Francis: “There are risks that you take... for
the people that you love. You used to know that.”
For a penultimate episode
this one felt disjointed. The task of the last few episodes is usually to tie
up the loose sub-plots and to introduce new ones that will be developed in the next season.
I think it somewhat failed at both.
The plot I wished they tied
up was Henry. It is obviously the time for Francis and Mary to rule and
his craziness has gone beyond tiring. As much as I like Alan van Sprang who is by the way doing a great job with material given, to watch Henry II on screen has become a challenge. I was sure they were gonna go
through with the plan to kill him. Not that I was rooting for his murder. I thought they will stick to the history and it will be an accident. The fact that they had Mary cross yet another line was bold. I kept thinking that at least Francis got
some closure, because that scene in the woods after hunting was beautifully executed. Henry had a moment of clarity and felt normal again.
The plan, of course [yet to my surprise] failed. First
Mary couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She isn't a good actress [Mary it is, not Adelaide], she needs to learn the craft since all of her emotions were right there on her face. She should have followed the plan until
the end, especially if the goal was to spare Francis, to
not burden him with such a decision. I don’t know if Francis will
ever trust her again.
Speaking of this decision, Mary’s journey on this road of destruction continues. Some
moths ago she would’ve been against this plan no matter how crazy Henry was. Here she was justifying her actions and decisions, and it didn't look like she cared much
that Henry is a human being and the king of France. Last time I checked
something like that would constitute treason. The only plus out of all this ‘killing Henry’ mess was a
delightful scene with two queens discussing their options on how exactly they
could kill him.
Now that the assassination
attempt had failed Henry had an epiphany! Following the steps of his own father
who once traded his sons for his freedom, Henry decides to kill Francis [and I
assume Catherine] and wed Mary. The sequence of him stating his plan out loud
was stunningly filmed, the operator work was terrific. And then we saw that he wasn’t just
talking to himself, he was talking to that ghost/hallucination guy with a
racket. Who is this guy? This can’t go on forever, so if they don’t sort out
this nonsense in the finale I will be disappointed.
Moving on to another
loose-end. Lola and Lord Julien, who turned out to be not Lord Julien, but his secretary Remy.
This guy is full of surprises. I so didn’t expect this, that at first I even
thought I must have heard it wrong. No, I haven’t. The scene where he had to
explain to Lola his predicament in short sentences and very very quickly was so so funny, I
laughed so hard I scared my husband. As Lola said “This is madness”.
What followed was double madness. When they couldn’t convince the uncle that
his nephew [the real Lord Julien] is fine and well and just absent, they accidentally killed the poor guy. How strong
must be Lola to push that hard the guy that big against the wall? Afterwards the
only solution they could come up with was to burn their
house to the ground and have Remy run 'for his life' and Lola come back to court as a widow. That was madness, indeed. If they didn’t want Lola to end
up happily with this man, why did we spent so much time with them trying to
make it work? Now, we have Lola married and with child and a ‘dead’ husband.
No one will look twice at her child, so was that the purpose? If they wanted her
to have a name and legitimate father for the baby, they could have let
Julien/Remy run in the precious episode, like he planned. Why go through all this trouble to keep
him here only to have him take so much screen time in the penultimate episode of a season and be gone anyway?
As far as the set up for the
next season, there was only one. Bash found a child in the woods and brought him
back to the castle. After Kenna, of all people, found away to talk to the
boy, he revealed the possible location where Mr. Darkness resides. I didn’t
see the twist at the end coming. Did you? The boy saw very clearly that it was Bash who killed his father. And suddenly I got worried for Kenna, and more importantly for Bash who is going straight into the trap.
Historical bits
The story Henry told Francis
about his father was a straightforward statement of historical facts. His father was captured in 1525 by the
forces of his sworn enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain. To
obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his older brother be sent to Spain
in his place. They remained in captivity for three years.
Some observations
When Francis and soldiers came back to the castle with a victory, Henry was on fire. I was surprised he didn’t order them to invade England right there and then. I remember thinking, even he isn’t that crazy. I was wrong, he was exactly that crazy.
Calais once again belongs to France. Check.
Mary Tudor
is [finally and officially] dead. Check.
Lola is now
sort of single. And Francis is very angry with Mary. There’s a ton of possibilities to play with.
I thought Leith would come back with Francis. I guess they couldn’t
fit all the love stories in one episode.
Crafty fake
Lord Julien managed to convince everyone! How is that possible? I seem to remember he came to court in a carriage and with men? Were those not Lord Julien's? If not, where were those? It can't be that everyone who was with Lord Julien died in that fire.
Memorable Quotes:
Mary: “An
interesting choice. Assuming you let her know she has one since she's a servant
and you're a duke.”
Guke de
Guise: “I'll let her know. I liked her. And she's certainly a step up from one
of Catherine's spies.”
Wrong, at
the court it seems like almost every woman is Catherine’s spy.
Duke de
Guise: “You can never have a normal life because of who you are, and without
power you're nothing but a threat. Mary. The truth is, you're still simply a
guest at French court. The wife of the Dauphin.
You must beg the king and queen for anything Scotland may need. All your power
comes from what you might do in the future.”
Mary: “I...
I'd be defying my husband... - betraying him, murdering his father.”
Catherine:
“My husband... the father of my children... handing over my crown to you the
moment Francis is king. I can't think about myself. We need to think like
queens now. Or thousands of men will die needlessly in a war we are not
prepared for and we cannot win.”
Mary: “You're
a very imaginative murderer. There must be a way.”
Henry: “Sons
must sacrifice for their fathers. This is the lesson.”
What a twisted logic. I am pretty
sure it’s the other way around.
Mary: “I
didn't want you to carry that burden for the rest of your life. I did what you
couldn't do.
I did it
for France.
For the nation that you used to put before all else, even me. Because that is
what rulers do!
Francis: “What
is wrong with you?! He is my father!”
Sol’s
rating: 3 out of 5. Can't wait for the finale.
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