If the second season of The Buccaneers is centered around following one’s heart, then the fourth episode aptly delivers on that theme. In “Ice Cream,” Nan travels to Italy to meet up with Guy and Jinny, leaving Theo dealing with her absence by expressing his feelings towards someone else. Meanwhile, the Duke, after a moment of melancholia, shifts to a lively Meredith Grey-style dance in his bedroom. He then makes an unexpected appearance at Hector’s school fundraiser, where he creates a buzz by placing an exorbitant bid on a vase at auction. Having concluded the purchase, Theo exchanges mysterious looks with Lizzy, almost as if he intended his actions to capture her attention.

When questioned about Nan’s departure, Theo initially informs Hector that she vanished overnight but later retracts, brushing it off as a joke. He toys with danger, confiding in Lizzy that although he initially felt detached, he now feels acutely aware—like his life is just beginning. This revelation leaves Lizzy unsettled, prompting her to fiddle with her engagement ring and contemplate Theo’s words.

However, Lizzy’s fiance is not amused by the Duke’s sudden desire for the limelight. He voices his displeasure to Lizzy, criticizing Theo for making the day revolve around him and overshadowing Hector’s event. Rather than sympathizing with Hector, Lizzy sides with Theo, remarking to Hector, “I thought you were more generous than this.” Frustrated, Lizzy takes this opportunity to confront Theo. In the privacy of the woods, Lizzy chastises him for his actions, and Theo readily admits fault, suggesting he shouldn’t have attended. When Lizzy presses him on why he did, he delivers a cryptic, “you know full well.” With that, The Buccaneers fulfills what it’s been foreshadowing all season: Lizzy and Theo move towards each other and share a passionate kiss. A brief moment ensues before Lizzy, suddenly aware of their actions, pulls away and retreats to Hector’s gathering.

She’s flustered when she comes back, and Mabel immediately notices that something is off with her sister. Lizzy doesn’t kiss and tell, but Mabel clocks Theo arriving from the same area and senses something happened, but doesn’t press further. Hector, meanwhile, acknowledges his first fight with his fiancee and admits that all he thinks about is Lizzy’s happiness. She claims that she is happy with him, but by episode’s end, she is back in Theo’s arms at Tintagel, consummating their budding romance in bed. 

While Theo is participating in the age-old “get under someone to get over someone else” coping mechanism, his banished mother is trying to pick up the pieces of her life, too. She’s gardening when her former lover Reede arrives to try his luck again. She opens up to him about Nan’s disappearance and Theo’s angry reaction, downplaying the scandalous nature of the whole ordeal: “Reputations have been ruined for less,” she says about the Duke’s likely failed marriage. 

All this talk about tragic love stories causes Reede to ask Blanche what she thinks would have happened had they run away together many years ago. The Dowager admits that she thinks they would have been “deliriously happy,” but tempers that by suggesting that this feeling is natural when wondering “what if.” Reede puts his cards on the table: there’s still time to run away together to his property in France. But she declines, citing Theo’s fragile state and her desire to keep the fantasy of their love alive a bit longer. Reede is disappointed but doesn’t push her; instead, he leaves a crate of the same fancy wine he medicated himself with after their first breakup at her doorstep, indicating his sadness.

Erstwhile at the party, Conchita and Richard are trying to make good on their promise to Mabel’s mom to set her up with an eligible bachelor. They play a game of badminton and share some laughs, but Mabel sees right through Conchita and is offended that she’d accept money for this purpose. Even more, she’s upset at the ways that money drives Conchita’s decisions, as she used to be much more carefree, but Conchita reminds her that she’s now a mother who is aiming to give her daughter the same lifestyle she enjoyed while growing up. 

Nan, who has left all of these parties and people behind, arrives in Italy fresh-faced and eager to see her true love, Guy. At first, it’s a blissful reunion, but after Nan witnesses Guy, Jinny, and Freddie acting as a family unit, she begins to wonder if she’s intruded on the life they’ve built for themselves. Nan goes so far as to ask Jinny whether she has feelings for Guy—and given Jinny’s track record, we were all wondering it, too. Jinny, thankfully, understands and orchestrates a trip to the market for Nan and Guy that can double as alone time to hash out their complex feelings. 

While out, Nan tries to proceed as though their reunion is without complication. But when she tries to kiss Guy, he rescinds, forcing them to finally address the elephant in the room. Guy is understandably pissed that he gave up his whole life for her and accuses Nan of being spoiled as she gets to live her fairytale in a castle, while Nan pushes back saying her life of being stuck in a loveless marriage isn’t a fairytale at all. Once they get that out of their system, Guy softens and recounts how simple life moments—like indulging in ice cream—aren’t as appealing without Nan. They double down on their very real feelings for each other and set off for ice cream, but wind up crashing a wedding instead. The lovebirds forget the real world for a while, dancing and drinking wine before stealing off to a picturesque seaside area to finally kiss—this time, with all the power and emotion in the world. The only problem is that Guy and Jinny’s local friend Paloma witnessed them together, and her loyalty to Jinny will no doubt cause problems in the episodes to come.

But that’s nothing compared to the problems Jinny is dealing with alone at home. While Nan and Guy are out galavanting, a knock at Jinny’s door brings her nightmare into full focus: her estranged and abusive husband James Seadown is standing in front of her. She tries to close the door in his face but he overpowers her and enters the quaint apartment. After learning that he has a son and picking Freddie up against Jinny’s wishes, he hands his wife a paper with his hotel’s name on it and asks her to meet him there to talk. 

Jinny is visibly shaken by this encounter, but when Nan comes home elated, she can’t bring herself to upend their lives again. But Nan reads between the lines and senses that Jinny is not okay, thinking her sister is depressed about the fact that she can never return home (which is also true). Seeing Jinny like this, Nan realizes that her fantasy life with Guy can only work if her sister is also happy, so she rips the rug out from under him once again and tells him that she has to return to her life as the Duchess in order to get Hector’s bill signed. Guy is rightfully pissed off, and cuttingly says that he doesn’t resent her for leaving, he resents her for coming and giving him a glimpse of this life. She is also upset, and doesn’t yet realize that she’ll be returning to an even more complicated dynamic with Theo than when she left. 

Jinny, unaware of Nan’s plans to return to Tintagel, tries to take control of the situation in a very different way. “Ice Cream” ends with her arriving at James’s hotel and properly introducing him to Freddie, opening the door to their reconciliation. Knowing what we know about James, there’s no chance that he’s changed for the better—it’s only a matter of time before Jinny realizes this, too.

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.