Your Ridiculously Comprehensive “Harlots” Primer
The show’s coming back for a season two in 2018.
Good news alert! The Hulu original show Harlots will be coming back for their sophomore season- and while the jam packed, eight-episode season one was certainly enough to keep us talking for a while we waited for the good news, we are definitely ready for more. Harlots, created by Moira Buffini and Alison Newman, follows two brothel owners as they navigate their businesses in 18th century London.
With female business owners, motherhood, historically accurate costumes, racial inequality and feminism all at the helm of this freshman show, let’s take a look back at the main players, main plot points, what we could do without and what we would love to see more of in season two.
Your Recap of Season One’s Main Players
- Margaret Wells: She’s a lady in charge who runs a ragtag house of women including her two daughters, Lucy and Charlotte. Longtime partner of William North. Mr. North also helps run the business and together they have an adorable son Jacob. Really, really dislikes Lydia Quigley, the owner of another more established brothel across town. Business-savvy and fiercely protective of her girls, especially Lucy. She is not to be underestimated as she comes up in the world because she usually gets what she wants.
- William North: A very strong and quiet man who observes everything that goes on around him. He helps Margaret run her house and is very much in love with her. He is constantly being harassed because he is a free black man in 18th century England, and the world is awful. Always willing to help everyone before himself and is very protective of the girls and his son. He’s the best, basically.
- Charlotte Wells: Eldest daughter of Margaret Wells. Beautiful and strong-willed, she is one of Margaret’s best girls and has been out in society for a while now (like since she was 12). She is wanted by pretty much every man in London, but she reluctantly signs a contract with Sir George Howard, a dopey man-child with hella money, to be his exclusively. She doesn’t really believe in love, that is, until she meets cutie pie Daniel Marney. Through a lot of very dramatic events, we end with her working at Quigley’s house instead of her mother’s.
- Lucy Wells: Youngest daughter of Margaret Wells and sister to Charlotte Wells. Margaret puts her out into society in a pretty unusual way, taking bids from various men to be the one to take her virginity. Lucy struggles throughout the season to come to terms with what prostitution means to her. Good singer, wears lots of hair bows, and really connects with Nancy, Margaret’s friend who runs a smaller, more specific (dominatrix-style) house.
- Nancy Birch: Badass, plain and simple. She is a loyal friend to Margaret Wells, even when Margaret maybe gives up the location of someone Quigley was looking for. She runs her own brothel and is a dominatrix, specializing in hitting men with a broom. Yep.
- Lydia Quigley: Queen master manipulator. Quigley runs a very established and sophisticated house in a nice part of London, attracting a very high end clientele. She turned out Margaret and Nancy when they were younger, which helps to explain why Margaret hates her so much. Lydia has very rigid rules for the girls of her house, so rigid that many of the girls are somewhat unable to escape her. She relies heavily on emotional abuse to get what she wants, especially when it comes to her son, Charles. Really does not like to lose, especially to Margaret. Wears a lot of makeup and wigs.
- Daniel Marney: Super cute Welsh man who falls madly in love with Charlotte. Is also sometimes a prostitute. Really wants to go to America and start a life with Charlotte.
- Fanny Lambert: One of Margaret’s girls. Always in a good mood, likes her lot in life. Gets pregnant by the constable. Wells’ rule is that she isn’t allowed to stay there with a baby though, so…
- Charles Quigley: The super dim-witted son of Lydia. Helps run her house and is also definitely is in love with Emily Lacey.
- Kitty Carter: One of Margaret’s girls. Pretty put together throughout, not much arc but definitely loyal to the end.
- Emily Lacey: A handful since the pilot. Thinks she can do better at Quigley’s house than Wells’, things do NOT go well for her from that point on. Kind of into Charles as well but also poisons him, so there’s that.
- Florence and Amelia Scanwell: These ladies just want to preach the Lord’s word and try to convert these poor harlots, but of course that doesn’t go over super well. Amelia is definitely in love with Violet and somehow gets herself involved with helping Margaret Wells by the end. Florence is the most uptight woman ever but gasp! it’s because she used to be a harlot! More backstory, please.
- Violet Cross: One of Nancy’s girls. Always wants to have fun and is very into Amelia.
- Lady & Lord Repton: Married noble couple who is into some weird shit that poor Lucy (and Daniel Marney) get involved with.
- Harriet Lennox: Was married to Margaret Wells’ ex in America but has since become one of her girls since her evil, white ex-stepson took her young children and put them into slavery. She is definitely the most determined to make money because, duh, she needs to get her children back! Leave it up to Mr. North to help save the day.
- George Howard: Man-child who is very wealthy and in love with Charlotte. Lucy accidentally murders him. Whoops.
…and that’s not even all of the characters!
Now, although this show has what feels like a lot of characters, they do all add something to the plot (well, most of them.) Let’s run down the major season one happenings.
