The second act of HBO's drama plays a blinder again, deepening the characters and taking viewers on a rollercoaster of emotions.
 

Once again we start in the kitchen with kneading and baking as Mildred’s plans of being more than a waitress come to fruition, and then move into overdrive. She still has the central problems of how to keep her family in comfortable living, while daughter Veda turns her nose up with condescension at anything so base as her mother’s work as a waitress.

“Ye Gods,” Little Miss Veda says when she pretends to find out. The result of her ungratefulness is a sound thrashing. It leads to the first of the cathartic scenes in this episode and shows why Todd Haynes’ direction is a class apart. Mildred explains to her daughter that she shares her shame and that, in some way, Veda’s lofty ideals are an inspiration; that she must ‘never give up that way of looking at things’. It’s a beautifully poised scene, played deftly by Kate Winslet and Morgan Turner.  It seems unlikely a truce between mother and daughter will hold though.

The second cathartic scene for Mildred (before the sledgehammer finale) is a rapprochement with husband Bert. The story has moved with such pace, you could almost forget their marriage broke up. After Mildred gets custody of his car and hatches a plan to open her own restaurant, they sit together, he tries to help her and quite simply they break down in tears. It’s a raw moment, they don’t love each other anymore but they recognise what they’ve lost. It feels real. And it’s why Kate Winslet gets hired for roles like this. Not taking anything away from Brian O’Byrne who’s equally good as Bert.

The flipside for Mildred is a rapid seduction and the sexuality that was hinted at in part one, as she runs off with raffish dandy Monte (Guy Pierce). Very quickly some nicely framed shots of the two of them embracing in the sea, cut to fairly open and non-exploitative love scenes. What Todd Haynes is interested in showing is Mildred’s side of the affair. Kate Winslet has never shied away from sexuality or nudity in her films or television – whether she planned it or not she almost seems to chronicle women in love (and in sex) throughout the ages.

But as we English know, sex leads to guilt. And her coupling with Monte is followed by a terrible reckoning. Younger daughter Ray is taken ill and hospitalised with an extreme fever and Mildred wasn’t home at the time for a doctor’s visit. The joy of finally getting the premises for the restaurant (‘I’m a businesswoman’) and her love affair with Monte is shattered in the worst way possible: the death of Ray.

When she could have been at home, Mildred was fulfilling her own needs. Without saying it yet, Veda knows.

Another excellent episode.