When we last left Mary (Julianne Moore) and George (Nicholas Galitzine) in Mary & George Episode 4 (“The Wolf & The Lamb”), everything seemed to be going pretty well for them both after a few setbacks. Mary finally managed to get John (Tom Victor) married to Frances Coke (Amelia Gething) despite Lady Hatton (Nicola Walker)’s schemes to keep that from happening. Meanwhile, George was having a great time with, under, and behind King James (Tony Curran) and had secured his place in the royal’s bed. Everything has fallen into place, which must mean it’s only a matter of time before it all falls apart.
As Episode 5 (“The Golden City”) opens, the year is 1618, and a disturbed looking man is cocking a gun in a tent in Guyana. He’s just had his way with a prostitute who needs paying, and there’s a lot of talk about when he — this is Walter Raleigh (Joseph Male), to be clear — will be heading home to England. The conversation is with a “friend” who seems to want to extort him, asking for rank and money to keep his trap shut about what’s really gone down over there. Raleigh isn’t having it, though, and promptly stabs the guy through the stomach.
It appears the king has bought Mary a new house so she can be closer to London, George, and the king. Her hubby, Sir Thomas Compton (Sean Gilder), wants to know if she’ll be sharing her title once James make her a Countess, but she has no plans on doing it. Compton doesn’t take it well, especially since he’s also aware that Mary is having an affair with Sandie (Niamh Algar). The conversation effectively ends the marriage, but Mary isn’t bothered. Why would she be?
Another big banquet is held at the palace, and James is clearly drunk. Everyone applauds because they must, but the purpose of the night seems to be giving Mary her title of Countess Villiers. Lucky for Sandie, she’s now part of the inner circle, as well, and is introduced to the queen as Mary’s “Lady in Waiting,” Miss Brooks. It wouldn’t go down well if people found out she was really a prostitute, but who doesn’t love a bit of cheeky fun?
The jovial nature of the banquet is soon interrupted by the arrival of someone called Gondomar, who wants an urgent word with the king. James isn’t too happy about it since he’s drunk and a bit horny, but not so horny that he’s willing to let George come into the meeting with him. Mary isn’t having it, though, and tells George not to take no for an answer.
George does march in, interrupting the meeting between James, Francis Bacon (Mark O’Halloran), Edward Coke (Adrian Rawlins), and one Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, first Count of Gondomar. Diego announces that there’s been an “act of war” in Guyana. English forces attacked Spanish troops, led by none other than Sir Raleigh. Diego wants him executed or, at the very least, exiled. Unsurprisingly, no one wants to commit to that plan of action, but James does invite George to sit on the Privy Council with him as a learning experience after the meeting is over.
Mary drops the bomb on George that she may want to marry him off to Katherine Manners, but he’s not feeling it — he thinks she’s a bit dull. It seems strange he’d even have time for marriage, given how much his life revolves around the king.
George’s insistence on doing things his own way isn’t Mary’s only problem right now. Sandie followed John and Frances to their rooms, but she only found John there, clawing at the walls and claiming he could hear Frances screaming in another room. As it turns out, she wasn’t screaming in pain — she was having sex with another man. Uh oh!
As it turns out, James isn’t such a big fan of Raleigh. The following day, he tells George that Raleigh actually plotted sedition against him when he first came to England. He was “too merciful” to execute Raleigh, so he stuck him in a tower for many years, where he started making up lies about faraway worlds. George isn’t sure what to believe, and that’s a good thing to James, who wants to run a fair Privy Council.
A “witness” to the act of war is brought into the meeting, and it’s none other than Raleigh himself. The Council wants to know if Raleigh attacked the Spanish without provocation, and in violation of the treaty they hold. Raleigh’s response? “No.” He claims Spain attacked first and the English fired back, and that’s that. It’s also revealed that Raleigh lost his only son in the melee, which makes him visibly emotional.
A lot of this appears to come down to El Dorado, which many believe is mythical but Raleigh insists they found evidence of. In fact, he believes they were close to reaching the shimmering city of gold. He also claims his dear Captain killed himself in shame — the same captain he killed, of course. Raleigh vows to return to Guyana so he can continue his search.
