Movie Info:
Writer: Michael Hirst
Directors: Various
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Natalie Dormer, Nick Dunning, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Anita Briem, James Frain, Padraic Delaney, Jeremy Northam, Jamie Thomas King
Rating: NR
Studio: Paramount
Release Info:
Original Air Dates: March 30, 2008-June 1, 2008
TV Box Set Release Date: January 6, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $24.99
“I’m going to be depressed when she’s dead and gone.”
Those were my exact words prior to the second season of Showtime’s The Tudors. I absolutely love Natalie Dormer, who plays Anne Boleyn, on the show. She’s beautiful, sexy and is a great actress. Her chemistry with Jonathan Rhys Meyers explodes off the screen. Still, knowing my history, I knew that it was only a matter of time before Dormer’s character lost her head (literally), and we lost the most talented actress on the show. Sadly, that moment has come sooner rather than later.
The many tragic marriages of Henry VIII, King of England and member of the Tudor family, are as intriguing as the history of Henry himself. This is the man who took it upon himself to create his own religion, by splitting from the Catholic Church and forming the Church of England. This split rocked the world when it occurred and has helped to make Henry the most infamous, perhaps even hated, figure in the history of England’s royal crown.
While The Tudors does deviate quite a bit from history, there is enough truth to it to make the show historically based and extremely interesting. In order to truly appreciate The Tudors, you have to look past the historical aspect of this story. I find that people who are too anal about historical accuracy hate this show. Those who can separate the story from history tend to love it, myself included.
By the start of the second season, Henry has already settled his sights on the beautiful Anne Boleyn and the ten episodes that make up the season explore their relationship pretty much from start to finish. Another major issue that is pertinent to this season of the show is Henry’s relationship with the church. With Henry annulling his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and secretly marrying Anne, he has no choice but to break away from the Roman Catholic Church, a move that has changed religion in England ever since. In short, things get mighty interesting throughout this Second Season.
The Tudors – The Complete Second Season Plot
The best thing about The Tudors is the acting. As I mentioned before, Natalie Dormer is luscious as Boleyn. The other wives of Henry haven’t stood a candle to her beauty or sensuality. Well…at least not the ones we’ve seen thus far. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is incredibly sexy and though he isn’t quite stout enough to be Henry in a physically believable sense, he makes the part his own in other ways. I’m just wondering if we’ll get to see him in a fat suit in future seasons.
The story for The Tudors is enthralling. Sure, the truth is stretched a bit, but you have to imagine that Henry was quite the sexpot he’s made out to be on the show. After all, who wouldn’t want to sleep with the king? The writing for this show is good and it manages to have a faithful audience, even though some have complained about the lack of accuracy on The Tudors.
The second season of The Tudors features ten episodes. Here is a list of the episodes included in this DVD box set, with a description for each of them.
Note: Episode descriptions contain SPOILERS. If you haven’t watched episodes this season, you need to stop reading this review (or simply skip this section and move down to the section labeled ‘Audio/Video’.
Episode #2.1 – King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) sets out to annul his marriage to his wife, Catherine (Maria Doyle Kennedy). To do so, he breaks away from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, forming the Church of England. Of course, Henry appoints himself as head of the church. In the meantime, he tries to woo the beautiful Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), who wants him to remove Catherine from the court. Pope Paul III (Peter O’Toole) insists that the answer is the assassination of Anne, instead. In the meantime, the cook of the Bishop of Rochester, John Fisher (Bosco Hogan), is bribed to poison him (unsuccessfully) and Thomas Cranmer (Hans Matheson) receives a promotion.
Episode #2.2 – The Catholic Church tries to regain control of England, though they refuse to meet Henry’s demands for an annulment. The King relishes his role as the new head of the Church of England. With Catherine out of favor with Henry, Anne insists he break all contact with his first wife. The religious Reformation of England is in full force. Anne is given a title just prior to her travels with Henry, to France, where he plans to announce his intentions to marry her.
Episode #2.3 – With the Catholic Church unwilling to budge on the issue of annulment, Henry gives up breaking final ties with them. He ends up marrying Anne in a private ceremony. Of course, by now Anne is pregnant. Thomas Cranmer is promoted to become the Archbishop of Canterbury. Catherine is stripped of her title and her daughter with Henry, Mary, is deemed illegitimate, all as Anne is being crowned. With the Pope furious at these turn of events, he threatens Henry with excommunication. With Anne giving birth to Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth, it isn’t long before he’s up to his old tricks, with the ladies in court.
Episode #2.4 – The new princess is deemed the legitimate heir to the throne thanks to a new “Act of Succession” that Henry has drawn up. Citizens of England are forced to give an oath, as not to question their loyalty to the King and his new Queen. Those who refuse are imprisoned. This includes Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) and the Bishop John Fisher who end up in the Tower of London. Anne is pregnant again, Catherine is secluded, and Mary is the new nanny of Elizabeth. While pregnant, Anne decides that she will be the one to approve the women from the court with whom Henry can have affairs.
