The Tudors

Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII and Annabelle Wallis as Jane Seymour (Season 3 – episode 1) – Photo: Jonathan Hession/Showtime

When we last left the Tudors at the end of Season 2, Henry VIII had moved on to wife number 3 (of 6) in the lovely Jane Seymour.  After her inability to produce a male heir, Anne Boleyn was beheaded, along with the men she had “committed adultery with” (it’s important to note, for those unfamiliar, that the adultery was created by Henry’s group of men trying to find reason to the end the now unhappy marriage).

Henry and Jane are happily married for a very short time before we find out that Jane is secretly Catholic, and Henry’s gotten bored and is looking for mistresses.  The first half of this season 3 that starts tonight on Showtime deals with Jane slowly bringing the once disgraced Princess Mary (daughter to first wife Katherine) back into court, and into the King’s favor, and the quest for a male heir continues.

Spoiler alert for those who don’t know the history of the Tudors, in the progression of Henry’s 6 wives (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived), we move quickly this season onto wife number 4, played by Joss Stone, Anne of Cleves.  Along with a new cast of characters that you’ll quickly fall in love with, season 3 brings with it all of the incredible drama, acting, and writing that you’ve come to love from the first two seasons.  The crazy sexual escapades of the show have been, at least in the first few episodes, toned down, but there is still plenty of nudity for those tuning in for that.

All in all, some great stuff happening, and definitely worth the time to watch.  Having not been a history buff when the show began a few years ago, I quickly find myself eating up all of the crazy drama that this show offers, and I constantly want to know more about this incredibly crazy King.