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PinkRibbons

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Everything posted by PinkRibbons

  1. I'm a bit confused, but I took it as Mary clearly drawing attention to herself and her ladies' mourning (wearing all-white is something people don't even do nowadays aside from special occasions - it's insanely hard to keep pristine, which makes them all wearing it seem super privileged and showy about it. Which they obviously were) to make a point about her still being a Dowager Queen (who, let's be completely clear about this, has absolutely no right to a throne by marriage alone) even as Catherine gears up for the crowning of her next son in line, Charles, who she will be regent for. I suspect Mary is holding to white court mourning past the generally accepted amount of time expected after her husband's death, and therefore seeming holier-than-thou. In actuality Catherine made a point of wearing mourning exclusively except for a few of very specific formal events from Henri's death until her own. I'm fairly certain she wore black mourning, which was still a sign of privilege, because black cloth involved a lot of dye and that made it expensive. I actually think there's some evidence to suggest Catherine helped popularize black mourning, but don't quote me on that, it's past midnight and I'm too tired to look up a source to back my suspicions. Anyway, Catherine wouldn't have to change her wardrobe to indicate she was mourning when her eldest died, as Mary is doing. She's been wearing black for Henri since his death. Mary probably chose white mourning specifically to stand as a contrast to Catherine.
  2. Brb, laughing my ass off at the idea of any version of Mary Stuart being in the same hemisphere as Catherine De'Medici in terms of royal scheming game. (Although actually mistakenly thinking that she is any good at royal conniving is extremely on brand for Mary, Queen of Scots. That's kind of how she kept wrecking her own life over and over.) This episode was the first that made me super aware that young Catherine is an Unreliable Narrator. It's a testament to the show that it didn't occur to me until the Sebastio thing. I was thinking about how the way it was framed, it didn't actually seem like she did have much of a choice to turn him over. They needed a scapegoat or there would be a war, and Sebastio was both an "Italian poisoner" and suspiciously the dude that gave young Francois the water he drank just before dying. (OMG I LOVED Catherine turning to the camera and shrugging at that part.) The intensity of the scene where she has to give him up makes it seem like she didn't really have a choice, and her getting pregnant from his sacrifice seemed almost incidental. But then there would have been other avenues for her to take, she was a smart girl. And that's how I came to remember that this is a story being told by an older Catherine to a young woman whom she wants idealizing her. She's not gonna make herself look monstrous. So they're definitely committed to the maybe magic, maybe mundane thing, which I can roll with. I'm a little surprised the show didn't outright have Catherine causing the somewhat mysterious death of the dauphin. I like that they both went ahead and gave an explanation for his death that suggested it was inevitable, but left a little doubt. (That shrug!) Henri is starting to work my last nerve. It's like he's capable of being the sweetest genuinely nicest guy in the world - and yet somehow cannot see how utterly adorable his own wife is. Somehow he's not only blind to the fact that she's smart, intensely loyal to him and cute beyond all reason, but also can't catch on that he isn't doing the bare minimum to keep her as his wife, i.e. keep her from being sent back to where she will definitely get murdered. Okay man, you don't love the girl, but at least summon some protective instinct for someone who only means you well. The amount of times Catherine just fucked off out of the room in this episode! The only answer she could give when no one would speak up for her. I mean Diane seems to care about her more (totally calling it that Diane got her attacked and sent Henri out to save her. Which worked!) than Henri. I think it was him bringing home Fillippa that was the last straw for me with him. I get him having a weird sexual hangup about sleeping with anyone other than Diane, but he brings home an Italian mistress? Dude, appreciate what you have!
  3. I feel like Pam is who we should all aspire to be when we grow up. Also I'm really missing Cheryl. I would love to hear how many psychiatrists she's put out of business. (I'm assuming if she had any she's driven them to their own breakdowns and/or violence.)
