Striking Out: A Solid Hit

My wife and I binged the two seasons of Striking Out, originally (in 2017-2018) on Irish TV, now on Acorn via Amazon Prime.  The show only ran two seasons, and there's apparently no prospect for a third season, which is a shame, because the two seasons were quite good, and the second season ended on an unexpected turn of events.

The set-up of the show is something we've seen before: a happily married or about to be happily married woman comes home to find her man happily going at it in bed with another woman.   In the case of Striking Out, Tara and Eric, the about-to-be-married happy couple, both are attorneys, who work in Eric father's firm, and just for good measure, Tara's father is an attorney, too.  Lots of possibilities there, and the narrative is especially enjoyable to see because it all takes place in Dublin, a sight for sore eyes in these our current COVID-beset times.

But the stories are good, too, and come in two kinds.  One is episodic, as Tara struggles to establish her own practice, and takes this unusual case and that.  The other narrative is continuing, and delves into what's going on in Eric's father's firm.  It's under investigation, by some kind of independent prosecutor who is both brilliant and drinks too much, and whom Tara comes to sometimes work with, which adds further provocative permutations to the story.

The acting is excellent.  Amy Huberman plays an appealing Tara, wounded, powerful, loving, and funny.  The supporting cast features Moe Dunford (Vikings), Neil Morrissey (Line of Duty), and Maria Doyle Kennedy and Nick Dunning from The Tudors, so how can you go wrong?  The only thing wrong about Striking Out is that there's no third season, so here's a final plea for one in case anyone who can make that happen is reading this.

 

The Tudors Concludes and America Begins

America began in response to what we see in the final two episodes of The Tudors' second - and thank goodness, not final - season.

Torture to get confessions, executions for no good reason other than the whim of the government - in this case, a psychotic King Henry VIII - these are the things that Thomas Jefferson and our Founding Fathers tried to make sure would never happen in America, by insisting on a Bill of Rights for our Constitution.

And the torture and the beheadings were searingly portrayed on The Tudors. The execution of Anne was more harrowing and indelible than any I've seen in any movie.

How could reasonable people allow this to happen? The answer, clearly, was that in the 1500s we were less removed from sheer barbarism that we might assume or suppose.

George Boleyn beheaded on the strength of a hug or two he gave his sister Anne. Henry Norris executed on no evidence at all. A Jesuit assassin lies to bring Anne down - he says he slept with Anne - and he's beheaded. Mark Smeaton the musician denies any carnal knowledge of Anne - because he had none - until torture makes him falsely confess it. He's beheaded, too.

But nothing compares in sheer power - in acting and rendering for the screen - of the beheading of Anne. Natalie Dormier's performance was as memorable as it gets. I'll certainly never forget it.

And Nick Dunning as Thomas Boleyn, Anne's father, was extraordinary, as well. He's thrilled not go to the grim reaper, even as his son has just gone there, and his daughter soon will. Charles Brandon expresses our outrage at Thomas, who soon proceeds to leave the tower, freed. He looks back up an Anne's window. She smiles at him, still loving her father, happy to see that he, at least, will live. He turns his back on her, and just walks on. He set much of this game in motion, and he walks away when the stakes turn deadly. (I wonder how much of this Thomas Boleyn of The Tudors really lived in the real Thomas Boleyn of history.)

Yes, this is the depravity that America was born as an action against, less than two centuries later. We have done a fair job of keeping to the better road - though torture apparently has not been beyond the tools of the current administration.

But that's a story for another blog post, when I review Recount, on HBO. For now, I'll just say the juxtaposition of The Tudors and our election in American is no coincidence in this cosmos.

Bravo to a great cast and a great second season. My only regret was not seeing more of Peter O'Toole as Pope in the last few episodes - but I hope to see that corrected next season.

See also ...

Tooling Up for The Tudors and The Tudors: Transformations and Assassins ... John Adams Concludes, The Tudors Continues, The First Amendment Abides ... The Tudors and the Printing Press ...

and my reviews of all of last season's episodes, beginning here ...

and more on the printing press and the Protestant Reformation in my book, The Soft Edge ...

and ...



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