My Review of Mary & George: "Not So Much As Love As By Awe"

Written by D.C. Moore

Directed by Oliver Hermanus 

George (to Robert): "Most hours I long for death but like my mother, I just wanted to fuck you. And it'll be the last thing you think of before you hang."

Ooh, this episode definitely got a little spicy, didn't it? Both Mary and George looked like they were losing King James to Robert Carr and his wife, but then things took a rather interesting turn of events. The Carrs certainly overplayed their hand.

At the start of the episode, George was forced to play music while having to watch the King fuck Robert and other pretty boys while at court, the countess took great pleasure in humiliating Mary and ensuring she left a bad first impression on the King. It really looked like they were being taken out of the game.

Fortunately for the scheming mother and son duo, they had allies in their favour. For Mary, her ally came in the shape of the Earl of Essex (Matt Barkley). He was revealed to be the ex husband of the Countess and a walking reminder of what happened to anyone unfortunate enough to make an enemy out of her.

Yes, the theme of witchcraft played heavily into this episode with rumours of both the Somersets being responsible for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury and Mary gathering enough evidence of their guilt. However she wasn't the only one to play role in their downfall.

While George fell conveniently ill to smallpox during a heated confrontation with the Somersets and the King, at least he had Sir Francis Bacon (Mark O'Halloran) advising him somewhat better than his mother. We got a nice sex scene between George and Robert and then everything went wrong for Robert and Frances.

It was easy to not feel too bad for the Somersets as this episode really portrayed the pair as cartoon villains.  By the end of this one, George got closer to the King, played music while Mary also got the better of Elizabeth Hatton as well as getting in the good graces of the King herself.

- It seems that Frances resorted to a bit of voodoo to make George ill. King James seemed disappointed that the threat of a witch was over.

- Mary strategically allowed herself to make a show in court as well as having Sandie dressing her up garishly.

- I'm loving the bitchy rivalry between Mary and Elizabeth. Nicola Walker is eating up the pithy dialogue she's given.

- Chronology: Frances Carr was hanged in 1632 but I don't think we've had that huge a time jump between episodes.

Not So Much As Love As By Awe was immensely enjoyable.  The downfall of the Somersets, delving into the King's fixation on witches and both mother and son finding new allies for their cause. I had a lot of fun with one.

Rating: 8 out of 10