The tension between Burke Devlin and Roger Collins has been brewing since the first episode, and tonight it came to a glorious double-entendre head with a sexually charged drawing room confrontation.

Louis Edmonds plays Roger Collins as such a preening queen, I have to wonder about his face when he saw the lines for this scene, beholding the latest rewrites like a gift from God. As for Mitchell Ryan as Burke Devlin, he’s the perfect antithesis as the brooding alpha. Ryan’s constant on-set drunkenness may have fueled his alarmingly eager aggressiveness.

This whole thing screams hatefuck foreplay so hard it’s a wonder they didn’t get down to it right there, knocking over the brandy snifters and making a mess all over the Collins heirloom rug.

***

Also, please note Collinsport dreamboat Joe Haskell (Joel Crothers) in soft focus in the back of the room. He likes to watch.