My Review of Mary & George: "War"

 

Written by D.C. Moore And Laura Grace

Directed by Florian Cossen 

King James (to George): "An old fool's lust blinded me, but now I see. You're the traitor."

It's been seven episodes but I went the slow path and chose to watch this on a weekly basis. I think that was a good decision. This finale certainly brought things to a fiery ending for both George and King James.

Their relationship had effectively soured between episodes with James in isolation in the woods and George getting a bit too big for his boots and acting like the King himself. That of course would backfire on him here. Sadly for George, not everyone shared his ambition.

Trying to get Charles married to the Spanish Princess came to a screeching halt this week and George only made the situation worse. He pretty much exaggerated to Charles why the marriage wouldn't go ahead and he effectively declared war on Spain in the King's. Of course, Mary tried to step in to save the monster she created but it was definitely a case of too little and too late.

George would no longer listen to her and her attempts to manipulate the King were initially countered by George fucking him in the woods. Then word of war with Spain got out and whatever hold George had on the King was gone in an instant. James had quite the wake up call. He even stripped George of his titles but before he could put his lover to death, things went badly for the King.

Yes, George proved that power always meant more than any loyalty to the King. George didn't hold back on killing King James and he almost got away with it. Given the amount of lives that George ruined in his mother's (and his own) quest for power, there's a suitable irony in his death coming a very unexpected person. 

As for Mary, she didn't quite suffer as much as the King or her son, but it's clear that Sandie's death affected more than she wanted to admit, along with knowing that George had a part in it. That and her inability to get the King back on side and her son's demise. Whatever she achieved definitely came with a hefty price overall.

- Sir Francis Bacon was missing his nose and had the stench of death. Mary saw that as enough reason not to kill him.

- George's second child was born shortly before his own demise while him and Charles were likened to brothers.

- George had flashbacks of various men and women he fucked over the years during this episode.

- Chronology: The series ended with 1628, marking George's death.

War marked a very strong ending for the series. Throughout these seven episodes, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Galitzine and Tony Curran delivered with their performances and didn't put a foot wrong. I had a great time with this show.

Rating: 8 out of 10