  4. Diane is so creepy with her grooming. I'm glad they had the scene of Henri laughing at her being too old for him to marry. It's also hard to watch Henri being devoted to a creepy old woman when young Catherine is so objectively adorable. (I don't know when Samantha Mortonson will come in playing Catherine, but as she is in the present-day scenes, she's gonna become way more woman than Henri could ever handle.) I'm not quite sure where the whole screwing the groom thing came out of. I guess to show us that Catherine is really desperate, but maybe more to introduce her willing use of poisoning? Also, it doesn't seem like that poison worked as fast as she would need it to, if indeed the groom ate the poisoned apple. Mathilde didn't do the greatest job of making sure he got it. Why did the servant lady want the use of Catherine's magician? Surely Catherine's poisoner perfumer would be the better option. Italians had a reputation for being poisoners, so it does make sense she'd come to Catherine. I'm wondering if they're trying to set up a maybe magic maybe mundane thing with the poisons and magician.
  5. Henri was a complete asshole when it came to how he treated Diane as de facto queen. He had the makings of a great king, being genuinely kind and chivalrous and a decent ruler. His obsession with Diane was not seen well by basically anyone near him. There's having an Official Mistress, but that title had its own decorum and deference to the Queen. Henri somehow didn't see how incredibly bad he looked embarrassing his wife like that. Hell, Henry VIII kept his mistresses discreet until Anne Boleyn, so as not to harm Catherine of Aragon's respect or standing. Catherine did get the last laugh since her playing up the Love Martyr side of things made the public way more predisposed to liking her while Diane was hated. Diane got really greedy for jewels and power as time went on. Meanwhile Catherine was knocking her role out of the park by acting with perfect refinement, building up goodwill, and most importantly giving Henri 10 kids, about half of them boys. Even though she was a foreigner (which would dog her later on) and technically a commoner, Diane's disgusting contrast to her got Catherine a lot of empathy from the common folk. This gave her a huge jumpstart when she basically took over the kingdom. Also Henri wasn't even cold before Catherine basically stripped Diane naked and threw her ass out. I am so looking forward to seeing that.
  6. And score one for Amber Nash, IIRC she ad-libbed that one!
  7. I'm listening to the book the show is based on (wild btw, I'm listening to it on Scribd and I saved the book the night the show premiered - in that time the cover dramatically changed from an actual painting of Catherine to this show's poster), and while it doesn't grab me the way the Tudors story does (I think mostly because as far as characters in history go, Catherine was the only really interesting one in her story, as opposed to the entire Tudor clan), it's informative and interesting. Anyway I bring it up because I'm pretty sure (like 80%) that the...tushy problems were actually an affliction of a slightly earlier Pope (also possibly a Medici one, I've already forgotten). Composite character work, which is fair. I cannot wait to see how this show portrays Margot and Catherine's apparent hatred of her. I feel like they will go there without hesitancy.
  8. Don't mind me, just listening to the audiobook this show is based on according to the credits.... I think I can say pretty fairly that this is not gonna be a very historically accurate show. That is not however a bad thing. As a lover of history I am far more put off by media that has pretenses to accuracy but goes way off the mark. (The Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies for example are just so glaringly not right I can't stand to watch them outside of isolated scenes on youtube. Cate does a damn good dressing-down of the Spanish ambassador.) When a show comes along that actually does get things accurate (i.e. Becoming Elizabeth - not completely accurate of course, but way closer than any other historical drama I've ever watched) I take it as a nice surprise, but it's not a given. The again, when you have a show that knows it can't be accurate to tell the story they want to and goes ahead with what they want while winking at the audience? I love that. The Great, Six The Musical, even Reign to an extent. Drop your pretensions to accuracy and embrace anachronism to tell a universal story? I can work with that. I won't love all of it (the entire second season of Reign was just endless. rage. But then again that show had a habit of taking itself too seriously), but I'll enjoy it for what it is.
