(S02E04) The 16th century soap opera continues... George Boleyn is having an affair with Mark Smeaton. Anne's pregnant again. Henry's on mistress number two to keep him company while the bun is in the oven. Henry passed a bill making him supreme ruler of everything. Lady Mary lost her title to a little baby named Elizabeth.Trouble is brewing overseas with the French king not recognized Anne as queen and the Spanish emperor planning Anne's assassination. Now, all we need is for someone to come back from the dead or have a sex change.
I can barely keep up with The Tudors. How about you? Let's talk about it after the jump...
After all that courtship last season, Henry already seems tired of Anne. Last week he took a mistress, Lady Elena Luke, because Anne would not allow him his conjugal rights while she was still pregnant. This week, Anne has gotten rid of Lady Elena but she is pregnant again so she finds herself in the same pickle. Except this time, taking the advice of her father, Queen Anne hand picked the mistress. Despite having more control over the situation with her husband, Anne didn't seem very happy about it as she quietly cried in her bed.
Okay, that's two weeks and two mistresses. So after all that flirting and seducing last season, he's pretty much done with Anne. I'm not saying that Henry didn't take mistresses once he was married to Anne Boleyn but I think it would have been more rewarding for us if their relationship didn't disintegrate so quickly. Regardless of the real chronological order, I would prefer the two to still be in love. I wanted Henry to push everyone away for Anne, to be completely bewitched by her for a few more episodes. Then after Anne has a baby girl and something happens to her current child (which I'm sure something will happen), Henry begins to look elsewhere for sex and becomes suspicious of her. It's just moving a little too quickly for me. What do you readers think?
And there's another story that's been rising for awhile. Henry grows more tyrannical each week. This week he had Thomas Cromwell pass a bill that makes him pretty much infallible. Anyone who doesn't take an oath agreeing with him marriage and agreeing that Henry is head of the church is now punishable by death. Oh, and everyone has to agree that Lady Mary is no longer the heir to the throne. I think that means Bishop Fisher and Thomas More will be losing their heads in the next few episodes. Why does Thomas Cromwell, a seemingly smart guy, guide the king? I would think an intelligent man would realize that giving any king too much power will never turn out well.
Other Comments / Historical Tidbits:
- I'm not so sure I like this squeezing a few months into one hour. Last week Anne announced she was pregnant and had the baby by the end of the hour. This week, she's already been churched and pregnant again. Mind you, they didn't have pregnancy tests back then so she would have had needed a least a good month or two to know that she was definitely carrying a baby.
- When did Archbishop Cramner become a bad-ass? Remember the last episodes from season one when he was a self-deprecating little country chaplain? Now, he's confident, out-spoken and screaming "Why won't you swear?" at Sir Thomas More. Last week in the comments, someone said that Cramner is "emo." Well, in that case, he's gone from "emo" to "extremo."
Madge Shelton was the king's mistress for a period of about six months starting in February 1535. Anne was jealous of the affair and especially envious of the attention Madge received from the king's Privy Council. Madge later married Henry Norris. I don't want to say here what happened to him. He might end up being a character on the show. But if you want to know and don't mind the possible spoiler, click on the link. - To the right, I put a picture of the real King Henry VIII. I just wanted to show everyone how much Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks like the real deal. See how much they favor each other.
- "But they shall never deflower me." --Sir Thomas More. This, the final line in More's incredible speech, was the best line of the night.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-21-2008 @ 12:10AM
Random Woman said...
I still like this show but the third episode crammed a LOT of events into one little hour. I know that this season was supposed to turn into Anne of the Thousand Days towards the end and we all know the history but still... One thing that amuses me is Anne getting all upset about Henry taking a Mistress and cheating on yet another wife. She acts like this is new behavior for him or something.
http://www.randomwoman.com
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4-21-2008 @ 2:50PM
jacquie said...
