First off, let’s have a moment of silence for Sir Thomas More, who finally took his trip to the chopping block — his fate sealed by the sniveling Sir Richard Rich, he of the stupidest sounding name. Then let’s cross our fingers and toes in hopes of an Emmy nod for Jeremy Northam, who acted his pants off as the martyr-par-excellence last night, don’t you think? Let’s also hear it for the dastardly king who, while still allowing his former teacher and most loyal subject be killed, had the kindness to commute More’s sentence — from being drawn on a hurdle through the city, hung until he’s half dead, and losing his bowels, his John Thomas and his noggin — to just a plain old beheading. What a generous fellow you are, Henry. And a ballsy man, too.
Did anyone else notice that the first bloke to yell “God bless you, Cardinal Fisher!” at the holy man’s execution was William Webb, the same guy whose girlfriend the King snogged in front of him earlier in the episode? (Brandon was all smiles during this scene. Lord he hates Anne.) I bet Mr. Webb is storing up some ire against the king, and that he’ll be back in force. Then again, he could go the way of Anthony Knivert and just disappear (which is my only gripe with The Tudors). Either way, if Webb’s purpose was to show how covetous, horny, and abusive of his power the king has become (what did the Pope say about him being mired in vice and lust?), it certainly worked. I’m beginning to hate Henry with all my body and soul. Sure, Anne is a trollop. Yet the one thing you could count on last season is that they were a team, and now he’s turning his back on her the same way he did on Katherine. Grrrr. That jousting accident he’s supposed to get in before the end of the season? The result of bad karma, methinks.
addCredit(“Sir Thomas More; Jonathan Hession”)
Speaking of bad karma, I’m still hoping for lightning (or somethingreally terrible) to strike Papa Boleyn. His first words to Anne aftershe suffered a miscarriage were, “What did you do to kill the baby?” Agreat show of fatherly love on his part. Then, in the same episode, hedisinherits pregnant daughter Mary for marrying beneath them andinfluences Anne to get her banished from court. Yes, it was Anne’s owndecision, but you saw the pain in her eyes as she chastised Mary — shedidn’t want to do it, and it’s partially her and Papa’s fault Mary wasnicknamed “The Great Prostitute” and basically unmarriageable anyway.
In fact, it’s Anne’s fault that a lot of bad things are happening.Don’t get me wrong, I’ve warmed to her. But she’s already cozying uptoo frequently to a freaked-out Mark Smeaton at court and we know wherethat is going to lead. We can already see the worry in his eyes whenthe King appears. Plus, she’s summoning her brother George to herbedchamber when she’s drunk (did you see Cousin Madge spying on them?),which is not going to bode well for him in the future when he isaccused of incest. Then there is Cromwell. Once Anne’s #1 fan, he isgoing to have to jump through hoops to keep in the King’s good gracesas Henry tires of her. What was it that Thomas More said to Cromwellbefore his death? “No difference between us except that I shall dietoday and you tomorrow?" Hint: I think I’ve figured out what’s goingto happen to him in the third season. (If you already didn’t know,Showtime has renewed The Tudors for a another run in which the kingwill marry Anne of Cleves, who a friend of mine swears hadnotoriously rank body odor. To which I said, were you in a past life aperfumer in the court of Anne of Cleves?)
But I digress. While we are still waiting to meet Henry Norris andFrancis Weston (the final two men to be killed along with Anne — theothers are George, Mark, and the assassin William Brereton), we did getan interesting cameo this episode. Providing a little comic reliefafter Fisher’s death, Michelangelo showed up to paint the SistineChapel and give his assistants a right bollocking because “Moses lookslike a pile of crap.” Interestingly enough, Michelangelo’s face wascovered in splashes of red paint that almost matched the pink sores onFisher’s face — could this be a little statement on the martyrdom of apainter for religious art? Hmm.
Anyway, in all this, we have yet to stop and admire the clothes thisseason. Sometimes they just take your breath away, don’t they? I lovedHenry’s thin red velvet vest and black blouse at the beginning of theepisode (and the juicy dressing gown Anne wore last week). I dowonder, however, why Cranmer is meant to look a bit like a cartoon rapmogul with a fur stole and some regal bling. What this says about him,I’ve yet to figure out.
So please come back next week when the Pope goes outside (sort of), theprinting press makes its English debut, George marries (a woman),Cousin Madge attracts a real suitor (not the King), Sir Henry Norrisshows up and, most importantly, Brandon finally gets his own bona fideplotline! Now excuse me while I go do the cabbage patch in celebrationof that one…
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Yes, where IS Mr. Knivert? I find it odd that no one thought to insert a throwaway line like, “He’s in Surrey attending to his sick father” or something.
I just started watching Tudors, thanks to Netflix, and am enjoying it very much! I just saw the first head get axed this weekend, Buckingham, and can’t wait for the rest! Almost makes me want to subscribe to Showtime.
Who the heck is the actress who plays cousin Madge? I cannot find the info anywhere.
Losing his “bowls”? Doesn’t sound too bad to me…
Losing his “bowls”? Doesn’t sound too bad to me…
i’m waiting for jane seymour to show up, since she was the real reason anne was beheaded. if they’re going to get to anne of cleves in season 3, they need to sandwich in the marriage to jane.
my only real complaint with this show (besides some miscasting of pretty much all of the women) is how fast and loose they are with the timeline. katherine is supposed to die before anne, so that’s got to be soon.
oh, and what happened to the weekly charles brandon (henry cavill) sex scene? sorely missing, i must say.