  9. I never get tired of Archer's inexplicable ability to connect to animals of all kinds. AJ inheriting that was a great touch last episode. I feel like the show is trying to build up Lana as the ultimate leader by having her not trying at all for the job out of sheer apathy. That being said, Pam was great in this episode and she should be team leader. Cheryl's disappearance was weird and I was surprised that she didn't make a sudden appearance at the strangest moment. Very unlike her. I hope she was off buying IIA - although I do love the idea of her as the team's demolitions expert now that she has no one to secretary for. (She was my favorite thing in Archer:1999, particularly because it showed that in Archer's subconscious, he believes she's actually very very capable.) They're making an interesting choice putting Fabian in a vulnerable position. Before this it seemed like he was the Big Dick In Charge with sweeping powers to manipulate the entirety of IIA to his own whims. Now he seems scared of this unknown "board" which, it would be hilarious to find out is just Cheryl. And that she has no idea how or why she is the whole board but she'll run with it.
  10. I'm calling it, the hatred of Fabian will eventually lead to the team covertly taking over IIA as a group (because hatred will bond them beyond all else). These latest seasons are so short though, so I suspect it'll be a few years. And yes, Pam should be the leader. She's firm, lovable, and smart. She may not be scary like Mallory, but I do not see Archer being willing to majorly undermine her just for the lulz. I think she may be one of the only people he respects. As for the rest, they all know she can and will beat them up if she has to. I mean I guess technically Lana should be leader as the most competent agent. The problem is she's abrasive and pretty clearly has no respect for anyone else on the team, and I mean with these people that would just lead them to doing the opposite of what she says to spite her. She's good at her job, but she's not a leader. Archer actually scores higher than her on that skill set.
  11. Not surprised, not particularly sorry. This show has convinced itself that Murphy is an anti-hero and I guess this is supposed to be her poetic punishment? Max was never a good choice for any woman. The man had mommy issues, screwed whoever gave him the best living accommodations, and had no problem conveniently forgetting that he used to launder drug money and was the source of a ton of Murphy's troubles. I wish this show had even the slightest amount of legal reality, because Josh should be picked up that night on charges of aiding and abetting a homicide (Max) and an attempted homicide (Murphy), not to mention interfering in a police investigation, reckless endangerment, and geez, the list goes on. I'm pretty sure that if someone dies during the commission of a crime and you were the intentional impetus (by say, telling someone the girl he's with is going to ruin him, thereby leading said guy to attack her and shoot at her, causing a death), you get a piece of the blame. He called McKay on his own phone, they should be able to trace the fateful (recorded on camera!) call immediately. Also, idiot cops, how did you not have one officer on site with the gang?
  12. That felt...solid? Like not spectacular, but not trash. I liked that they explained away Robert's custody claim as "he has money". I don't think he could have adopted A.J. without terminating Archer's rights. I guess there's a case for Archer abandoning A.J., but you have to squint real hard on that one. I mean he didn't deliberately go comatose. Also Lana really needs to take Pam up on her offer to take out Robert. I'd think that the only thing in Archer-land that trumps money is violence.
  13. 😅 I'm finishing up my BA in History, so this show (even if only this season is good) will hold a special place in my heart for reminding me that I actually love history. I've spent several years now dragging long awful papers out of my soul and it's been brutal. But show me an actually good Tudor drama (they had Mary's overtly Catholic procession into the capital!!! They did not have to do that, it didn't match the timeline, but they did because they could!!!) and I'm here writing essays about it and staying up at night thinking about the Tudor succession. So this whole episode was I guess their attempt at solving a historical mystery that honestly...isn't that mysterious. The mystery being why Edward didn't try to bypass Mary to put Elizabeth (who by this point was super playing up her protestant-ism to make herself a contrast to Mary, wearing black and acting very sober - literally puritanical), his "Sweet Sister Temperance" (and actual nickname for her that he had) on the throne. The show has decided that he saw her agreeing with Mary and counting that as her betraying him. I think that is a bit unfair to Edward. He was a very, VERY smart kid, and he would have known that Elizabeth would have to support the Act of Succession their father had passed as it was written, with Mary as a legitimate claimant. The