Major Things that Happened in Season One
Margaret Versus Lydia
In the showdown of all showdowns, these two women have been at odds with one another for decades. Both running their own brothels in London, being competitive and manipulative seems to be what’s required to do so.
While both their characters sometimes make me cringe at what they’ll do to save their businesses, it is pretty cool to see two women over the age of 40 in leading roles where their age isn’t the sole topic of discussion. You go through intense waves of rooting for these women and then also screaming things at the TV in anger. The tension between these two was never more palpable than when Charlotte accepts Lydia’s offer to join her house and leave her mother’s in the season finale. You know Margaret will not stand for that.
Haxby Hates on Charlotte
I can’t quite figure out if Sir Howard’s butler just really hates Charlotte or if he weirdly is in love with her, but either way, he was a constant thorn in her side throughout the series. I feel like they definitely could expand his storyline for season two, but I just do not care about him; I’ve been rooting for Charlotte since the beginning. I’m hoping that he just slinks back into the shadows like he did all of season one.
Mary Cooper
Oh, poor Mary Cooper. I was really glad they added this character to show the darker side of what happened to some women during that time period who were involved in prostitution. Drugs and alcohol had taken over this woman, and unfortunately was put out onto the streets and fell very much down on her luck. Her death was a huge catalyst for events surrounding the two houses and I personally would love to see a flashback of Mary before her downfall happen in season two.
Sorry I’m Not Sorry, George Howard
This character was the epitome of an entitled man-child. He saw Charlotte only as property, showering her with gifts while simultaneously being super possessive of her. Sorry, George, we can spot this awful behavior a mile away. Now, while I’m not super stoked he was killed, I do think it was a nice symmetry for Lucy and Charlotte who both felt bound to him in life, to then be freed by his death. The fallout from his death and cover-up by Mr. North and the Wells’ household will probably continue to occur throughout the next season.
Lord Fallon Is Creepy AF
The pomegranate eating fetish thing aside, we discover that Fallon is somehow involved in Lydia and the judge’s arrangement to provide chaste young women for a secret group’s enjoyment (gross, right?) When Margaret discovers what’s going on, she foils Lydia’s arrangement much to the disappointment of the judge who seems to be weirdly obsessed with joining said group. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Lord Fallon or this secret group, unfortunately.
What I could’ve done without:
- Emily Lacey might be one of my least favorite characters; it seems that her storyline isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
- Haxby being the absolute creepiest, like stop lurking and mind your own business, dude!
- Margaret is so harsh to Charlotte and you just want this mother and daughter to hug it out and have everything be alright, but I get it, the plot has to move forward.
- Lord Fallon and his weird fruit eating montage.
- Mary Cooper’s corpse in Margaret’s house!
What I Want From Season 2
Give me more London: One of the things that really sold me on this show was how good the set design and costumes were! Give me more historically accurate costumes and cool sets, pretty please.
Charlotte and Daniel: I’m totally on board for Charlotte becoming a double agent to take down Lydia from the inside, but I swear if Daniel and Charlotte aren’t endgame I will be very upset. I want them to move to America and secretly start their own brothel together.
Lucy becomes a badass dominatrix: Sweet and innocent Lucy had a rough time throughout the season. Being a harlot didn’t come as easily to her as she thought it might, and with a first time like the time she had, I do not blame her. Spoiler: Lady and Lord Repton did some very weird and scary stuff to her. Seeing her come into her own and take on her anger and aggression at Nancy’s house at the end of season one really makes me want to see her become super hard core in season two.
Lennox and her children start over: Harriet deserves everything good in season two. After losing her husband and her children, she felt forced into prostitution as a way to win her children back. Her evil stepson, a plantation owner from America, had decided to keep her children as slaves until she could pay for them. With the help of Mr. North, she gets them back, but I’m really going to need them to be okay from here on out.
Margaret and Lydia team up: Supes unlikely, but how cool would it be if the two titans ended up teaming up to take down the creepy Lord or the judge or really any of the less than honorable men throughout the show? Always down for ladies helping ladies, and can you imagine how much they could get done if all the girls teamed up together?
Amelia and Violet: These two precious peanuts are so in love with one another; what will happen next season? It better be good things only, writers!
Charles coming into his own: We see this start to develop at the end of season one, but man oh man, I am ready for Charles to not be the worst and stand up to his mother.
Overall, I was super impressed that this show took on so much and executed it so well. It’s not easy putting on a historical costume drama, let alone having it be a show with prostitutes at the forefront that refrains from victimizing these girls and instead comes out pretty darn feminist and empowering. All the women were written as full, well rounded characters and it tackled a lot of big issues, including racial inequality, complexities of motherhood and female-run businesses in the 18th century. I’m invested in these characters now and cannot wait for season two!
