Nations were new in the time of The Tudors. In Episode 5, England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire shift alliances like dancers of the Branle - Charles has left Henry, who moves towards a rapprochement with Charles - and the personal lives of Henry and the characters in his court are swirling even faster, veering close to out of control...In our reality, Cardinal Wolsey opposes Henry's annulment of his marriage to Catherine. In The Tudors, Wolsey does not so much oppose it as is incapable of swaying the considered opinion of England's theological experts. The result is the same: Henry is growing increasingly frustrated, including, for the first time, at Wolsey himself. The scheming of Thomas Boleyn and Lord Norfolk may soon find some fruition.
Henry is angry at almost everyone except Anne Boleyn, with whom he's finally getting some good face and other-parts-of-the-anatomy time. Their relationship grows emotionally deeper, too, as Henry, in a rare display of self-control, refrains from ravishing her, until they are married.
Henry's not very happy with his sister Margaret, who has married Charles Brandon. He rages at them, too, and banishes them from court.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Henry and his furies finely. Whatever the real Henry was really like, I'm happy with Meyers in the part. Sam Neill as Wolsey is also superb - his facial expressions alone are worth a subscription to Showtime. And I have to give a shout-out to the little boy who played Henry's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy - nothing illegitimate about little Zak Jeno-Ragic's performance!
In close to the last scene, Henry learns that Rome has been sacked by the Emperor Charles, who has taken the Pope hostage in the process. Not good for Henry for many reasons, including the Pope's likelihood to decide in Henry's favor in the matter of his annulling his marriage with Catherine...
Useful links:
Derriere and Bosom on The Tudors: More of What the FCC Would Deprive Us Of
The King's Reformation: Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church G. W. Bernard's 2005 book
The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution my 1998 book
The Tudors Michael Hirst's brand new book!
my latest novel: The Plot to Save Socrates
my reviews of other episodes of The Tudors: Episodes 1 and 2: History So Colorful You Can Taste It, Episode 3: History So Real You Can Feel It, Episode 4: The Penalty of Royalty, Episode 6: Tectonic Chess, Episode 7: Henry's Imperfect Apothecary
The Plot to Save Socrates
"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News
"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book
3 comments:
I agree that Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays a very convincing Henry. I admit, I've still only watched the first two episodes, but getting a subscription to Showtime is becoming more and more appealing. Great post!
as you astutely observed sam neil's wolsey is delicious and alarming!! This series is wonderful: I like Maria Doyle's protrayal of Queen Katharine - how else should the daughter of the almighty King and Queen Of Spain behave? Michael Hirst writing is dead-on per character development; historical facts however are mixed-up: the Princess Margaret/King of Portugal ( was actually King Louis and the other spoilt sister Princess Mary)and Sir Thomas More was not such a 'saint' he was exceedingly profane. Very much loved your review!!!!
Hey, ktyr and linda - great to have your comments!
I don't really mind the conflation of the sisters (nice philosophic term....) ... as long the social history is true, which it is...
You're right about Thomas More, though - in fact, in our history, he supported Henry VIII's annulment, and Wosley did not. Will be interesting to see where they take this ...
((Secret: I got advance copies of Episodes 7 and 8, which I'm going to watch right after Episode 6 on On-Demand this Sunday. I can't wait! I'll try not to give too much away in my reviews....))
Post a Comment