romances and escalating feuds are highly compulsive. The fragmented release schedule makes the season less satisfying to consume week by week.
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Most critics find the season irresistibly funny, glamorous, and addictive. A small minority sees the same excess as vapid, exhausting, or empty.
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As a glossy bonkbuster and heightened prime-time soap, the season delivers sex, scandal, comedy, romance, and melodrama with confidence.
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The season is widely regarded as a confident, richer continuation that adds darker consequences and more complex relationships. A few critics find it looser or less substantial.
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The 1987 election, class hierarchy, workplace sexism, and Thatcher-era prejudice add context and sharper stakes, though the satire can remain soft.
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The hyper-saturated palette, sweeping countryside, playful camerawork, and extravagant interiors create a bold look, though some flourishes can be too much.
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Inventive camera movement and bold compositions add energy and emotional emphasis. A few flourishes are so obvious that they feel heavy-handed.
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Season 2 resumes the established feuds, romances, and Rutshire tone smoothly, making the expanded story feel like a confident continuation.
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Hints from the wider Rutshire Chronicles suggest an appealing path toward a broader Jilly Cooper television universe.
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The scripts balance sharp dialogue, eccentric jokes, emotional turns, and complicated ensemble plotting with considerable skill.
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Escalating revenge, political scandal, and unresolved relationships keep the season tense and leave viewers eager for the remaining episodes.
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The show is knowingly cartoonish and occasionally implausible, but most critics see that unreality as part of its charm rather than a flaw.
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Greater vulnerability and consequence give the season more heart, especially in its romances and family conflicts. Monica’s death lands as anger and disappointment rather than satisfying tragedy.
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The show gives women and marginalized characters more space while engaging with period sexism and homophobia. Monica’s death is a major exception, criticized as a dated queer-character trope.
Cons
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The abundant sex and nudity are central to the show’s comic identity and are often embraced as part of the fun. Some critics find the excess tiring, while others miss the first season’s freer erotic energy.
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The season generally deepens its moral stakes by making selfish choices carry consequences. Monica’s abrupt death, however, is criticized for cutting off her agency rather than completing her arc.
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Hayley Atwell fits Helen well, but her American accent is inconsistent and occasionally slips.
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The season creates strong anticipation and memorable shocks, but Monica’s episode-six ending is criticized as harmful and dramatically unjustified.
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The central rivalry moves well, but some secondary relationships are rushed or denied enough screen time.
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Most scenes move briskly, but one ambitious dinner-party sequence interrupts its own rhythm with distracting asides.
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The many affairs, business loyalties, family histories, and new characters can be difficult to track. The central Tony-Rupert-Cameron conflict remains clear enough to anchor the chaos.
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Story momentum is generally strong, but the hybrid weekly and split-season release pattern is repeatedly criticized as confusing and frustrating.
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Most characters retain recognizable flaws while gaining depth, though Taggie’s repeated pining can feel tiresome and overly static.
Cast & Creators
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Author / Executive ProducerCooper’s influence is felt throughout the adaptation’s wit, sensuality, class detail, and character depth. The season is viewed as a fitting continuation of her world.
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ComposerHalama’s cod-operatic vocal score gives the series a playful, distinctive musical commentary on its sexual and social chaos.
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ComposerHolt’s cod-operatic vocal score gives the series a playful, distinctive musical commentary on its sexual and social chaos.
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Rupert Campbell-BlackHassell is repeatedly singled out for making Rupert charismatic, vulnerable, and increasingly three-dimensional. His chemistry and emotional transparency turn the reformed-cad arc into a season highlight.
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Sarah StrattonAtack receives some of the season’s strongest praise for making Sarah sympathetic, devastating, and hilarious, particularly during the dinner-party farce.
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Tony BaddinghamTennant enthusiastically embraces Tony’s full villain turn, chewing scenery with enough charisma and humor to make the character’s cruelty entertaining.
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Monica BaddinghamRushbrook’s Monica is widely praised as quietly moving, wounded, manipulative, and increasingly dangerous. Her controlled performance makes Monica one of the season’s standout supporting characters.
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Taggie O’HaraMaclean keeps Taggie as the show’s quiet heart while adding maturity and new shades to a previously passive character.
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Freddie JonesDyer brings comic relief, warmth, and unexpected romantic tenderness to Freddie, especially opposite Katherine Parkinson.