The story all seems a bit suspect, but George seems moved. He confirms to Raleigh that “he will return,” and James isn’t happy about it as he’s taken it upon himself to make a decision for the Council when it wasn’t his decision to make. He’s cast out of the king’s quarters, and Charles is there to gloat about it. He also reveals that his mother, Queen Anne (Trine Dyrholm) — James’ wife — is dying and that James hasn’t even asked how she is. Charles holds this against George personally, as he holds James’ lover personally responsible for his family’s unhappiness.
Talking to the queen, Mary asks for permission to return home with John, as he’s not doing all that well, and permission is granted. However, Anne wants to talk about George. She’s happy to hear he stood up for Raleigh, as Anne believes he’s somewhat of a hero. However, she urges Mary to warn George to be careful, as James doesn’t take well to being contradicted by his lover in public.
Mary goes to talk to George, telling him to do nothing now. Well, other than go to see Rutland, Katherine Manners’ father, to apologize for ignoring him at the feast. They need to keep him sweet in case they decide to go ahead with the marriage. George’s response is a very literal F-U. She gets the same response from Frances Coke when confronted over her affair. She tells Mary she has three choices: set her free, slit her throat, or let her get her kicks wherever she can.
Bacon is still on George’s back, attempting to turn him against his mother. Bacon reveals that Mary and Sandie are lovers and that together, they killed a man and attempted to kill another. His reason for telling George? Bacon believes he’s “ready to fly alone.” George asks him not to tell the king, to which Bacon consents. However, he also warns of the dangers Raleigh poses to the monarchy, and takes him to a secret meeting in which Raleigh brags about killing Spanish people.
It’s a real eye-opener for George, who realizes that Raleigh is extremely dangerous. Bacon and Diego (who happens to be at the meeting, disguised in a cloak) try to convince him to intervene yet again to have Raleigh imprisoned and ultimately banished in order to avoid war. George learned his lesson from his last interference, but they ask him tot o do just once more.
Before he can do such a thing, however, he returns home after receiving a letter from John claiming he’d hurt himself. However, it’s all a ruse to lock him in a room with Katy. Sandie and the housekeeper do just that, and Katy points out that if they spend the night together, her father will have no choice but to consent to their marriage. George points out that he’s not interested, but Katy knows the game and she definitely wants to play it.
Meanwhile, Sandie helps Frances Coke end a pregnancy, giving her something to drink to induce an abortion. Sandie stays with her, as it’s clearly an agonizing experience. It seems like Sandie has the most heart of anyone on this show — I think she might be my favorite! She later gives Mary an ultimatum: let Frances go or she’ll go. Mary calls her bluff and also starts referring to her as Miss Brooks, showing just how cold she can truly be. Not to John, of course. She realizes he’s truly unwell and begins to make arrangements for him to go away.
The longer George spends with Katy, the more he comes around to the idea of marrying her. They get along well, and Katy promises that she’s very fertile and is fine with him sleeping around. She’ll give him heirs to all the titles he’s racking up, and she believes they could be a bit of a power couple. However, she also wants him to have his own choice, and given that they wake up naked in bed together the following morning, it’s pretty clear what that is.
Returning to London, George wants to know if James has forgiven him yet. The king applauds him for making the people happy, at the very least, but that’s as much as he gets for an answer. They have a sweet little cuddle, and George urges James to listen to his own thoughts about Raleigh. The king points out that Raleigh is free and that’s it, but George handily points out that he’s the king and can do whatever he wants. Raleigh, of course, will be guillotined. Ouch.
Queen Anne, of course, is mortified at what has happened, and believes it will be the downfall of England. She blames Mary for not being able to control George in this way, and orders her out so that she can pray. She and Sandie go to visit George, and he rudely insults Sandie, who handles him with ease, pointing out that she’s just as much of a prostitute.
Bacon later tells George that Spain will reward him for this, but George says he didn’t do it for Spain, and that James made his own decision. Bacon agrees to keep up the farce, and calls him a “good boy.” However, Mary tells Sandie that if George refuses to bend, war is almost certainly inevitable.
Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.
