ITV drama "Victoria" returned for season 2 on August 28, 2017. The first episode takes place about one month after the birth of the queen's daughter. Victoria is trying to resume her duties as queen while balancing her new role as wife and mother. The Queen shows that she is not to be patronized by those who surround her.
Being a queen and mother has its struggles
After giving birth, Victoria appears to struggle with bonding with her daughter while returning to dealing with the affairs of state. Her husband, Prince Albert, tries to assume many of the affairs of state to give Victoria time to recover from giving birth.
Victoria rebels against Albert's attempts to help her, as well as the patronizing behavior of the men in her government. When Albert decides to review his regiments, Victoria insists she is well enough to do the review with him. She reminds him that although the regiments are his, the troops are hers. The tension continues to mount between Victoria and her husband as he continues to keep the details of running the kingdom from her. Victoria continues to struggle as she tries to adjust to motherhood while focusing on the affairs of state.
Another tension in her life comes from losing her chief cook, as well as the addition of a new lady in waiting. Dame Diana Rigg joins the cast too as the Duchess of Buccleuch who assumed the role of the Mistress of the Robes for the queen while the Duchess's niece, Wilhemina Coke became a lady in waiting.
The addition of Dame Diana Rigg to the cast adds a great deal of comedy to the show as she makes quite an entrance when her character is introduced in the show.
Affairs of state cause tension
During a dinner with King Leopold, Victoria loses her temper at her husband because he kept the news of fighting in Afghanistan from her, and she feels betrayed.
Great Britain has just suffered a crushing defeat in Afghanistan, and 4,000 troops have been annihilated. As Victoria and the British government try to minimize the losses, Victoria chooses to attend a celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar to show the British people that on the tails of a stunning defeat comes a victory. She christens a new ship for the British Navy and calls it Trafalgar.
During her speech, she tries to rally the British people and lets them know that they can overcome this failure on the battlefield. Victoria and Albert are finally able to resolve the tensions between them, and they're seen together in bed.
"Victoria" returns to PBS on January 28, 2018, and can be viewed in the United States. The first season is also available for viewing on Amazon Prime.
