The Newt Boot

I'll be honest--when I first saw that punch in the trailer, I laughed my ass off. One of my favorite things in media (and in Rivals) is grown men acting like idiots, so a punch-out between these two over Taggie is right up my alley.

But my second thought was exactly what you mention here: What is the way they resolve this love triangle is via Bas character assassination? What if they take this charming, sincerely kind man and turn him into some sort of Latin Lover stereotype (I mean, in the current plot, Bas does already kind of serve this narrative purpose, even though I eat it up lol) and make him suddenly a sleazy, self-centered asshole to establish that Taggie needs to end up with Rupert, rather than making it about Taggie and Rupert building and maintaining a meaningful connection that binds them together and stands and shines on its own? (This is probably my least favorite way to resolve a love triangle trope, even if it might be common in media.)

I spun out about this for about an hour, then a friend talked me off the ledge, and I've decided to not catastrophize. (Although, I am a deeply cynical person, and if they'll real-assassinate Monica, character assassinating Bas doesn't seem impossible to me, even if unlikely lol.)

Here is the logic my friend explained, which is imo solid:

Yes, Bas is a slut like everyone else in Rutshire, but so far, in both seasons, he's one of the few people who demonstrates real emotional intelligence and who seems sincerely kind. Making him suddenly a gross, unkind asshole would be wildly out of character, given how he's been written.

Also, upon re-watching the punch scene, it looks like Rupert and Bas are clearly not in Rutshire (polo trip to Argentina, perhaps?) and are talking in the middle of a party. I can totally see Rupert finding out that Bas and Taggie hooked up or have a thing and having a proper meltdown, and Bas, being Bas, rubbing it in. I think we got the seeds of this on Taggie's birthday, as there was definitely a territorial vibe. In this case, Rupert probably wouldn't need much motivation at all to fly into a jealous rage and throw hands. Just knowing Bas and Taggie had crossed a line into non-platonic territory would be enough. I think Rupert never really saw Seb as a threat (for good reason lol), but someone like Bas (read: a man) represents a very real threat in all sorts of ways.

Or, the punch may be related to goings-on with Perdita, who seems to be there, too, and giving Rupert the eye. It may be a red herring (but I suspect it's Taggie-related).

So, to summarize, do I think the writers might character assassinate my best boy? Maybe. If they do, I'll be disappointed, but not entirely surprised. As a cynic, I need to be prepare myself for worst-case scenario lol.

But do I think it's more likely just 30-something men being idiots instead of properly expressing and processing their feelings? Probably.

At least, that's more consistent with all of our characterizations thus far and frankly, more complex and engaging storylines. So I'm going to stick to this vision for the second half of season two. (This is also more consistent with the book, where Bas does want to sleep with Taggie, but even there, he isn't an aggressive sleaze to the point where he gets punched, so imo, more evidence to support "simple jealous rage" hypothesis rather than "sins of Bas.")