SPOILERS Rivals Season 2 🥳

[Blossombunnyy]

On Disney in May 15th 2026

Who's excited?

I can't wait the trailer looks so good.

I hope Monica will do a Bobby Ewing and appear alive, just stepping out from the shower.

As a three-hander between Katherine Parkinson, David Tennant and Claire Rushbrook, last night's episode was just stunning. I actually didn't particularly care WHAT was happening. It was excellent character acting all around.

Oh, this isn’t a bad theory at all actually, hadn’t thought of this! The combo of not seeing the car or seeing her, and Rupert delivering the news to Tony rather than a policeman make it credible! How long do we have to wait for the second half of the series?

I’ve just listened to the latest official Rivals podcast and it sounds like Monica is really dead and they spoke about how shocked and upset the whole cast were about it. Jilly was on board with the change in storyline. David joked about keeping Claire in the WhatsApp group.

Have we had the very smooth and expensive private GP, Dr Benson yet ?

Ben Willbond would make an excellent Dr Benson !

Too sad to kill off Monica. And I feel they’ve effectively killed off Tony too.

My immediate reaction was that she wasn't really dead. But I just saw a trailer for the second half (says coming in November) and I'm pretty sure she is. So disappointing. Incredible acting in that last episode.

Part 2 coming in November! FFS

Looks like they’ve included Argentina as a setting.

Just watched the trailer
Cannot wait

ooh they've definitely got the Hunt ball in it. I'm cancelling Disney for the summer and getting it back in November!

Sorry over 24 hours late to the party or not. That was so sad. I cried. Monica was my favorite character and I wanted her to get her happy ending.

We also had the plates. Where were they from that they were so in fashion that we have all supped from that pattern?!!

I loved the meta-arc of the series construction. As the contrast with last week’s particularly joyous and summer funshine episode with this weeks dark, broody, stormy episode reflected the emotional range within this show. 👏 writers, actors, production 👏.

5 months and counting!!

If I'd realised that were splitting the season, I would have delayed watching!
The last episode was brilliant but very out of balance with all the preceding episodes where sex with anyone anywhere was the norm. The acting was brilliant from the characters dealing with the true price of infidelity .
I read the book years ago when it was released so can barely remember it, but since you're telling me that they changed Monica's storyline, I guess it doesn't matter.
I was enjoying the Sapphic undercurrent between Monica and Enid, and sad that it won't go anywhere.
My memory of the book is that I enjoyed Lizzie and Freddie the best as characters, and Rupert and Taggie the least - I just never "got" them as a couple.

Favourite scene - anything where Tony Baddingham eats. Tennant is hilarious the moment you give him a knife and fork

the actress playing Caitlin is extraordinarily pretty

The mugs were Bilton’s Spring Bouquet and they probably came from the Argos catalogue.
The china that was everywhere that year was Eternal Beau. I must have bought bits of it for wedding gifts for at least four friends. Maybe they are all too posh for it in Rivals though.

Nearly finished the 6th episode. Oh. My. GOD!!!!!!

The make up artist didn't do the beautiful Victoria Smurfit any favours with the harsh make up.
Mind you, as somebody who was "in my prime" during the 80s, its amazing that I ever got any sex, as the hair , make up and fashion of that era was soooo bad.

Ok that really grinds my gears. I know this show is basically a heterosexual romp and that’s fine and that’s what I expected it to be and as a queer female viewer I was enjoying it. Was pleasantly surprised to have some decent gay male representation also. Then really surprised and pleased when it looked like they might actually remember lesbians exist also - most shows don’t. I would so much rather they never went near a lesbian storyline than had a major character get to the verge of admitting her feelings for, and possibly her history with, another woman and then IMMEDIATELY kill her off with a falling tree in the next scene.

I’m sure the show runners think they are just storytelling in the normal way but they really need to educate themselves in the history of the ‘bury your gays’ trope and queer characters getting killed off at about a 50% rate, it sometimes feels like, in mainstream shows. I don’t know how they all manage to be so clueless about it. I remember Sally Wainwright killing off Sarah Lancashire’s girlfriend in ‘Last Tango in Halifax’ (in a car crash, amazingly enough) and then seeming surprised that people were upset about it. ‘Derry Girls’ did slightly better I guess, after the first time Claire kissed a girl we only cut directly to a scene of her father dying, not her dying herself 🙄. Yes in theory you should be able to tell any story about any character, but when queer viewers see queer characters getting killed off over and over again in shows where all the straight characters are joyfully bed hopping, guess what, it sends a message. Really f*ing disappointed in them.

Am amazing episode but I am absolutely gutted about Monica! I loved her and Enid always remembered they had both the dog beds in their bedroom 😢😢😢

Absolutely gutted about the ending. TBH I haven’t enjoyed this series as much as the first - I don’t think I’ll want to watch it again as I did S1. There’s something about getting the balance right about unlikeable characters and this season I just felt there was too much of a lean towards horrible people getting away with too much and to me, the last episode has been the final nail!

I will however tune in for S3 👀😄

Have to put my hand up and admit I hadn't heard of the 'bury the gays' trope so I googled it. As CaragianettE and Loopytiles have said Monica's death fits neatly in to it.

I don't really understand why, having spent the time developing Monica's character and giving the viewer the chance to understand her, they've lost one of the standout & universally popular characters.

I suspect that the majority of viewers - maybe even all - would have preferred for the writers to give Monica and Enid the love affair we thought they deserved. Their life as a couple is referred to in the books but not given explicit space and this would have been the great opportunity to add to that.

The make up artist didn't do the beautiful Victoria Smurfit any favours with the harsh make up.

When she was in bed with Declan, DH was like “why is she so red, is she ill?”. I was like “it’s just bad lighting” 😆

I see new cast members are being announced - Rachel Stirling as Araminta Pemberton (Monica's sister), Rupert Evans as David Hawkley and Santiago Cabrera as Alejandro Mendoza.