What are critics saying about 'Rivals' Season 2 part 2?

As the colder season is upon us, Rivals is back on our screens - and we're returning to Rutshire where residents are reeling from the drama and tragedy that has occurred.

(Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the first half of season 2)

"As rivalries push everyone to the brink, loyalties are tested and hearts are broken in the pursuit of victory. But what is the true cost of war?" according to the season synopsis.

JAMES PARDON

We pick up from the aftermath of the last episode, as Rutshire is mourning with the sad passing of Monica Baddingham, with everyone saying goodbye to the beloved character at her funeral. Meanwhile, Venturer is also dealing with it's own problems, they have a mole that is leaking information to rivals Corrinium.

Rivals is based on the best-selling novel by the late Dame Jilly Cooper, who sadly passed away in October.

What are critics saying?

JAMES PARDON

Ahead of the remaining season 2 episodes being released, critics have weighed in with their verdict on Rivals season 2, and it has received mixed to positive reviews,

The Independent's Nick Hilton said in his three-star review, "Disney+ hit has so many brilliant characters and subplots, it’s a shame to see them buried beneath a ‘will they, won’t they’ which has never had any real tension."

"While all shows, of course, need their moments of darkness, it feels as though Rivals' once-brilliant spark has been somewhat dulled," wrote HELLO Magazine's Emmy Griffiths in her three-star review.

The Telegraph's Anita Singh noted in her four-star rating, "Even the most solemn occasion becomes an excuse for bad behaviour in Jilly Cooper’s gloriously outrageous bonkbuster."

"Rivals once again has us right where it wants us, thirstier for our attention than Beattie Johnson (Annabel Scholey) is for scraps of Tony's praise," Digital Spy's Janet A Leigh commented, rating the series five stars.

Collider's Therese Lacson said, "Rivals Season 2 proves it can not only embrace the glitz and glamor of Cooper's world, but also forge its own path and create something new," scoring the show an eight out of ten.

"After a somewhat middling first part of season two, which felt like the 1980s cheese was making Jilly Cooper adaptation Rivals more soap opera than bonkbuster, this concluding part of six episodes arrives to bring Rivals right back into peerless territory," The Standard's Martin Robinson wrote in his five-star review.

What is the release schedule?

JAMES PARDON

Exclusive new episodes of Rivals season 2, part 2 were released on November 11, with a three-episode premiere in the UK and internationally, and Hulu in the US.

Episode 10 will be released on Wednesday, November 18, followed by the penultimate episode (11) on Wednesday, November 25.

The season 2 finale will drop on Wednesday, December 2.

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