Cable television networks have done an excellent job of creating shows that revolve around anti-heroes like Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) in HBO’s The Sopranos and Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) in Showtime’s Dexter. Now a second feather in Showtime’s anti-hero-cap is the 16th century period drama which explores the life and exploits of a young Henry VII, King of England in The Tudors.

I’m generally not one to be taken in by costume dramas but that’s precisely what the first season of this show did to me. I was amazed by the fact that you are not only transported to another time and place but also into a world with completely different social norms. The rules and etiquette of society were so completely different from what we today consider ‘normal,’ that as you are watching this show you are constantly being challenged to justify their actions and in a sense your own responses to them.

This is not a show of clearly defined good vs. evil. Every character, every situation is layered with uncertainty. There are times when you completely side with the faithful church goers like Queen Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and then you quickly remember she was utterly committed to an establishment (the church) that was completely corrupt. Then you correct yourself and switch sides to Henry’s cause to bring down the tyranny of the Pope’s rule, but then again, you realize that he’s a spoiled brat hungry for as much power as he can possibly lay claim to. You are constantly forced to side with whatever the lesser of the two evils seems to be at that moment. It gets a little exhausting at times, but is always worth the effort it takes to engage your mind and question your beliefs with this show.

Adjusting our minds to the lack of personal freedom people had in the 16th century is probably the most foreign part of watching these characters as they interact. We don’t think about how much freedom we all actually have in our society today until we see people quite literally restrained from action, not physically, but by their lack of any recourse in situations that we ourselves would never tolerate. And of course the attitudes towards women were completely backward. Lord Boleyn (Nick Dunning) says to his daughter Anne at one point, “Anne, I did not bring you up to have opinions or to express them.” That pretty much sums up a woman’s station in this world. Though it is interesting to see that while the men claim that women to have no value, they are often the center piece in their plots to political and social success.

While the first season of The Tudors was very much about King Henry’s (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) desire for Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer) , the second season is most aptly described as a ‘be

careful what you wish for…’ scenario. Now that he has finally won his prize and married Anne, Henry is slowly growing bored with his conquest and is realizing that having is not as pleasing a thing as wanting.

Obviously, the greatest obstacle to a show like this is that most people already know the history and therefore the ‘surprise’ factor is eliminated. I’d like to say that this doesn’t have any impact on the viewing experience but that would be a lie. It’s somewhat analogous to watching a rerun of your favorite show, or seeing a movie where someone has spoiled the ending for you. You become very much invested in how these things are going to come to pass, but in the back of your mind you already know who is going to live and who is going to die so there is little tension.

That being said the episodes where main characters are lost are non-the-less moving and emotional. Going back to not having any solid allegiances to specific people you end up grieving for everyone as they step up to the chopping block. It seems near impossible to have lived in this time and not been duplicitous and full of deceit. It was simply the only way to survive.

On the topic of death there is no shortage of torture and creative ways of rewarding disloyalty, or even sometimes, loyalty in King Henry’s Court in season two. After a botched attempt to assassinate the clergymen who were blocking his right to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, to distance himself from the killings, Henry sentences the man he hired to kill them to death by being boiled alive. Burning at stakes were also popular for Sir Thomas Moore (Jeremy Northam), a self proclaimed Humanist who detests violence (I guess he just meant the kind where a man actually has the chance to fight back) in his struggle to defend the church.

And then of course we have what King Henry was most famous for, second only to his overzealous libido, beheadings. Many people lose their heads this year and pave the way for the next batch of folks who will no doubt also lose their heads at the end of season three.

Visually, the torture and executions are all done very tastefully only showing the audience the absolute minimum of what they need to see; but never sacrificing the feeling these horrific acts evoke. The beheading of Anne Boleyn in particular is depicted incredibly tastefully.

Sadly, the first season saw the end of what was promising to be a very interesting gay storyline at Court between Sir William Compton (Kristen Holden-Ried) and the musician Thomas Tallis (Joe Van Moyland) when Sir William sucame to ‘The Sweats’ which was a plague that killed hundreds in England. Thankfully this season we have a new musician entertaining the royals

named Mark Smeaton (David Alpay) and he’s paired with George Boleyn (Padraic Delaney). The straight love stories are incredibly sorted and convoluted and by comparison the gay ones seem oddly simple. While they must be far more coy and cunning about their liaisons, the drama surrounding them seems tame by comparison. But of course we all know how this particular story ends.

The special features on the disc are limited to two featurettes, one on the Tower of London and the other on the descendants of King Henry VII and a lot of promotional materials for other Showtime shows such as Californication and This American Life. I would have loved to have seen some interviews with the cast and some on location shooting stuff. This is definitely not your typical show and I think some more behind-the-scenes stuff would have been great.

The featurette on The Tower of London is quite odd because it’s a walking discussion between the shows resident historian and the actress who plays Anne Boleyn, Natalie Dormer. The two walk through the actual places where Anne was executed and the whole time he is giving background on her and the events as they led up to her death. One would assume the actress playing the part would already know these things, so it plays a bit weird.

Descendants of Henry is a somewhat comical look at some modern day folks whose linage can be traced back through various means to one of the Royal lines of Henry in one way or another. It’s interesting, albeit very brief.

As I said earlier I am not usually a fan of costume dramas; I find them to be overly stuffy and contained. The Tudors, however, is able to remain accurate to the time period but play very entertainingly to a modern audience. It’s sexy, stylish and even though you know the ending, remains thoroughly engaging throughout.

Season Grade: B+

DVD Features Grade: C+

Overall Grade: B