Gentleman Jack – Two Jacks Don’t Suit

By: Kelly Kearney

While on their honeymoon Anne and Ann run into the outspoken and untamed Isabell “Tibb” Norcliffe – one of Anne’s exes and closest confidants. With her overwhelming knowledge of Lister’s conquests, and her total lack of tact, Tibb threatens to derail the newlywed’s blissful trip as questions about Mariana Lawton fall from her lips. It’s a name that’s never far from Anne’s mind, but for her wife who is completely in the dark about her love’s past, this name brings up a myriad of feelings and surprising reveals. Meanwhile, back in Halifax the rumors of the two women living together at Shibden Hall causes a stir in the Walker family who makes it their mission to rescue their fragile Ann from the clutches on the town “Jack.” In the latest episode, Anne and Ann start their forever journey fighting wars from all sides but their dedication to each other never seems to waver.

Tibb Stirs the Pot

We begin on the Lister/Walker honeymoon where the two are enjoying a nice get away when a surprise pop-in from Isabella “Tibb” Norcliffe (Joanna Scanlan) throws a wrench in their goodtime. Tibb, who we quickly find out is one of Anne Lister’s (Suranne Jones) exes, is larger than life and quite different from Anne Lister and certainly her wife. The woman is loud, brash and unapologetically herself. And if it wasn’t for the fact, she spoiled dinner by mentioning Marianna Lawton, anyone would call her the life of the party. When Anne Lister’s face changes at hearing the name of her longest love, her wife immediately notices the difference and questions who this woman is. She’s equally surprised to hear that she’s the sister of her doctor – the good Steph Belcombe who helped her so much with her depression. As the wheels turn in Ann Walker’s (Sophie Rundle) head, Tibb’s brain is running a mile a minute wondering what this sweet and innocent woman could have in common with her experienced former paramour, Anne. The following day she questions her about it and wonders if Ann Walker can intellectually stimulate her genius of a friend. Anne does her best to explain their relationship but when Tibb asks whether or not Marianna supports this marriage, the mood between the two chills. Anne practically pleads with Tibb not to mention anything else about her past to her new wife; she’s delicate and certainly the financial situation Lister’s in is just as delicate. Tibb catches that vibe right away and does her best to put a lid on what she knows, but some of the damage is already done as Ann Walker always assumed she was her wife’s first; after all, Anne Lister told her that. As for Anne, she’s also concerned about what Mariana will think of her marital situation–20 years she was dedicated to their love and many of those feelings still linger. Time will tell how Lister deals with this but as we have seen in episode one, Mariana is still sending broken- hearted love letters to the newly married woman, so I doubt things will go well. Sooner or later, regardless of Tibb, Anne is going to have to deal with the past if she plans to move on to the future.

After a revealing time with Tibb in Paris, the two Ann/es decide to extend their honeymoon and head off to the French Alps. Ann Walker can’t wait to climb it, according to Marion Lister (Gemma Whelan), who delivers the news to Ann’s Aunt Ann (Stephanie Cole), the Walker family matriarch. The woman can’t believe what she’s hearing; her waif of a niece climbing a mountain with the town’s most notorious womanizer? She fills Marion’s ear with rumors and insinuations about her sister, sending fraught woman straight to her own aunt with worry about what people think of Anne. Aunt Anne (Gemma Jones) blows off Miss Walker’s negativity and tells Marion their job is to support Anne. Her differences make her extraordinary and something to cherish, not admonish and shun. Nobody has Anne Lister’s back like her aunt.

The Truth (Sort of) Comes Out!

In Geneva at the foot of the Alps Anne comes clean about her past with Mariana. Assuming her wife was as inexperienced as she was, the news of this past love comes as a shock to Ann, but she handles it as best as she can. Anne is much older than Ann is and there is bound to be many chapters she hasn’t opened up about her wife. But their love is strong– or so she assumes, so the two agree to put the Lawton news aside for now. Of course, Anne never went into detail about all of her conquests and how important Marianna was to her; she chose to edit the truth as to not dampen the bedroom mood.

