http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/06/04/The-Tudors----Episode-9.aspx Watching THE TUDORS is like watching a chess game where the play moves very swiftly at some points then very slowly at others. As a spectator, you can never completely get in sync with the players' rhythms. Characters are just as hard to read -- with hidden motives and murky alliances, which are only kind of explained, and never clearly revealed. Some of the fun of the show is keeping up with it; trying to figure out why the pieces are moving the way in which they are. And, at least it doesn’t insult the viewers’ intelligence.     Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ Henry VIII is not just the king every other player is reaching for, but also the chess master of this game. He has the gimlet eyes of a particularly venomous snake, and is just as slippery. Henry, portrayed in painting and literature as more of a lusty, ruddy big fellow than Meyers’ slithery skinny figure, holds his court hostage to his whims. He is the grand manipulator, and it is the guessing of his every unexpressed wish that keeps the players moving on the board. The vague Duke of Norfolk (Henry Czerny), puppyish Duke of Suffolk (Henry Cavill) and scheming Sir Thomas Boleyn (Nick Dunning), having finally engineered the downfall of the impenetrable Cardinal Wolsey (a great Sam Neill), seemed to have the edge by the end of tonight’s episode. But the rules of Henry’s game are very changeable, and since only he knows them, it is likely those on top will not hold their spots -- or their heads -- for long. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/06/04/The-Tudors----Episode-9.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/06/04/The-Tudors----Episode-9.aspx#992 Germans of Namibia Hans Scharff Bacterial capsules List of state leaders in 1729 Rowes Bay, Queensland Reading Half Marathon Prick post Parkerize Star Rovers Consolidated Model 34 Consolidated Model 34 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/06/04/The-Tudors----Episode-9.aspx#992 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:53:41 GMT