Subscribe
Previous Post
Jeez. The executioner returned Sunday. We all knew it was coming, long after Sir Thomas was dispatched on the king’s order, but still — the scenes in which Queen Anne’s supposed consorts meet their maker were doozies. Natalie Dormer definitely showed her mettle, from the moment she icily threatened Cromwell with decapitation to Anne’s graceful entrance to her cell in the Tower of London. Bravo! Next week, as we watch her cope with her death sentence, is sure to be a killer finale (no pun intended).
Cromwell showed a really unsavory side as he sought evidence that Anne was unfaithful. The interrogations of Madge, Nan and others who served the Queen seemed to glory in causing pain, whether the torture was psychological, as with the ladies in waiting, or actual (poor Mark Smeaton and his lovely face!).
So interesting to see how George, Mark, Brereton, Norris and Wyatt reacted to the charges. The assassin especially seemed like he had a moment of revelation — confess and he could kill the Queen, fulfill his promise to Rome, and be martyred all in one act.
And George — what a comeuppance. He should’ve treated his wife better; maybe then she wouldn’t have thrown him to the dogs. Norris, perhaps bearing some guilt for his attraction to Anne, went quietly enough, but Wyatt seemed to greet his jailers with amusement, figuring it would only be a matter of time before his carnal knowledge of the Queen came to light. How much more cruel, then, that he’s let free while his buddies are killed for a crime they never committed.
And what of Papa Boleyn? Is there a more selfish, callous father in all of England? Why not sell out your kids to save yourself? Makes sense to Boleyn. And he doesn’t even watch George’s execution, preferring to read instead. I hope that was a Bible in his hands, at least.
Meanwhile, Anne nearly breaks your heart as she watches her brother take leave of the world. Love or hate her character these two seasons, she’s masterful in moments of extreme emotion. Wish I could say the same of Jane Seymour, but we didn’t get much from her again this episode. Sure, she took Henry’s locket. And looked distraught when Anne ripped it from her neck. But aside from her symbolic purity and her ability to look smashing in the blue frocks costumer Ann Bergin keeps making for her, there ain’t much reason for Lady Jane to be on screen. Maybe that’s why Henry sends her back to the country for a while.
No. It’s because he hears from Charles Brandon that Anne’s been snogging all the guys in her social circle and Henry plans to go medieval on her ass (For the record, folks, that was a while back — the events of Season 2 are in the early Renaissance). Brandon has reported rumors about Anne before, but when Henry was in love with her he banished his best friend rather than hear anything that would discredit his future wife. A few miscarriages and one blonde later, he’ll willing to swallow Cromwell’s fib that Anne had countless lovers — and he speculated that Elizabeth isn’t even his child! From Brandon’s expression when Henry’s sobbing in despair, you can tell the Duke of Suffolk had no idea his lies would lead to such an epic turn of events.
The executions themselves were filmed with just enough detail, and thankfully no more. I’m still squirming at the splattering/pulsing blood we see on the platform in front of George’s headless corpse. Norris, stoic and gentlemanly till the end, and Mark — exhausted from the rack and other tortures — laying his head down with relief and resignation.
Anne won’t go without a fight, I’m guessing, but if she retains the dignity she carried through this episode into next week, we’ll have one heck of a season finale.
Till then, friends, a few words from Thomas Wyatt:
These bloody days have broken my heart.
My lust, my youth did them depart,
And blind desire of estate.
Who hastes to climb seeks to revert.
Of truth, circa Regna tonat.
