My husband and I have a weak spot for period dramas: Outlander, Bridgerton, Medici… I remember excitedly comparing plot twists in Medici with the textbook I had for a class on the Italian Renaissance. As the seasons go on, it often feels as though the initial excitement wears off: characters develop predictable habits, love scenes follow a worn-out pattern, the show relies on plot development alone to maintain interest.
Take Medici for example. Season 3 opens with Lorenzo off to try and protect Florence from war. A council (called Priori) votes against going to war and Lorenzo goes home to his pregnant wife (see here, she strokes her belly, and there, again). His accountant and mother inform him, just like that, that he has no money to go to war. Lorenzo feels he needs to defend Florence, but doesn’t want to assume power to do as he thinks best. He wants consensus. The shots of his face can all be classed into a single category: Lorenzo is pensive. A monastery is taking in wounded mercenaries and monks quibble about caring for non-believers in a decidedly 21st century way. Lorenzo sends his wife and children away from the city (obligatory goodbye scene), and Lorenzo resigns from the council. There is a sprinkling of scenes of artists painting things. In one, a young painter labours over a line of green paint on buckling paper. Lorenzo goes to visit Leonardo da Vinci who is dissecting a cadaver (nbd) and confidently (nay, with swagger!) expresses an agnostic point of view, telling Lorenzo to live his life as he sees fit.
At this point you might as well throw up your hands and just accept the fact that what you are watching is a 21st century drama with pretty Italian Renaissance set decor and pigeons bearing imitation-calligraphy messages for cellphones.
I suppose this is why I was reluctant to get into The Last Kingdom. However, episode 2 of the first season has the main character Uhtred hiding and crying after killing an enemy, a playful relationship between him and Brida, and scenes wherein the characters aren’t sure about what to do next as they grapple with the constraints of the period.
The writing is alive, and I’m surprised to discover how “show don’t tell” applies just as much to a visual medium as it does to writing. So here’s a love note to the writers of The Last Kingdom, season 1: I noticed your work and I’m enjoying it!