fact that Elizabeth was even put into that Act was king of a miracle. Edward was unquestionably the rightful heir and even after her loss of legal legitimacy Mary had political clout on the world stage (much of which considered her legitimate). Elizabeth and Anne Boleyn in contrast could have been seen as that time Henry had a mid-life crisis and maybe everyone should all forget about that period. Thing is, Henry just couldn't let go of being head of the church in England, and so Mary was never officially re-legitimized because she fought so hard against losing the pope + took her mother's side and Henry was a vindictive bitch. And then when Henry decided to put Mary back into the succession, well, he couldn't say one child of a divorce he declared had rights and not the other. (Henry divorced Anne before executing her, possibly because he suspected Elizabeth wasn't his, but honestly again I think he was just being a vindictive bitch to Anne.) So in restoring Mary to the line of succession, there wasn't a good reason not to put Elizabeth in. And no one thought she would inherit, so maybe this was Henry extending a weird brand of love to his middle child; she wouldn't rule but she would have the status of a princess even if she wasn't legally so, and he left her a huge amount of wealth. (It's hard to judge Henry as a father. Well...sort of. He was terrible to Mary when she fought against him, and he was neglectful to both his daughters. Then again no one ever doubted that he loved Mary even when they fought, and he was known to speak very well of how smart Elizabeth was. Henry loved children in kind of the same way Mary did, so like her, I don't think he held Elizabeth's mother's actions against her for the most part. Her being a girl probably contributed to him not thinking much about her. But it does say something for him that his will left Elizabeth so comfortable, and that he let her into the succession.) Okay, sorry, very long tangent (and probably more to come), but the mystery of why Edward didn't try to name Elizabeth as his successor? I don't think it was dramatic at all. He tried to overrule his father's Act of Succession by referencing Mary's status as a bastard. By doing that, he acknowledged Henry's divorce from Katherine of Aragon as legal. Since Henry divorced Anne Boleyn in exactly the same way, Edward's hands were tied. He didn't want Mary taking over, but there was no legal ground to stand on to preserve Elizabeth in her position if the act was dismantled, and he made that sacrifice. It's why the scene where Elizabeth "betrays" Dudley came off wrong to me. Like, what was she supposed to do? Say, "Oh hey, so I think I should be the next ruler because Edward likes me more"? No! She had to hold up the Act of Succession because even if it put Mary ahead of her, it kept her in her position as an heir. She had nowhere to go but down by saying otherwise. The argument on the stairs also felt a little off to me. Great acting and writing, but I don't believe Mary's profession of hatred. Mostly because I don't quite see how Elizabeth wronged her in this episode? I guess she was lashing out. I don't believe Mary ever truly hated Elizabeth, or at least not until she was well into Queenhood and seriously scared of the pretty real threat Elizabeth posed. God, the scene with Somerset and Elizabeth was great. Just the little touch of him saying that Elizabeth was his daughter's age. That was perfect. I'm reading (well, listening to) Gareth Russell's really excellent biography of Katherine Howard, Young and Damned and Fair. He doesn't really believe K. Howard was groomed or necessarily coerced by her lovers, and he mentions the later Thomas Seymour affair, pointing out that in contrast to how K. Howard's love life was handled, documentation from the time of the Seymour affair actually seems to show that Thomas's behavior towards a young Elizabeth was seen as predatory and wrong. It was a different time, but I guess not as different as we think. (And now that I think about it, it's interesting that all the whore comments and nasty remarks about the scandal to Elizabeth seem to come from women in-show. The men just seem pissed that they couldn't get her to admit it.) This show has been great and I desperately want it to come back (obviously Romola Garai alone is worth the price of admission). It does need a change though: Elizabeth. I don't want her recast, but both Alicia and the directing/writing have to step up. I'm not seeing much of a "Becoming" of her as a later larger-than-life figurehead. This season felt more like her being an observer and reacting to other people, not acting for herself. Showing her observation of other strong women is good (Catherine, Mary), but I need to see her making some proactive moves and start being as sly as advertised. If this was the season of her as a girl, she really needs to start stepping into her role as a woman. I think we were supposed to see that change happen after Thomas's execution, but it didn't really land for me that she had grown up all that much. Still, things only get wilder for her from here!
