The Forsytes Season 1 Episode 2 Sees More Secrets Exposed and Passions Revealed

After ending the first hour of The Forsytes with Frances learning the truth about Lousia, it was only a matter of time before others did. Of course, Jolyan does, after finding the blue bird on the couch, but at the very end of The Forsytes Season 1 Episode 2, there’s someone else who learns part of the secret.

That someone else should probably worry about his own family, though. After all, Soames Forsyte is acting in a way that his parents won’t like at all!

A Push to Find Suitable Marriages on The Forsytes Season 1 Episode 2

We continue Soames’s journey into love. It’s the first time he’s felt this way — or so he says — and this does help to understand his swift change in character. In the boardroom, he remains ever the businessman, but he is turning into someone slightly more romantic.

In fact, when Irene tells him that she sold her jewelry for an audition in Paris because of her love of ballet, he doesn’t even blink an eye in realizing what he needs to do. He isn’t going to stop her following her dreams, but he wants to make sure she is safe, and he wants to accompany her.

I can’t help but wonder if things will change once the two marry, which seems to be coming up during the third episode. After all, Soames is a businessman, and his dream is to run the family business. He can’t have a wife who is all over the world performing, can he? Which one is going to give?

The buildup to how scandalous this marriage is going to be was well done. Soames parents are pushing for a very different marriage, one that is suitable for the standing of the family. Yet, Soames has his own mind, and everyone else is far too oblivious to see what he’s doing. They are too selfish to even care about each other, let alone others around them!

Jolyan Forgets All About His Wife on The Forsytes

Meanwhile, we can see that Frances have everything to worry about when it comes to Louisa. For 10 years, Louisa has kept herself hidden. Although, I do have to question why Louisa would make a life for herself so close to Jolyan if she didn’t want him to eventually come across her. Sure, Soho is a world away, but it was only a matter of time before paths crossed.

My heart goes out to Jolyan, though, and he has every right to be angry and disappointed in Lousia. She should have told him that she was pregnant with his child — as it turns out, children — even if it meant changing everything for him on his wedding day. He was owed that right, so that he could have made a decision at the time, instead of losing out on 10 years with his children.

Now he can’t even be a father to them. Louisa wants him nowhere near these children, and it continues to be unfair to both him and the children. They may not be able to be happy families and it will shake up their world to learn that their mother lied to them, but the truth has a way of coming out.

However, what does annoy me even more is that Jolyan just seems to forget that he has a wife at home. Frances is already worried about what Louisa means for her marriage to Jolyan, and it’s pretty clear that he’s likely to pick the woman he fell in love with in Italy rather than his wife of 10 years.

While we’re getting flashbacks of Louisa and Jolyan, we could do with flashbacks of him and Frances as well. There’s little chemistry between this married couple, as they keep their feelings subdued due to their standing, and it’s hard to route for Frances at this point. If The Forsytes wants to create drama that we can be engrossed in, we need to feel like both women have his heart.

Of course, the ending is the biggest drama. James has no idea what is really going on between Jolyan and Louisa, but he is able to create a scandal from what he’s seen. Maybe he should pay closer attention to what’s going on at home, though, as Soames’s own relationship could change everything.

The Forsytes airs on Sundays at 9/8c on PBS and streams on PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video and PBS Passport.