Devil's Whore - the End
I am finally going to put down what I thought about the Devil's Whore, particularly the last episode and will warn that there are spoilers. Some of this is straight copy from comments I made on jean_geanie's lj. And warning too that there is some general fangirl drooling.
What an incredible tragic tale but one of hope! That Angelica finally came to her senses and saw Sexby for the amazing man he had been all along to her was both rewarding and frustrating. I just kept thinking she didn't deserve him.
I thought Dominic West did a fabulous job of playing Cromwell. I despised the character but he pulled it off so well, depicting him as doing all the wrong things for what he saw as the right reasons. I don't know if I buy that he hadn't ordered Rainsborough killed though.
Now I must say that I have read several other reviews now and I think I must be completely perverted shallow however, as I have watch the sex scene over and over and over and... The look of what I perceived as utter ecstacy on Simm's face made me a complete pile of mush.
On one of my several repeat *cough* of that particular scene, I did look for Simm's tattoo on his shoulder *yum for the bare shoulders* and it looked like they'd tried to cover it with a glop of fake hair. I might be wrong but that's what I thought.
He really took my breath away in that scene and in all the others. The betrayal/suicide scene did shock me because I was expecting him to go down in a blaze of gunfire but not by his own hand. I was screaming at my computer when he did that (and screw history - much more effective this way). I had no expectations that this was going to have a happy ending. It seems like the lovely Mr Simm doesn't do happy endings, or prefers not to (discounting what I see as the second ending of LOM) and he does the tragic so bloody well. The slight smile upon realizing his betrayal as he turns away from the window and then the trembling hands and the tears (OMG - the tears) as he tries to come to terms with the fact that he will not be avenging Rainsborough's death and that his name will not be spoken by every schoolboy - absolutely heart-wrenching and so well played. Still, I did not expect the barrel of the gun to point in the direction it did and did scream for him not to do it! That is a definite sign that I was completely invested in Sexby's character.
The ending with Angelica on the beach was devestating and my thought was that she had just lost husband number three and man four (if you count Christian who she clearly was enamored with even if he was a treacherouse bastard.) It was a good thing she didn't marry again.
Elizabeth and John were utterly brilliant in this episode too. I almost wish that Elizabeth hadn't been quite so perfect though. I loved her character because she was feisty, a perfect wife and support to John but damn, she didn't do anything the wasn't the right thing. At least all the other characters had some flaws and I enjoyed them more for those flaws. *thinking about some lovely scars here*
This is a show that I definitely will be watching again and again. It was so well acted and hell, it had the lovely Mr Simm with a sex face in it. :)
What an incredible tragic tale but one of hope! That Angelica finally came to her senses and saw Sexby for the amazing man he had been all along to her was both rewarding and frustrating. I just kept thinking she didn't deserve him.
I thought Dominic West did a fabulous job of playing Cromwell. I despised the character but he pulled it off so well, depicting him as doing all the wrong things for what he saw as the right reasons. I don't know if I buy that he hadn't ordered Rainsborough killed though.
Now I must say that I have read several other reviews now and I think I must be completely perverted shallow however, as I have watch the sex scene over and over and over and... The look of what I perceived as utter ecstacy on Simm's face made me a complete pile of mush.
On one of my several repeat *cough* of that particular scene, I did look for Simm's tattoo on his shoulder *yum for the bare shoulders* and it looked like they'd tried to cover it with a glop of fake hair. I might be wrong but that's what I thought.
He really took my breath away in that scene and in all the others. The betrayal/suicide scene did shock me because I was expecting him to go down in a blaze of gunfire but not by his own hand. I was screaming at my computer when he did that (and screw history - much more effective this way). I had no expectations that this was going to have a happy ending. It seems like the lovely Mr Simm doesn't do happy endings, or prefers not to (discounting what I see as the second ending of LOM) and he does the tragic so bloody well. The slight smile upon realizing his betrayal as he turns away from the window and then the trembling hands and the tears (OMG - the tears) as he tries to come to terms with the fact that he will not be avenging Rainsborough's death and that his name will not be spoken by every schoolboy - absolutely heart-wrenching and so well played. Still, I did not expect the barrel of the gun to point in the direction it did and did scream for him not to do it! That is a definite sign that I was completely invested in Sexby's character.
The ending with Angelica on the beach was devestating and my thought was that she had just lost husband number three and man four (if you count Christian who she clearly was enamored with even if he was a treacherouse bastard.) It was a good thing she didn't marry again.
Elizabeth and John were utterly brilliant in this episode too. I almost wish that Elizabeth hadn't been quite so perfect though. I loved her character because she was feisty, a perfect wife and support to John but damn, she didn't do anything the wasn't the right thing. At least all the other characters had some flaws and I enjoyed them more for those flaws. *thinking about some lovely scars here*
This is a show that I definitely will be watching again and again. It was so well acted and hell, it had the lovely Mr Simm with a sex face in it. :)