  14. I was just extolling this show to a friend and linked her one of the scenes from Starz's youtube channel. I came across this, which was interesting:
  15. I don't think the show is trying to make us dislike her - for me at least it's the opposite. Elizabeth caught that "whore" comment for a. trying to make Jane feel bad about lying in the Thomas affair (even Elizabeth seemed to realize she couldn't get away with that one; Jane was right there to witness it and was very distinctly not an idiot - she did in fact do Elizabeth a favor by lying and Elizabeth throws it back at her) and b. giving her that gleeful spiel about how horrible sex and pregnancy will be for Jane while looking absolutely delighted at the idea. Jane keeps trying to point out how similar the two girls are and Elizabeth keeps reacting really furiously to that. But in that end the people that supported Jane were the ones who later supported Elizabeth, and what happened to Jane (even with Elizabeth having absolutely nothing to do with it) is a really clear cautionary tale. Jane was kind, deeply pious, incredibly intelligent (so much so that she was well-known to be corresponding with leading intellectuals, it's part of why she was considered a better candidate than her mother whose claim was better than hers) and absolutely unbreakable in her beliefs. She arguably would have made a good queen if she'd had a right to the throne. But she didn't, and essentially she was ruined by the men around her who used her and let her take the fall. Elizabeth would have seen this and it would have affected how she handled her male advisors when she came to the throne. I also think that Jane is there to dig at Elizabeth because Elizabeth senses Jane is the better human being of the two girls. And what she'll see is that the better human being got royally screwed despite her goodness.
  16. Goddamit, Murphy. You were doing so well, especially with Leslie and Darnell. MAX IS TRASH AND YOU KNOW IT. Dude, Leslie telling her about him trying to get her back should have had her slam his ass into a wall. I guess when you're convinced you're a garbage person you think you only deserve garbage love interests. Is this the first episode completely without Felix? Well Josh, your insane crusade against Murphy got you laid now, it's just the lunatic revenge that keeps on giving. Reasons to live, girls who will sleep with you, someone to take out your fury at being blind out on....
  17. Well I mean you could argue that Elizabeth is actually being treated as an incredibly valuable person, since whoever marries her is a delicate enough deal to lose your head over. That they wanted to marry Elizabeth into a position where she would be literal queen of another country (whereas that seems incredibly unlikely for her in England) does show that yes, she is a prize to be given away. But they also knew that once married she would be in a strong political role, trusted to essentially be another ambassador for England. Catherine of Aragon was Spain's chess piece but once she became Queen of England she ruled as regent, was involved in political goings-on and was certainly trusted to give advice to the king. Until she was you know...not. (Catherine's poor treatment and Henry's hands was insanely unheard-of, she was very well thought-of as being of a higher station than him, woman or not.) And then also think of contemporary France, where Catherine D'Medici was a feared force of nature, even though she also was originally "sold off" as a political pawn. I mean different times and everything, but either way a queen was generally about as powerful as a woman could get. I actually wonder that they haven't brought up that Mary by this age was very bitter about reaching past 30 and not having been married. Lots of possibles were brought up for her but they kept falling through. Most of Europe refused to accept her declaration of illegitimacy, and if Henry had married her off to a foreign court after declaring her a bastard, he knew she could gain a huge amount of power there and challenge his throne. As it was she was mostly kept alive by the little power her mother left behind - her strong connection to Spain. Marry her back into Spain or France and she could raise a Catholic army to dethrone her father in her favor. I mean Henry really pissed most of Europe off, she would have support. So they just kept her from marrying except for the occasional threat of marriage to Protestant princes who wouldn't let her keep her faith. I think it's actually a pretty important thing to know about Mary: she desperately wanted to marry and have children. It wasn't even about having an heir, she just wanted to have kids - she really, really loved them and was Godmother to dozens of noble children. Really it's probably the only reason she and Elizabeth were on such good terms as long as they were. Anne Boleyn hurt Mary in a way that any homewrecker hurts the children of a marriage, but in this case dialed up to eleven. Mary lost access to her mother, she lost her material wealth, her title and status. There was no good reason for her to have anything to do with Elizabeth (for a while she was a servant to baby Elizabeth, but I think mostly the staff just let her stay in her room and not actually lower herself to that), much less love her. But she was there from the moment Elizabeth was born, and she watched as Elizabeth lost her own mother, became a bastard and was mistreated too. Elizabeth and Edward may have been the closest Mary thought she'd come to having children of her own. This will probably become more prevalent in the show next season PLEASE give us another season.
