Tudors - recap

“Previously on The Tudors” ... We’ve already seen King Henry VIII of England divorce, decapitate or otherwise terminate his relationship with four of his six wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves. We’ve seen him and apparently all male members of the entire court maintain affairs with various ladies-in-waiting and all sorts of other blond damsels (in or out of distress). There has been political intrigue of international scale, scandal and conspiracy at court, religious turmoil and rebellion. We’ve seen the downfall of the King’s most trusted advisors, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. There were great parts played by Maria Doyle Kennedy (Catherine of Aragon), Sam Neill (Wolsey), James Frain (Cromwell), Peter O’Toole (Pope Paul III), and Max von Sydow (Otto von Waldburg). Natalie Dormer (as Anne Boleyn) was annoying, and Joss Stone (as Anne of Cleves) even more so. But much of the series, of course, depends on what you think about Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who for no discernable reason (other than that women think him sexy) plays Henry VIII ... a thin, handsome, early-thirties actor playing a fat, ugly, forty/fifty year-old character... [!] Kinda strains the show’s credibility... Especially because one of the more repulsive aspects of Henry’s six marriages was that, as he got older, fatter, uglier and madder, his brides seemingly became younger and younger... Tomorrow the fourth and final season premiers on Showtime.