Written by D.C. Moore
Directed by Oliver Hermanus
Mary (to George): "If I were a man and I looked like you, I'd rule the fucking planet."
It's been a while since we've had a rather sexy and salacious period drama and finally we've got one that's off to a very promising start. Oh and the title characters are quite the mother and son duo.
The episode opened with Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham (Julianne Moore) giving birth to her second son, George. As the episode would go on to demonstrate, second sons aren't looked upon favourably and have to make it in the world without the benefits of the first born.
Cut to an older George, 1st Duke of Buckingham (Nicholas Galitzine) attempting to commit suicide and pining for a serving girl he had fallen in love with. Mary wasn't sympathetic to his plight and decided that he needed to go to France to be trained into being a suitor worthy of getting a suitable mate.
George might have resented being sent away but it didn't take him long to largely speak French and he definitely became intrigued by his mentor Jean (Khalil Ben Garbia) seducing men in the more liberal household. The episode quickly revealed that George was bisexual, which would prove advantageous for Mary.
During George's absence from England, Mary didn't let time waste after her husband, Sir George (Simon Russell Beale) died. She quickly married Sir Thomas Compton (Sean Gilder) but more importantly, she set her sights on getting her new husband to host King James VI and I (Tony Curran) and decided that his lust for younger men would work in her favour.
This was where a returning George would be bested suited. Instead of a nice wife, Mary wanted her son to be the King's new lover. The only problem being that the King's current lover, Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (Laurie Davidson) was definitely an obstacle for Mary's overall scheme. George came close to losing a hand had the King not intervened.
I'm actually a little surprised we didn't get more of the King in this opening episode but Tony Curran certainly made the most of his screen time here. Despite embarrassing himself, George managed to make a positive first impression on James and Robert certainly felt threatened by George's presence.
- We met the other children of Mary for a few scenes in the episode. Oldest brother, John Villiers (Tom Victor) making a good impression.
- For some reason, SkyTV have all the episodes now but US viewers will have to wait until April 5th for it to air on Starz.
- Mary talked about her own humble beginnings in life when getting George to go along with her plan to seduce the king.
- Chronology: The episode started in 1592 England with the majority taking place in 1612 in both England and France.
The Second Son has started this unapologetically baudy drama off on a strong note. Both Nicholas Galitzine and Julianne Moore are a delightfully scheming pair and there's some delightfully biting dialogue and a generous helping of male flesh on display in this first episode alone.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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