Final episodes of Wolf Hall come to life, at last

As noted in previous posts I have not been a big fan of Wolf Hall, neither book nor BBC series, which seemed to me very stodgy, slow-moving, and underplayed, but I have to admit that WH - BBC really picked up quite a bit in the last two (of 6) episodes of the season. In episode five, for the first time, we had a scene of dramatic action - King Henry thought to have died while watching joust, incredible chaos and anguish before Cromwell/Timothy Rylance saves the day with a 16th-century version of CPR - and a powerful dramatic confrontation between Cromwell and Henry. For the first time, the series had some light and heat. The final/6th episode was even better, as we see for the first time the evil and vindictive side of Cromwell's ambition, as he builds a case against Anne Boleyn, leading to her execution (sorry for the spoiler - what, you didn't know?) as well as to the banishment from favor of serveral courtiers who'd dissed Cromwell and his then-patron, Wolsey, sometime previous. Rylance throughout does a great job in his understated way, playing the part as cool and interior rather than as greedy and conniving. Though the key to Cromwell's success is his extraordinary perspicacity, neither the teleplay nor the novel, in my view, make his intelligence particularly remarkable - but he is very bold, and willing to do anything including murder to keep in favor. Perhaps it's because at last we're familiar with (most of) the figures, but the 6th episode was by far the most accessible in the series. Obviously, there will be another season and I'll probably watch it - it helps that we're seeing an interpretation of history, so there;s an edifying aspect to watching this TV show, but I don't think Cromwell is as compelling a lead, evil character as some of his TV counterparts - Walter White, Stringer Bell, even, in the legal field, Patti/Glenn Close in Damages.

Why I don't like Wolf Hall

I was not a great fan of Hilary Mantel's novel Wolf Hall and, dispute the hoopla and the incredibly glowing reviews of the BBC miniseries I have to dissent on this as well. Yes, of course, the production values, as with all BBC histories, are immaculate and impeccable: the costuming, the hundreds of castles and keeps and formal gardens that dot the landscape of England-land, just waiting to be re-purposed as film sets - and of course the high quality of the acting. But at the heart of it - doesn't anybody else find this series to be, in a word, dull? So many characters, so many scenes, but each of them short, undeveloped, almost like a sketch. Compared with the book, it's relatively easy to follow as we have faces to ID the many characters - but it's still a huge challenge, as we, or at least I, barely know the names of many of the characters and constantly have to try to figure out who's who and why is Thos Cromwell - who rises to become Henry VIII's top confidant, scheming with or about them? All told, bottom line, I don't really give a damn about H8 and his narcisssim, and how he used his royal wealth and power to bully the nation into getting his way. And I don't care about the schism with Rome. It's all important history I'm sure, but this series barely touches on the significance of these events. It's all about Cromwell's being willing to do anything to advance the cause of his master - from Cardinal Wolsey, then H8. He's the consummate chief of staff/general counsel - in other words, the fixer - a figure familiar in any top tier of power. But - despite Rylant's excellent acting - he's not all that interesting - it's not as if his scheming is brilliant and astonishing and surprising to us; rather, he gives good counsel and stands up boldly against some really tough and powerful figures, including rival Thos More (allied w/ Rome) and aspiring Queen Anne Boleyn. But are we to root for him, feel for him, pull for him? Why should we, when all he's doing is aggrandizing the power of a narcissist monarch? At the heart of the series (and the book) is the knowledge that Cromwell is of the working classes, son of an abusive, drunkard blacksmith - this is all much more obvious in the series, when his accent alone sets him apart with every line he speaks - but as American viewers do we care about this, either? Class is such a big deal in England - still, I think - that there's a sense of wonder that a working-class boy could be so smart and able, and a lot of overt prejudice against him as well. My feeling about all that is: get over it. There's a certain smugness in the whole project, as if the rise of a character like Cromwell shows that the English system was (is) more open than most would believe, but the very exceptionalism of this case carries the opposite message as well, as if to say: Isn't it amazing what he accomplished, given his origins? I think it's more amazing how long-standing, how enduring is the belief that accents, background, and conditions of birth "make the man" - the social structure that makes it so.