“How far is London?” young Jeremy asked his father at the beginning of this week’s installment of Poldark. “Hundreds of miles,” answered Ross (Aidan Turner), which naturally meant he’d be off to the big city within the hour. “The ends of the earth”? By the end of the episode, more like.

Being set in Cornwall is one of Poldark’s biggest assets: if nothing else, it almost always looks beautiful. If you’ve been enriching your viewing experience with a drinking game, now may be the time to squeeze in as many shots as you can before the streets of Georgian London start taking up valuable airtime. Mournful staring out to sea? Drink. Windswept gallop along the cliffs? Drink. Incomprehensible Cornish accent? Drink. Any location shoot that looks like it made a continuity supervisor want to maroon themselves on an island and never hear the words ‘pre-dawn start’ or ‘wig’ again? Drink.

Thanks to some subtle intervention of the “oh dear, I seem to have scheduled these arch rivals for a meeting at the same time!” variety from Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Caroline (Gabriella Wilde), political enemies Sir Francis Bassett (John Hopkins) and Lord Falmouth (James Wilby) finally found some common ground beyond a shared taste for titles and fancy clothes: the desire to be rid of George Warleggan and his permanently sneering face. And who could they back as his replacement but Captain Ross Poldark? It’s not like he has a habit of breaking the law and marrying into the lower classes and, I don’t know, sneaking off to revolutionary France at a moment’s notice.

Last week, I predicted that Demelza’s one-time lover Lieutenant Armitage (Josh Whitehouse) would kick the bucket within three episodes, but writer Debbie Horsfield is far more ruthless than my prediction gave her credit for. The handsome war hero turned frankly dreadful poet was fading fast. This was partly due to the ministrations of Cornwall’s resident torture master, Dr. Choake (who gives a man with a name like that a medical degree, anyway?!) But it was mostly, let’s be real, due to the fact that the choice to have Demelza commit adultery seems to be one Poldark’s creative team have regretted, or at least not known what to do with, ever since they wrote it in. They couldn’t even let her enjoy it. The late Armitage went from dishy to dead in a swathe of greyscale lighting and melodramatic music, but it was more inevitable than affecting.

There was drama out in the hills as devout Methodist Sam (Tom York) celebrated his deliverance from the noose by entering a traditional Cornish wrestling match in order to impress Emma Tregirls (Ciara Charteris). Only he can’t stop trying to save her soul as well as win her hand, and our Sam just isn’t that good at multitasking. He almost got his eyes gouged out by George’s henchman Tom Harry for her, but it was Demelza’s remark that Emma must “take all of him, or none” that seemed to leave more of an impression. “That’s just it, Sam. I don’t repent,” she said, leaving to take a position as a maid at the sprawling Tehidy House. Of course, Tehidy is Sir Francis Bassett’s pad, so don’t rule out her return.

Speaking of a Carne brother and his unattainable lady love, Drake (Harry Richardson) was reunited (yay) briefly (nay) with Morwenna (Ellise Chapell), who has been married off against her will. There’s something captivatingly naive to Richardson’s performance so far this season. You could practically feel Drake reaching for her: “Do he treat ye more kindly now?” Oh, these two. There’s only one thing for it. They’re going to have to immediately murder Osworth just so there can be some happiness in this show again.

Who would have guessed that the Carne brothers would be so unlucky in love? All that topless bathing and they can’t get a girl between them. Perhaps they need to do some more next week… for contemplation…