As to William Webb, it appears that Henry may have given him (of all things) a nunnery. At least Henry gave a nunnery to someone named William Webb, according to A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland. Thank you, Google book search.
I’ve accepted that Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks nothing like Henry. I’m fine with that bc JRM is doing a good job. But shouldn’t Henry start getting fat soon? I always thought Henry VIII’s real life obesity grew with his gluttony for power, vice and lust. This is an interesting historical parallel I’d like to see on screen.
I agree about the lack of Charles Brandon/Henry Cavill sex scenes. Damn him for becoming monogamous!
Henry will start getting fat after the jousting accident he’ll soon have — he’s not able to move around much and this is what brings on the weight gain
1) Henry did tell everyone that Anne of Cleves stank. I guess she also had terrible pock marks. I am very interested in seeing the actress who plays her. 2)George’s wife plays a huge part in Anne’s downfall.
I have followed The Tudors from the beginning, whose who concerning royalty and court members has become far easier to understand as well as all the intrigue behind the scenes events in Henry’s court. Henry’s self-centerness is well depicted in each and every episode. I anxiously await the next Sunday evening every week in order to discover more of the ins and outs of British history during the rein of Henry VIII.
I already feel so badly for Mark, and it’s only going to get worse! Loved his scene in Anne’s chambers – he may be a blithe spirit and with no political bone in his body, but the boy ain’t stupid. Plus, he strikes me as someone who would definitely keep up on the court gossip – and is becoming more and more terrified of being the topic du jour!
Those who follow history know that Anne and Mary were not the best of friends for the obvious reason that they both were competing for their father and for the king. Also Anne of Cleves is said to have scorned Henry when she met him, not knowing that he was king, so that might be more of the problem than anything else. And by the time she did meet him, he was fat and smelly from the leg wound.
Charles Brandon is the most boring character on the show. I have no idea why you always feature him so heavily in your reviews. Yawn. But other than that, I love your articles. Rhys Meyers and Northam should both get Emmy noms for episode 5. Powerful.
For the first time in a long time I felt sorry for Henry..did you see the anguish he faced when Thomas died?I understand where he was coming from..sure..but I still don’t support him for killing my favourite character besides Katherine..
I won’t even touch on Anne..she is something else..and she’s beginning to lose it..surely I cannot wait until she loses her head too:-)
JRM is amazing..absolutely mesmerizing..WOW.
ONE HOUR IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THE TUDORS CAN THEY MAKE IT 2 HOURS,EVEN AT THAT IT WOULD’NT BE LONG ENOUGH.
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I haven’t watched all the episodes of “The Tudors”. I find the historical inaccuracies frustrating. But I’ve watched the last three episodes, including the one where More goes to the block and loses his. Northam’s performance was the most fantastic thing I saw on TV last week, and while I’ve never paid too much attention to him before because his style is so understated, and I feel he often blends into the background onscreen, I too, have begun to push for accolades on his behalf.
Absolutely adore Jeremy Northam as Thoams More and hope for at least an Emmy nod…he is fantastic!
Does anyone else feel that Rhys Meyers’ performance as Henry VIII parrots that of Joaquin Phoenix as the Emperor Commodus in “Gladiator”?
At any rate, Northam’s fans should make every effort to e-mail the Emmys, SAG, and the Golden Globes on his behalf to see that he is remembered at awards time. In many ways, I feel he was the one who really carried the series.
Wow and omg as they say online! I just finished watching the Season 2 finale and although I knew what to expect,it blew me away.I found myself hating Anne this season but in the last 3 episodes Natalie Dormer played her heart out! I am having trouble imagining this show without her, JRM is awesome and smoking hot but he and Anne had mad chemistry. Is it just me or is this Jane Seymour (sorry, not Anne of Cleves but Jane Seymour whom he marries after Anne Boleyn, mother of Edward the sickly) whom we briefly met in Season 2, well, does anyone feel a chemistry between her and the King? I am so not feeling it and I think I just do not like the way she plays the character and that their scenes together just fall flat after watching the magic for 2 seasons with the fire Natalie Dormer brought to the role of Anne. 1 more correction, sorry – it was Mary I(King’s daughter)who’s husband, Philip of Spain, complained of her foul stench, and again not Anne of Cleves.
I have to say, I liked the first season better. It just seemed more dramatic, more action packed. I got sick of Cromwell and Thomas Boleyn. Maybe because they didn’t show my favorite-Henry Cavill enough. Maybe becuase last season he was half naked and “very busy” most of the time. Has it been renewed for another season?
I’m so missing Thomas More…
The e-mail addresses for the Emmys, Golden Globes and SAGs respectively are as follows:
support@emmys.org
mrussell@michaelrussellgroup.com
saginfo@sag.org
Use them well, everybody!
A friendly reminder: The Emmy nominations will be announced on July 17th. So those wishing to e-mail their two cents’ worth on behalf of those they wish to see nominated need to act quickly.:-)
Currently, there are buzz polls on The People’s Choice Awards official site pertaining to “The Tudors” cast members. They will be up for only six days. Those wishing to see that these cast members are remembered at awards time are free to log on and vote as many times as they wish.
The word is that Northam has been shut out of the nomination for an Emmy, which will be to the great dismay of many. But this is the Emmy’s loss. Hopefully, BAFTA, The Goldenglobes, SAG and the People’s Choice Awards will be kinder.