Meanwhile back in Halifax things are changing for the Washington family. Now that Ann Walker has moved into Shibden Hall, Anne Lister asked the Walker right hand man, Samuel (Joe Armstrong), to move into the empty Crowsnest with his family. Once settled his newly married daughter, Suzannah (Amy James-Kelly), comes for a visit and that’s when we learn her home life with Thomas (Tom Lewis) isn’t quite ideal. It seems the Sowden lifestyle leaves a lot to be desired as Suzannah calls them “uncivilized” and tells her sister that Thomas tries his best, but his uncle is always passing off lewd remarks about her and there’s only so much he can do about it. The adjustment from the life that she was used to, to this pig farming life is a lot harder than she expected it to be. When her father, Samuel Washington overhears his daughter’s disappointment with her new home, he heads over to the Sowden’s where he finds Thomas brother severely beaten at the hands of his new son-in-law’s. The boy says the beating was from joking around with his brother’s wife, but when Samuel questions about their father Sam’s whereabouts, and that letter that their Uncle Ben (Anthony Flanagan) said he never wrote, he starts to question what really is going on at the pig farm. Things are not adding up with the disappearance of his Thomas’s father and if Samuel is suspicious others are bound to catch on sooner or later. As a father, he trusted this boy to keep his daughter safe and if Thomas is up to something he will figure out what it is.

The Couple Returns

After an annoying trouble with their carriage, the two Ann/es are welcomed home to Shibden Hall. Once they’re settled in Anne broaches the subject of Mariana and wonders if it isn’t best to invite the woman over since she is in such a wretched state. Anne never digs deeply into why the woman is struggling, which is why Ann Walker, full of Honeymoon hope and joy, thinks it’s a nice idea and gives her wife the green light. Maybe Anne thinks Mariana will move on once she meets the kind and “very pretty” Miss Walker, or maybe she loves a good lesbian mess–who knows, but this visit isn’t as innocent as she is letting on and poor Ann has no idea what she just agreed to.

After the Mariana issue is settled the couple heads off to Crowsnest for some packing. There, they fall into a sensuous moment on the couch and unbeknownst to them, Suzannah’s younger siblings are hiding in the room. Needless to say, the kids get an ear and eyeful, and they are mortified by the sensuous scene unfolding. Later, when the two-return home, Anne heads to her study where she reads another grief-stricken letter from Marianna. She decides then and there to concentrate on her marriage and writes Mrs. Lawton a goodbye letter–but the pain from that kiss-off is obvious. Anne Lister might be concentrating on her new wife and their lucrative future, but it’s clear her heart still beats for Mariana.

While all of this moving houses-mountain climbing- Parisian holidays were going on, Ann Walker’s family took it upon themselves to end this blissful union before their names are the next to be dragged through Halifax pigsties. The Priestley’s (Peter Davison and Amelia Bullmore), led by the ever- nosey Mrs., decides to use Ann Walker’s mental instability as a way to claim her incompetence and get her away from Shibden Hall. It’s an underhanded tactic that was both efficient at the time and well used by families with wayward daughters to whom wouldn’t conform to the patriarchal society they were chained. They are convinced that Anne Lister is simply after their niece’s money and decide to ask a young suitor, John Ingham, to marry her off. Her aunt isn’t getting any younger, and with Ann at Shibden they choose to move her cousin in to look after the woman. It is an obvious tell that Ann Walker is no longer needed as caretaker to the ageing woman and could be written out of the family for good. After all, she offered to help her aunt in the past and the woman refused, and now the young Miss Rawson (Poppy Allen-Quarmby) is going to be taking that role on? Family dynamics are on display here and this union means their reputation is at stake. That finds them willing to do whatever it takes to protect their niece– and by niece, they really mean inheritance.

Things get even worse when the two Ann/es head to the Walker estate Lightcliffe to bring Ann’s Aunt Anne a gift from their travels. The woman instantly berates them with insults and accusations about their lifestyle and says her niece’s choice of roommates could isolate her from the family. Obviously upset, Ann pleads with her aunt to be reasonable, but the woman sticks to her guns. Ann, with her head held high leaves with her wife and doesn’t look back. She’s chosen this life and nobody, not even her aunt, can change that. It’s why when she gets back to Shibden Hall she immediately starts working on her will to combine her estate fortune with her new wife’s. The only hitch in the plan seems to be Elizabeth Walker (Katherine Kelly), her sister, and the woman’s overbearing husband, Captain Sutherland (Derek Riddell). When the two hear word, that Ann is planning on dividing up the family estate, Sutherland disagrees with his wife and thanks the property should stay with Elizabeth. Neither of them know the two women are secretly married, and since Sutherland is always looking for money under every Walker cushion, he decides he is going to investigate this Crownest division himself.

As the episode ends we head back to the Sowden farm where Ben has been engaging in drinking and romance with Thomas mother. He’s also on to his brother’s death and knows his nephew must have fed the man to their pigs. When Thomas becomes irate after catching his mother in an embrace with his uncle, he orders the man to leave, but Ben uses his knowledge to blackmail his Thomas into letting him stay. He will keep their secret if he can keep sleeping in Thomas’ mother’s bed. Things are getting worse at the Sowden’s, so it is a good thing Samuel Washington is on the case.