  18. Airdate: August 7, 2022 Y'all I literally yelped in horror at the fact that this is the season finale. NOT YET!
  19. This show is just ruining me for other period dramas. I mean, I don't think I ever believed anyone would dramatize Mary's almost-flight to Spain (totally happened, totally came down the wire before she backed out). I'm starting to think that the role of Mary is meant to be a template for Elizabeth moving forward. At the moment Elizabeth isn't particularly committed to any particular ideal, she doesn't seem particularly pious, nor does she seem to care or know much about England beyond her doorstep. Mary's fierce loyalty to England is showing Elizabeth what a queen looks like, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's setting up her taking on some of Mary's stalwartness. Speaking of queens, man I love Lady Jane and her interplay with Elizabeth. That very nasty side of Elizabeth isn't usually portrayed and Alicia does it really well, that kind of hurting someone else to make yourself feel better. And Jane is wonderful because she is very likely the only person on the show who is Elizabeth's intellectual equal, and therefore is not afraid of her. It also lays groundwork for Elizabeth's later violent hatred of Jane's younger sister Catherine. If anyone can face Elizabeth and call her out on lying, it's Jane. I did love Alicia's acting during her speech at court because yes, these men need to stop sexualizing a young girl and they needed to hear that. (Also, why did Edward receive her with such coldness? It's not her fault the Danes pulled out of the agreement, they should have met her with consolation for her own insulted pride, not hostility.) Mary writing to the Danes and telling them Elizabeth is a whore's bastard was a genius move because you have no idea if she was trying to spite her sister or save her. Yes, Elizabeth is humiliated, but no, she isn't taken away to be forcefully married. I thought it was a pretty bold move to begin with that they were trying to marry her to someone so high up when Elizabeth's legitimacy has plagued her her whole life. A situation where she would definitely become queen of another nation is a bit of a stretch - marrying her off to a younger son or a high noble of another country sounds more feasible. Anyway, this was a superb setup to Mary's later paranoia about Elizabeth plotting against her. The scene with the two of them together was amazing, they kept going from loving each other to hating each other. Of course the first episode we see Edward happy is the episode when he shows up deathly ill. I felt it came a little out of nowhere, but on reflection tbh the real Edward's illness did seem to come out of nowhere. This show has never done the now-disproven stereotype of Edward as fragile or sickly. I don't think there's even a complete consensus on what killed him. I wouldn't have minded if they'd at least shown someone discreetly coughing in his direction in an earlier episode, they're clearly going with the consumption theory (which is the most popular) and that does have to be caught from someone. Otherwise he was a treat to watch this episode, between him being happy and kingly (really as a king he's hardly any worse than his father was, even at his young age) and still a little childish about the actual repercussions of marrying Elizabeth off. I bet he was at least a little relieved she wouldn't be leaving England. Man I hope she gets some recognition for this. Romola's been a very steadily working actress but I don't feel like she's ever gotten the props she deserved. Saoirse Ronan outshone her in Atonement, Anya Taylor-Joy was there in the Miniaturist (no hate to Anya, I love both her and Romola's Emmas.) I've loved her since I Capture the Castle. Robert, you deserved that smackdown from your dad and Elizabeth was right, you are just throwing her back into the shithole she just climbed out of. And didn't he think a little about her "a woman who loves you wouldn't do this" line? Because by not giving him a chance she is pretty clearly saving his life from Thomas's fate. Only two things really bugged me this episode, and they were cases of being way too on the nose: The "Make England Great...Again", I mean...could anyone have delivered that line without it being cringy? And Mary's final remarks about burning England - yes show, we all know what she's famous for. I thought we were exploring the parts of her that haven't been done to death. I really hope this gets another season. Between Jane Grey and Mary's reign there aren't enough episodes to cover the upcoming shenanigans in the detail they deserve.
