Critic Reviews
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It is television as X-rated pantomime. And it is hugely entertaining, just like the first series. It works because the writers and actors are canny throughout.
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Despite its deliberate corniness, this is also gloriously uplifting television. It is unashamedly celebratory and perhaps even better than the last series.
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The dialogue is, as ever, fabulous. .... How best to reward such exquisitely knowing escapism? Ten stars? Ten thousand stars? Rivals is beyond earthly praise.
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While Season 1 was a delightful entry into this over-the-top world of the British elite, Season 2 has taken things up a notch with a tonally perfect and exceptional continuation of a truly scandalous series.
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Season 2 of this undeniably enjoyable Jilly Cooper adaptation comes with more heart, this time around — yet other organs still abound in TV's silliest, most decadent bonkbuster.
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As overstuffed as Rivals is, the back and forth between Tony and Rupert is so delicious to watch that the frustration over the underserved storylines is secondary to the viewing experience.
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With plots sprawling over the two TV companies, multiple complicated relationships and storylines competing for the most important, this second instalment feels a little looser than the first – but its glorious glow of mischief remains.
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It’s impossible to recapture the novelty of Rivals when it first hit, or to continue the constant partner-swapping that made season 1 such a hoot. So it wisely retreats. .... Her [Jilly Cooper] legacy looks secure: the residents of Rutshire are in safe hands.
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You might have found yourself rooting for extramarital affairs in Season 1, but Season 2 is ready to douse you in some cold water and remind you that all actions have consequences. That's what makes the series work: you get the good and the bad.
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It is well-written and well-acted, but it aspires to nothing more than being fun. Real, associable human emotions are kept at arm’s length in favour of stylised bucolic horniness.