‘Indian Summers’ – episode 1: It’s getting hot in here…

March 16 2016

Two bombs and a passionate kiss – Indian Summers returned to Channel 4 with an explosive start…

By Tasha Mathur

AFTER the success of season one last year, anticipation was high for the first episode of “Indian Summers” Series 2 and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Die-hard fans who haven’t watched the first episode yet (where have you been??) look away now – spoiler alerts coming your way!

With the opening scene consisting of two children throwing a hand grenade into the Viceroy’s car amidst the bright colours of Holi, we could already tell that we were in for a treat as the first episode kept viewers captivated from start to finish.

Alice Whelan (Jemima West), Charlie Haverstock (Blake Ritson) and Aafrin Dalal (Nikesh Patel)

It’s safe to say that the majority of us were excited to see the latest on Aafrin and Alice’s illicit affair.

However, not only does Aafrin (Nikesh Patel) have a new woman (Kaira Das – Sughanda Garg) in his life, but Alice Whelan (Jemima West) has ‘re-married’ and become Mrs Havistock.

Although, in true “Indian Summers” fashion, nobody knows this is actually her former abusive husband who everyone believes was dead. When she first arrived in ‘Simla’, she and brother Ralph Whelan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) told everyone she was a widow.

The tension between Aafrin and Alice’s first meet is almost unbearable and culminates in an inevitable steamy kiss by the end of the episode.

We also find Ralph Whelan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) still married to Madeleine (Olivia Grant) while tentatively eyeing up the Viceroy’s role much to the incomprehensible encouragement of the scheming Cynthia (Julia Walters).

On top of this, his illegitimate son has been employed as the new houseboy. We’re not sure who knows this but it’s something to keep an eye out for over the series…

Picking up three years later, it isn’t entirely necessary for viewers to catch up on season one as we’re introduced to new characters and plotlines from the start.

Although it raises many questions on what has happened during this time. Which we’re sure will teasingly be revealed to us over the next ten weeks.

Perhaps one to watch which will be nationalist, Naresh Banerjee (Arjun Mathur), whose revolutionary ways attempt to sway Aafrin to get involved in a very risky business, as they both bury a bomb.

As if this isn’t enough to keep viewers interested, we’ve yet to see more of Aafrin’s sister Sooni (Aysha Kali) as sources tell us there’s much to expect from her this season in the form of two potential suitors at least. Some of you may have picked up on the beginnings of one of these relationships in season one…

With such a fast paced, action packed first episode full of deceit and passion, this promising start tells us that there’s much more to come. We just hope we can keep up!

*Remember to join us every Sunday for live tweeting connect here or here*

Indian Summers continues every Sunday on Channel 4, 9pm (UK only).
Catch-up (UK only)
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/indian-summers

*Just a selection of tweets from last Sunday, March 13 – thanks to all who engaged, we love reading them and talking to you!