  20. This shows why I am simultaneously terrified and in incredible awe of Anonymous. I mean, they stole all his money and gave it to a Battered Women's Shelter! *Chef's Kiss*
  21. And Max follows his old M.O. to a tee: turning Murphy's friends or lovers against or away from her and then immediately chasing after her himself. Why are we supposed to like this guy again?
  22. Hurray. Murphy's off yet again putting herself in danger just so everyone can blame her for literally anything she does. Am I supposed to buy that Gene "engineered" that mistrial? That gun will never, ever be admitted as evidence because information about its location was obtained through an illegal wire. It could have Murphy's whole hand print on it, it still can't be used as evidence. Murphy, I realize that everyone around you makes you feel like you're so evil you have to martyr yourself to make up for it. But would you PLEASE wise up about who your friends are. Jess doesn't deserve your protection. Felix should be turning himself in as an accomplice and muddying the waters on who actually shot Nia. As for Max, why bother giving him that stupid lie about not wanting to be with him for...reasons? There's a perfectly good reason. Lie using the truth, Murphy. "I don't want to be with you because you thought it was a better idea to screw me than see me get off on murder charges." And Leslie? You're a defense lawyer. You've seen worse than Murphy and you brag about it. Seriously, it cannot be kosher for her to simply walk out on her client like that. I wonder if she'll get disbarred? I mean, if Murphy filed a complaint against her...except no, she pulled the "you are so awful" on her, so Murphy will never go against her. Leslie's boyfriend cheated. Murphy was a party to the cheating, but at the end of the day, Max betrayed Leslie, and Leslie decided Murphy deserved to be punished with life in prison for that.
  23. Now there's a glimpse of Gloriana. Throwing Thomas to the wolves to protect herself. You have to wonder whether some small (or not-so-small) part of her is relieved to have Thomas dead. Aside from his pulling her into this mess, it seems like she may have been realizing how abusive and wrong his actions concerning her were. I was surprised she told Lord Dudley the general truth, I never thought Elizabeth ever admitted to Thomas proposing marriage. But then again, this is definitely the part of Tudor History I'm not very well-versed in. Somerset's downfall so soon after Thomas's seems like it was very compressed. Still he hasn't been arrested, just displaced, so we'll see. I would have liked to see more of the many weeks a wily Elizabeth actually evaded questioning and drove the council insane, but that had to be compressed too. Ah Mary. Way to shoot yourself in the foot. She had a bit too much smug about her, although I guess with Elizabeth at least she was trying to teach her to withstand hardship in her own slightly petty way. She should not have tipped off Somerset to her change in rank and by that, Dudley, but the latter really should be less dismissive of her. If there's anyone who knows how to bide their time with patience and a long memory for ill-treatment, it's Mary Fucking Tudor. Man will he regret that attitude he copped toward her. Poor Somerset, wasting grief and sorrow over a brother who deserved none. Thomas's actions and death were every step of the way his own fault. I like them showing how mistreating everyone around him really bit him in the ass with his young serving man. That poor kid has looked petrified every time I remember seeing him. Above all, poor Edward. Bullied about by everyone, never sure who's going to betray him next. (Although the bird torture still shows that nasty cold side of him. Jesus, kid.) I wonder if seeing how Somerset clearly loved his own son contributed to Edward's hatred of his Lord Protector, and Dudley's easy manipulation of him. Somerset could have been a father but he chose to be a king-by-proxy. Finally, enter Amy Robsart! I didn't expect to see her and she was an interesting choice. She tends to be romanticized as a very sad and submissive, even frightened creature. And maybe we'll see how she devolves to that state. As a young woman however, it's a nice trick of writing having her be kind of an Achievable Elizabeth for Robert. She's got similar beauty, vivaciousness, wit, charm and if not the same level of intelligence, enough to make Robert give her the eye. She's also missing the sadness that necessarily permeates through Elizabeth at this point in her life. I look forward to seeing how that goes.
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