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Lizzie VerekerParkinson remains a major emotional asset, making Lizzie’s secret romance with Freddie unexpectedly tender and moving.
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Valerie JonesMcGrillis is highlighted as a comic supporting standout, turning Val’s vulgarity and social striving into memorable entertainment.
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James VerekerChris is praised for making James brilliantly repellent, using committed comic unpleasantness to sharpen the farce.
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Helen GordonAtwell is considered an excellent fit for Helen and integrates smoothly into the ensemble, although her American accent is inconsistent.
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Malise GordonEverett slots smoothly into the ensemble as Malise and adds useful history and pressure to Rupert’s storyline.
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Declan O’HaraTurner gives Declan a grounded, sensible presence that steadies the show’s excess, though one hostile review felt he looked embarrassed by the material.
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Maud O’HaraSmurfit is praised for Maud’s stage work and charged scenes with Declan, though one strongly negative critic thought she seemed embarrassed by the material.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other TV Shows, this product is above average in dialogue quality, episode structure, season length, near average in sexual content level, acting quality, below average in cliffhanger effectiveness, character consistency, editing quality.
Summary
48 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher29 (60%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts15 (31%)
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Below average 0.4+ pts lower4 (8%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| dialogue quality | 4.8 | 3.4 | +1.4 |
| episode structure | 4.7 | 3.4 | +1.3 |
| season length | 4.5 | 3.1 | +1.4 |
| humor | 4.8 | 3.7 | +1.1 |
| critic appeal | 5.0 | 3.8 | +1.2 |
| writing quality | 4.5 | 3.4 | +1.1 |
| score quality | 5.0 | 3.9 | +1.1 |
| cliffhanger effectiveness | 3.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better sexual content level
Choose Dark Winds, Season 4. It scores 4.8 vs 3.4 for sexual content level, with a 4.4 overall score.
If you want better episode pacing
Choose What It Feels Like For A Girl, Season 1. It scores 4.5 vs 3.0 for episode pacing, with a 4.1 overall score.
If you want better emotional impact
Choose Human Vapor, Season 1. It scores 4.5 vs 3.6 for emotional impact, with a 3.8 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Succession
- Compared: class conflict and comic style Its wealthy power struggle is framed as Succession filtered through broader British sex comedy.
- Compared: tone and corporate rivalry The show is likened to Succession with a wilder, more comedic 1980s personality.
Bridgerton
- Similar: split-season release schedule Its release pattern is compared with Bridgerton’s split-season approach, but judged less viewer-friendly.
Killing Eve
- Compared: queer-character death trope The Monica storyline is compared with Killing Eve as another example of the criticized trope.
FAQ
Is Season 2 better than Season 1?
Most critics consider it at least as entertaining and often richer, with stronger character development and broader world-building. A few miss the first season’s lighter, more concentrated energy.
Is it still very sexually explicit?
Yes. Sex, nudity, and bawdy humor remain central to the show’s identity, although reactions range from enthusiastic approval to fatigue with the excess.
What are the strongest parts of the season?
The acting, witty dialogue, comic set pieces, period costumes, production design, soundtrack, and deeper character arcs receive the most consistent praise.
What are the main weaknesses?
The crowded ensemble can make relationships difficult to track, some supporting stories feel rushed, and the split weekly release schedule repeatedly frustrates critics.
Does it stay faithful to Jilly Cooper’s books?
It preserves Cooper’s sensuality, wit, class satire, and larger-than-life characters while making modernizing changes that several critics feel add useful depth.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Martin Carr - Entertainment Journalist
- Review score
- 4.7
Article Reviews
techradar.com
Rivals season 2 episode 6 has ended its mid-season break with a shock death that absolutely nobody saw coming — but not only was it...
- Review score
- 1.5
theartsdesk.com
Will viewers tire of Rivals before It runs out of Rutshire Chronicles to adapt? Not if these screen versions of Jilly Cooper’s novels about...
- Review score
- 4.4
telltaletv.com
Corinium and Venturer's competition heats up the market and the sheets on Rivals Season 2 Episode 4. Read on for our review.
- Review score
- 4.4
empireonline.com
Alex Hassell and David Tennant lead the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper's books — streaming now. Read the Empire review.
- Review score
- 4.0
huffpost.com
The Hulu series is one of the horniest shows on television.
- Review score
- 4.0
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