hey .. that is actually how it happened. he started getting bored with anne even before they got married, but he had already gone so far and done so much for her and against his kingdom/ex wife that he couldnt go back on everything he had already done and not marry her. he changed his kingdom because of her. he still had some feelings for her and married her because he really believed she would have a son. when she didnt have a son, he really started to get annoyed/bored with her. he had a very short temper. he thought that once he married her (which is what she had been nagging him about forever) that she would finally give him what she had been promising him (a son). he figured she would finally accept him as all powerful too which she didnt. he was king, he was used to getting whatever he wanted and hated anyone who stood in his way. also, one of the main reasons he was after her in the beginning was because he couldnt get the one thing he wanted from her most (sex). after all those years, when he finally did, he realized she was just another woman and nothing special. it was his pride that held him back from admitting he was wrong and thats why she ends up with the fate she did. you will notice that the next wife he takes is very doctile and never outspoken .. completely opposite of anne.
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4-21-2008 @ 6:52PM
Kristin Sample said...
Oh, I have no doubt that's actually how it happened. I just think it might be better from for the narrative if the writers kept him enraptured for awhile longer and THEN had him realize just how much he's given up for her.
But perhaps, maybe it's a more interesting character sketch this way.
I think that's the problem with reviewing this show. There's always the disconnect between wanting the accurate history and wanting a good story. (At least that's how I feel about it.)
4-22-2008 @ 2:14AM
T. Marxus said...
Henry didn't get tired of Anne until after she she wasn't conceiving; he was disappointed when Elizabeth was born but didn't show any outward movement against Anne until she couldn't carry another child to term. They weren't married because it had "gone too far," they had a marriage of passion. But Anne expected it to be monogamous because of how passionate the courtship had been, and Henry did not.
And Henry did not place Mary in Elizabeth's household; Anne did. It was meant as a strategic move (it showed that Mary was no longer in line to the throne, as she was a servant to the "real" princess), and probably also done to make Mary feel as inferior as possible and remind her of her place and of how far she could sink if she didn't take the oath.
If you're truly interested in the history of the Tudor family, read "The Six Wives of Henry VII" by Alison Weir. It's like reading a fiction novel - very enjoyable and easy - but based on all factual writings / paintings / accounts from the time.
4-21-2008 @ 8:16AM
mj said...
Forgive me, but you DO know this is history, right? If you want to know more, and the 'why', start reading. Or at least look it up on Wiki, if you don't want to get a book, which I believe. A tv show makes some things up. Henry was a pig. He was delusional, thinking he spoke to God. He used women. Anne wasn't the witch portrayed. She was a pawn. Her family used her, Henry used her. The man treated his own children with scorn.
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4-21-2008 @ 6:51PM
Kristin Sample said...
Wait a minute...The Tudors really happened?
4-21-2008 @ 2:42PM
chgosaint said...
I watch it on Showtime on demand and either the reviewer didn't watch the epsiode completely, because we saw the miscarriage or Showtime on Demand is a week ahead of the cablecast. Yet, some parts of the review makes me think the reviewer just didn't watch the whole episode as Madge was involved in this one.
"Then after Anne has a baby girl and something happens to her current child (which I'm sure something will happen)," It happened.... and Thomas More and Bishop (Cardinal) Foster were put to death...
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4-21-2008 @ 6:51PM
Kristin Sample said...
I have the screeners so I write the reviews whenever I get to them and we publish them after the show airs in "real" time. I think you're talking about episode 2-5, which is next week's episode. If that's the case, then On Demand is letting you watch the eps early.
4-21-2008 @ 11:10PM
ws1wizard said...
Henry has not completely (shall we say"joined the dark side of the force), I think it was quite clever for him to place his daughter Mary in the household of Elizabeth. It clearly shows that he still cares a great deal about her and this would allow him to see her from time to time when he is visiting Elizabeth, thereby not upsetting Anne.
Also I think the show may have moved a bit to fast the previous epsiode but after last season I am confident it will be worth it as we will spend more time wih the demise of Anne and the rest of the Boleyn family. I am looking forward to the introduction of Jane Seymour in the next few episodes.
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4-24-2008 @ 7:34PM
thea22 said...
I live in Ontario Canada and I cannot find The Tudors on anywhere. Does anyone know what day and time it is on here?? We do not get showtime. Last season it was on CBC and now NOTHING!!! We are having marathons of season 1 (which I now know off by heart!!)
Help!!!!
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