You Cannot Keep The Birds
Thomas rushes into Elizabeth’s room and throws the covers off her, continuing on to the rest of the house.
Elizabeth and Thomas head outside to talk about what’s going on. Elizabeth admits that she’s taken up residency in Thomas’ house, and in his head.
Thomas challenges the King to find out what sort of man he is. Edward says during a performance making fun of Catholicism that “Death to the pope.” Mary has enough and walks away. ..
As we know, she’s highly Catholic and sees this as a blasphemous act against her God. Edward follows her out, where she admits as much. “It cleaves me in two.” She says, but then goes on to admit that she was feeling under the weather, which is why she’s left.
Elizabeth is concerned about what this performance means for the future of England and her faith. Mary pleads with Elizabeth, warning her about Catherine and urging her to leave the Manor.
Meanwhile, there are tensions between Edward Seymour and Catherine. The former is not happy that she’s going to be reduced to “Thomas Seymour’s wife” and brings up the subject of the royal jewels. This sows the seeds of doubt in these two, as Catherine and Thomas end up fighting in their room. The walls are thin though and Elizabeth hears some of their fierce argument.
Thomas Seymour decides to give up the royal jewels in order to convince Edward Seymour that he has won, instead focusing on Elizabeth’s real jewel - her love for him. ..
Elizabeth contemplates whether to leave and stay with Mary, at court, the group discuss the coming war. They men and money to continue, and with the French looming on the horizon, it doesn’t look like a quick fix.
Henry questions Pedro why he’s with them and Pedro responds with a jest. Henry eventually asks Pedro to leave because he’s not wanted here.
At church, Pedro talks to the princess Mary about his past. He doesn’t actually know her, but when he finds out, he shows off his cross and tells her he’ll pray for her.
Mary is brought before the King again, where Edward tells her to convert to “the true faith” and give up Catholicism. She believes this is the word of the Lord Protector and not her brother and demands to see Seymour. When Edward refuses to allow that, Mary decides to leave court and go back to the country. When Elizabeth finds out, she’s shocked. When Mary returns home, she tells her friends about what happened at court and how she was refused an audience with Seymour. Elizabeth is outraged by this treatment of her sister and decides that she must speak with Edward about it. ..
Thomas and Elizabeth are having a heated discussion about whether or not he can kiss his girlfriend, Inevitably. She soon kisses Elizabeth, which quickly turns into more. “Do I have your permission?” He asks. ..
Elizabeth wants Thomas to continue but this time, Thomas stops himself, telling her she’s a powerful tonic and he needs to ration. ..
Mary returns to stay in the country, up at Framlingham Castle. Pedro happens to be there and he’s decided to offer his services to her following the debacle in court.
England is a volatile place, one that could explode at any moment. And it’s clear that Elizabeth is going to be in the middle of this, as we cut back to England and see her praying with Edward. She tells her brother that she’s been writing to Mary, urging her to change her faith. ..
The Episode Review
The second episode of Becoming Elizabeth slowed down as the series instead focused on the growing divide between Protestants and Catholics. With Mary heading back home again, I’m not quite sure how accurate this whole Spanish subplot is with Pedro but we’ll have to wait and see where this goes. ..
Thomas gets closer to Elizabeth and the latter finds herself caught in the middle of a sibling rivalry brewing between Mary and Edward. ..
The show has been a decent watch so far, although this second chapter is noticeably slower than the first. Still, the series has some decent acting and the plot is interesting. Although there isn’t much movement with the story, there plenty of time for things to pick up. ..
