Steven Knight’s intoxicating period drama House of Guinness opens on violence and destruction. The smashing of a Guinness bottle and burning of an effigy is the viewers’ gateway into what to expect from this sensational eight-part series that only descends into more rip-roaring chaos (often at the hands of the violent Guinness foreman Sean Rafferty, played by James Norton).
There are threats tossed about with various levels of callousness, yet who would have thought that the show’s most chilling moment would have been the subdued tête-à-tête between husband Arthur (Anthony Boyle) and his wife Olivia (Danielle Galligan)?
Their pivotal conversation happens in the confines of Arthur’s office as their marriage blanc (orchestrated to cover up the Guinness owner’s homosexuality) finally crumbles under the complexity of their feelings. His, hers and her lover Rafferty’s – whom she had begun to fall in love with.
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The murkiness of their Arthur-approved affair had resulted in not only forbidden romantic feelings, but also in an unwanted pregnancy. But unwanted by who?
In a separate conversation with his brother and part Guinness owner Edward (Louis Partridge), Arthur confessed that he could not pass off Rafferty’s “bastard” as his own heir.
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Though it was readily accepted by the entangled threesome that termination was the only viable option, there were heavy signs that pointed towards both Rafferty and Olivia’s regret and their discovery that they wanted something deeper than sex.
Rafferty and Olivia weren’t the only ones having epiphanies as Arthur also was surprised to learn that he loves his wife “in [his] own way,” which made him increasingly jealous of the bond she has formed with Rafferty.
This all seeps out during their conversation where he issues her an ultimatum.
Under the severe gaze of his father’s portrait, a spot that purposely chose for their conversation believing the stern-no-nonsense Benjamin Guinness would “heartily approve,” he tells his wife that she must choose.
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In exchange for a life with Rafferty she must endure the humiliation of their affair becoming public, social ruin and a penniless future for them both as the scandal would make Rafferty unemployable. Or they could all continue as they had been before with the one additional stipulation: she and Rafferty would be forbidden to be intimate again.
There is a watery look in Arthur’s eye denoting his vulnerability and hurt, however it is all but eclipsed by the uncharacteristically cruel and vindictive manner in which he impresses his authority over Olivia.
For the first time, they are no longer equals, she is there to provide a service. Arthur neglects her recent trauma from the termination and instead, under the dim light of the fireplace, he gets menacingly closer to her while making his threat evident.
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The emotionally fragile Olivia, fearing the bleak future Arthur lays bare for her, buckles to his will and agrees to the altered conditions of their arrangement.
However, while Arthur appears to feel victorious in this moment, kissing her confidently on the head before vilely barking orders at her, he may very well have sown the seeds for future trouble.
As instructed, Olivia meets with Rafferty but it isn’t to end things immediately as Arthur had insisted. Rather it is to hatch a plan for the two to continue their relationship without Arthur’s knowledge.
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That Rafferty, previously presented as unfeeling and singular in his focused loyalty to the Guinness family (often through violence), not only agrees to this but tells her that they will one day be together properly is telling.
When speaking to Digital Spy about Rafferty’s feelings for Olivia, Norton said: “Rafferty loves being Rafferty, but there’s no one else really in his orbit and then suddenly there is.
“Whilst that’s a beautiful blessing, it also brings about certain danger and threat.”
That danger and threat to their relationship may have been Arthur, however Rafferty’s vow to Olivia is earnest and Rafferty is not a man to be trifled with.
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His loyalty to the Guinnesses is strong but now that there is, as Norton put it, someone else in his orbit, that connection makes for a stronger devotion.
Viewers have already seen the violent lengths to which Rafferty will go in the name of loyalty, but the lengths he will go to for love could be even more extreme.
Rafferty, however, is not the only one who is a threat to Arthur’s carefully laid-out future. Olivia is cunning, shrewd and calculating.
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She may smile and wrap her arm around her husband’s but their first meet was proof that her sharpness can be an effective, manipulative tool. So far she’s used it to better Arthur but what will happen if she turns against him?
What’s more, Rafferty and Olivia together could be a dangerously formidable team.
Of course House of Guinness tracks the broad strokes of history so there is a level of predictability as to where things will go but that doesn’t mean Knight won’t have fun re-shaping the details, which could mean trouble for Arthur in the very near future. Should House of Guinness be picked up for a season two that is.
There has been no confirmation to date regarding the fate of the show but we live in the same fervent hope as Rafferty and Olivia, that love will prevail. Our love for the show, that is.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.