It's the 1500's in Tudor England. The King's wives keep dying, either from a broken heart, by losing a head or for giving their all while finally birthing the King a son. What's a poor grieving King to do? Marry a mysterious German princess of course, Anne of Cleves who happens to have a nose as long as the Empire State Building, poor girl. At least she had the sense to except his divorce and continue to live rather richly and quiet-like in England. Katherine Howard however, well, she just seems doomed to follow in her cousin's footsteps, or is it just me??
Season 3 of this series did not disappoint. As far as I can tell in my limited knowledge, they are following the actual story very well. You just can't write this stuff! It's unbelievable what happened back then, over 400 years ago. My only qualm of course, is King Henry's size. He was in fact quite hefty by his forties, and probably wasn't even close to the lion they portray him in the bedroom. But this is Showtime after all, not the History Channel.
Still though, very interesting to see it all played out on the screen. Aside from Cromwell's death however, which is horrible to read about, let alone see on tv. It's fun to see these people and times brought to vivid life. The next season will be the last. I wish they'd continue on into Queen Mary's and eventually Queen Elizabeth's life, both of whom were equally if not more interesting than their famous father.
But oh well, I'll take what I can get I guess.I highly recommend this series if you like early English history at all.
8 comments:
hmmm. you say "early English history", but this sounds more like chick-flick to me.
:-)
I'm glad to hear it was good because I was a bit disappointed with the second series. Of course, it doesn't help that I have that picture of him eating the swan with juice dripping down his chin in my head. That just really made my stomach churn. What a bastard.
While I'll agree with Hamilcar that it's chick-flickish, it is quite good in the sense that it makes history come alive. They do follow history quite well, so even though it's dramatized, you're still learning about the period. It's easier to remember having seen it acted out rather than just reading a dry text book.
I have season one and two on dvd and I am loving it. I followed season three for a while, but then my shifts from work changed and I had to work late so I missed the show. I cant wait to see season three! :)
Indeed I agree with you, that would be nice. If they started a new show that follows the life of Elisabeth!
I love this time in history. I don't know why. They were all messed up and I agree with blacksheep that Henry was a loser. Of course they show him as a handsome man. Nobody would watch if they portrayed him as the fat man he was. Most people would not understand why these women were throwing themselves at him. Sometimes I almost feel sorry for him. He never had anything real. Every relationship was manipulated.
And how about that giant sore festering on his leg that gave off an extremely foul odor? Another testament to the idiocy of Kitty Howard that she put up with his smell. But I guess she thought it worth it to sleep with the king. I still feel sorry for Henry--I like Tanja's comment that all his relationships were manipulated. Good point.
lula-I can't get to my reading list to update it. Am I an idiot or something? wait don't answer that.
Hamilcar - you know me, I don't like chick-flicks and stuff with kissing, etc...
Blacksheep - yes oh what a lovely swan flesh eating scene that was. This season does seem to move at a faster pace, and does seem pretty accurate to the time period. Definitely worth the watching.
Nina - We can keep our fingers crossed they'll continue it! I smell a letter writing campaign!!
Tanja and Suzette - He was a real peach wasn't he. Definitely changed the world as they knew it at the time. He was most of all a selfish jerk, but the changes he made had great influence on religion reformation at the time. Who knows how long it might've taken had he not been how'd he'd been. What if he'd been a nice pope-loving king? What if he'd had a son right off the bat with Catherine of Aragon? Lot's of what ifs.
Tanja - I'm not sure why that's not working. Type up your new list and I'll post it if you can't. Or try making a whole new file.
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