Tudors 4x07

Is it me, or did Henry turn grey overnight? If Anne of Cleves looked like a Flanders mare and Catherine Howard like a neighing foal, Catherine Parr reminds me of a white filly. The new queen requests that Henry’s children visit her at court so she can be a proper stepmother to them, to which the king consents. When Henry’s suppurating boil bursts, Catherine nurses it with great care. Already Bishop Gardiner is plotting against her – and for good reason: she soon appoints a protestant as her personal chaplain. At court there’s another sumptuous ball, in honor this time of the Duke of Najera, arriving in England while preparations are made for the oncoming war against France.

Before embarking on his French campaign, his last grand stand to regain lost lands on the continent, the king installs the queen as his regent in his absence. The campaign is all bravura: “we brought enough canons to conquer hell,” Henry brags. Then boom, bang, whiiizzz, crash, aarrrggh! It’s almost Monty Python’s Flying Circus. And soon, completely in line with those sentiments, it starts raining, the field turns into mud, and they can’t fire their guns or canons. While the English are trying to dig their way into the fortress of Boulogne, a French sortie has dug their way out, leading Lord Surrey into a trap out of which Lord Suffolk needs to rescue him. A nice skirmish ensues. Not much later, though, the English forces are beset by dysentery. Will the King be forced to abandon his campaign?