TVSquad

(S02E02) This week we see just how much Anne has beguiled Henry (some might even say, bewitched?). The gifts, the trip to France, the title--all tokens of his love and all signs of how narrow-minded he is about her. I think the gifts, while very special and expensive, are nothing compared to the trip to Calais and Henry's elevating Anne to Marquess of Pembroke. Those two things show, more than anything else, that Henry is indeed serious about divorcing Queen Katharine and marrying Anne Boleyn.

In return for all the pomp and circumstance, Henry finally got to have sex with Anne. It's about time. Just a side note: that was a rather anti-climatic (there goes the punning again) love scene for this show. The scene at the end of last season was much better. I know it's crude, but I hope she was good in bed after all that attention. Now, all Anne has to do is give the king a son. No pressure.

Did anyone else catch the rather symbolic Christmas gifts? (Not Sir Thomas More's. That's just too easy.) But Henry gave Anne new linens and a bed and in the very same episode they consummate their relationship? Nice work, writers. And Anne gives him boar spears in return. Phallic much? Really nice work, writers.

And lurking in the shadows still is Anne's possible assassin. We've seen a few meetings now in the dark sweaty underbelly of the castle with the Spanish ambassador. This week the assassin even ventured into Anne's apartments.

Who do you think it is? Here are my best guesses: Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Thomas More, and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.The last one is the most plausible. Plus, it makes for a juicy storyline when Henry inevitably finds out about the murderous plot. The king will have to have Suffolk, his once best friend, killed for the offense.

A thought about Thomas More... he's turned into the "Queen Katharine" of this season. I feel so bad for him now just as I sympathized with the rebuffed queen last season. In fact, now that More is gone from court, I want the queen to return to serve as a foil to Henry and Anne's indulgent behavior.

Other Thoughts / Historical Bits...

• What do you think will happen with Anne and Sir Thomas Wyatt? We know from season one that he and Anne were indeed lovers. They were sitting under a tree and she threatened his life if he ever spoke of her at court. And from the scenes at the French court, Wyatt is still in love with Anne. So, why did he take another lover this episode? That confused me. Am I missing something?
  
• Anne Boleyn was the first woman to be created a Marquess in England. The title ranked her between a Duke/Dutchess and Earl/Countess. That means that Anne is now ranked higher than her father (Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde) in the Peerage of England.
• Mary Boleyn had two children while she was mistress to Henry and married to William Carey. Phillipa Gregory's novel The Other Boleyn Girl posits that both children were Henry's but many historians disagree saying that Henry never recognized either child as legitimate. And Henry had, indeed, recognized Henry Fitzroy as his son, a child by one of his earlier mistresses, Bessie Blount.
  
• The friar mentioned Ahab and Jezebel at the pulpit. Ahab, seventh king of Israel, married Jezebel and under her influence built a pagan temple in Israel. The prophet Elijah warned Ahab of the drought that would plague the country and later told him that none of Ahab's male heirs would survive and Jezebel would be eaten by dogs. What a great bible story to reflect Anne's Lutheran sentiments and her persuading Henry to leave the Catholic church. (Not that Lutherans are pagans. But, at that time, the reformers were definitely seen as heretics. And Anne is a bit of an instigator.)

See you next Sunday night after The Tudors.