In fairness, Nick is a parasite who is happy to 'tow the party line' so long as he can live in the beautiful house with 'the beautiful people'. He looks down on his own upbringing and is embarrassed when Gerald Fedden meets his parents - hardly crime of the century, but not exactly a great testament to his strength of character either.
I feel we are supposed to recognise Nick for the flawed character he is. So although we can empathise with him, we are also supposed to spot his lack of moral fibre. For example, his willingness to totally abandon everything he believes whenever it suits. Throughout the series, we know that he disagrees with the Tories when they talk bull to and about black people. But even when he is meant to be in love with a black man and should therefore keenly feel and reject their racism, he does not say or do anything. His silence makes him complicit and deep down he knows this.
Another example - He pretends to idolize Thatcher as much as Gerald's guests. Notice Cat's subtle look of disgust when Nick says something ridiculous along the lines of making a statue in honour of Thatcher.
To put it simply, the man is a coward. Not somebody to loathe necessarily, but not somebody to admire either. The book makes this very apparent. I suppose the TV series allows him to come across as slightly more likeable (which might partly be due to the actor Dan Stevens having a sympathetic presence).
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arlo_elam
13 years ago
Oh, and I think the ending is intended to show the audience that when the going is good, you can sail along happily in the Fedden's world; they will allow you to pretend to be one of them so long as you conform to their expectations; they will even call you a surrogate son, come to depend on you, reward you...
... but at the end of the day - when the boat springs a leak (stretching the metaphor, I know!) - all of the aforementioned turns out to mean nothing. The truth is you are still 'just a pretender' in their eyes. You are not, and never will be, their equal - and you were a fool to think otherwise. I believe that is the philosophical message behind the ending.
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