‘The Luminaries’ Episode 4 recap: What happened in ‘The Other Half’?

The BBC’s new period drama The Luminaries continued in the UK tonight.

The epic 19th century adventure mystery series has been adapted by novelist Eleanor Catton from her award-winning novel.

The Luminaries is set on the Wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island in the boom years of the 1860s gold rush.

The cast includes Eva Green (Penny Dreadful), Eve Hewson (Robin Hood, Bridge of Spies), Marton Csokas (Lord of the Rings), Himesh Patel (EastEnders), Benedict Hardie (Hacksaw Ridge), Yoson An (Mulan), and Ewen Leslie (Top of the Lake).

Watch a clip from Episode 4:

 

Here’s a plot recap for the fourth episode of The Luminaries, which aired on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 5th July 2020:

In 1865, Emery (Himesh Patel) returns to Hokitika and catastrophically reunites with Anna (Eve Hewson), now heavily pregnant and addicted to opium.

Anna retreats to Chinatown, where Quee (Gary Young) discovers the gold in her dresses.

Carver (Marton Csokas) reunites with Emery and threatens Anna in order to force Emery to reveal where Crosbie Wells (Ewen Leslie) is – with disastrous consequences.

Emery stakes the Aurora gold claim on a tailing pile in order to sabotage his and Carver’s joint investment.

Quee pretends the gold he picked from Anna’s dresses originated from the tailing pile, but when Emery won’t play along, Quee smelts the gold into bullion and engraves the bars with the word ‘Aurora’.

Exasperated, Emery takes the gold to Crosbie’s cottage, and tells him everything.

In 1866, Lydia (Eva Green) goes about framing Anna for Crosbie’s murder.

Others in the town are beginning to turn against Anna, who fears that Emery is dead and that she is going insane.

When Joseph Pritchard (Matt Sunderland), the town chemist, confronts Anna about her involvement in Crosbie’s death, she takes matters into her own hands.

Eleanor Catton’s original novel is available on Amazon.