Episode #2.5 – Henry tries to make his new marriage legitimate. Thomas More and the newly appointed Cardinal Fisher make this difficult for him. Anne miscarries her child and begins to believe that Henry no longer loves her. She fears for Elizabeth, with Mary still in the picture; a valid threat to Elizabeth’s potential place on the throne. Anne and her sister, Mary, have a falling out when Mary marries beneath her station and is now pregnant. Continuing to refuse to take the oath in support of Henry Fisher and More are beheaded.
Episode #2.6 – Sir Thomas Cromwell (James Frain) gains more power, as the reformation continues. Anne is becoming paranoid, after the loss of her child. In the meantime, Henry is having trouble dealing with the execution of More. Henry’s affairs get more intense, and Anne is upset further when she cannot make an agreement with the French King over the betrothal of his son to Elizabeth, whom he deems illegitimate.
Episode #2.7 – Cromwell takes the Reformation in a more sinister, terror inducing direction. This doesn’t bode well for the Catholic Church or its followers in England. Anne’s paranoia continues as she frets continuously about the threat to the succession of Elizabeth by Mary. Catherine dies, which saddens Henry, but his good mood returns when he meets with Lady Jane Seymour (Anita Briem). Anne is pregnant again and she’s sure it is a boy.
Episode #2.8 – Jane becomes Anne’s lady-in-waiting, much to Anne’s chagrin. The Emperor Charles wants to renew a relationship with England, but only if Henry makes Mary his heir and successor to the throne. Henry is injured while jousting, though he is later caught in a compromising position with Jane Seymour by Anne. This results in another miscarriage. With Anne unable to conceive a son, Henry declares Anne a witch, and his marriage to her not legal.
Episode #2.9 – Anne is traumatized by the death of her son and the loss of her marriage. As the Boleyns lose favor in court, the Seymours move into their place. Anne goes up against the court who accuse her of being a witch and an adulteress. A variety of potential lovers to the queen are arrested, as is Anne. All of them are sentenced to death.
Episode #2.10 – Anne sits in prison awaiting the day of her death. Henry proposes to Jane, on the day of Anne’s execution. Elizabeth is deemed illegitimate and is no longer in line for a place on the throne. As the last moments of this second season come to a close, Anne Boleyn is beheaded.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing: 
Audio/Visual:
As you might expect, Showtime went all out for the television version of The Tudors. While television quality isn’t always the best, this show always seems to look great. The 1.78:1 aspect ratio provides a stable stomping ground for a great picture. It’s softer in spots than it needs to be, but for the most part, season two of The Tudors looks fabulous. The colors are all amazing, flesh tones look natural, and everything works together to create a stellar picture. Fans should not be disappointed in the quality here.
The sound for The Tudors was offered in a 2.0 and a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Naturally, the 5.1 track offers a stronger sense of dynamic storytelling. The 2.0 track runs slightly louder though so if you need the volume up higher that might be a better option for you. Still, after trying out both I found the volume to be acceptable in either case with good sound effects and easy to understand dialogue. A Spanish mono track is also available. Subtitles are not offered, but Closed Captioning is available for both English tracks.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
The special features are the one spot where I was disappointed in the second season of The Tudors. As this is a new, current show there were so many things that they could have done in this section that the creators and producers of the show just chose not to do. Things like commentaries and behind the scenes features are absent, which is a letdown. The special features section is made up mainly of some previews, premiere episodes, and photo galleries.
Beyond the photo galleries and the textual cast bios, there are premiere episodes for the second season of This American Life and Californication. If you unlock the DVD-Rom content on your computer you can enjoy the premiere episode of the third season of Dexter and the first two episodes of United States of Tara.
The two featurettes are both on the smaller side. The first, “The Tower of London” allows you to see Natalie Dormer visiting the tower. It’s not horrible as far as featurettes go, though it would be a lot nicer had it been accompanied by more special features. The second feature, “Descendants of Henry” is just what it sounds like. Viewers are able to watch interviews with people that are descended from Henry VIII. It’s not the best feature, but it’s worth watching at least once. Hopefully in future seasons of The Tudors Showtime will decide to offer more in the way of special features.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
If you’ve never seen The Tudors you can check out reruns on cable’s On Demand or watch them when they air on Showtime. If you’ve already seen the show, then you should know whether you’d like it our not. If you like it, you need to pick up The Tudors: The Complete Second Season. While this show won’t be for everyone, the great acting and storytelling make it worth at least checking out. For fans of the show or period style, fiction-based television The Tudors: The Complete Second Season comes highly recommended.
Overall Rating:
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