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Drama

FX cancels The Bastard Executioner — our recap of the TBX series finale

Moment of silence for our beloved show, fellow fans of The Bastard Executioner. If you haven’t already heard, FX cancelled the series on Tuesday with creator Kurt Sutter’s reluctant blessing, citing the cost to make the ambitious series on location in Wales versus its unfortunately low live ratings. I’m disappointed for any number of reasons. Perhaps most of all, because this is a show that was made for a binge watch, especially given its complexity. With the winter TV doldrums at our doorstep — along with holiday vacation time — I’m virtually certain more folks would have found and invested […]

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Drama

The Bastard Executioner episode 9 recap: “The Bernadette Maneuver”

It would be easier to accept that there is but one more episode of The Bastard Executioner Season 1 if a Season 2 was confirmed and there weren’t so much ground left to cover. • The Bastard Executioner Season 1 recaps: Episode 1  and 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 Yes, I know … plenty of folks have railed against the show’s proudly bold blending of history and fiction, Annora’s weird accent and nature, and the brutality of the violence, particularly toward women. But not one of these issues is remotely unique to […]

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Drama

Recap: The Bastard Executioner episode 8 “Broken Things” — Jesus loves me and so do you

Welcome back TBXers. Did everyone survive two weeks with no news from Ventrishire? Speaking of news, the good is that Pantry Baby has reappeared all over this episode. The bad? His brother … well, let’s get to everything that happened on this week’s The Bastard Executioner. We begin at Casa Maddox where, after last episode’s attention from Wilkin, Jessamy is looking for reassurance that their coupling pleased him. He tenderly tells her it did. But there’s more somber work to tend to. He heads out the door to help Ash and the Moor lay poor Calo to rest outside the shire walls. In […]

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Drama

The Bastard Executioner recap episode 7: Behold the Lamb (… or what I did for Love)

Everyone remember where we left off last week, The Bastard Executioner fans? The Wolf made himself known — as Lady Love’s equally introspective and peace-minded half-brother. Annora revealed herself to Father Wilkin as much more than just a peddler of potions, but a predictor of fates. Milus revealed that he’s pretty much going to set Wilkin up for some unplanned killing every single episode. And Jessamy reveals, well, nothing new. She’s been a nutter from the start. • The Bastard Executioner Season 1 recaps: Episode 1  and 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode […]

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Drama

The Bastard Executioner episode 6 recap: Game of thorns …

Did everyone come into this week’s episode of The Bastard Executioner expecting the punisher’s “wife” to dole out some serious punishment after the way we left off last week? Well, our helium-voiced little Mrs. Maddox is not about to let us down. • The Bastard Executioner Season 1 recaps: Episode 1  and 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 We open in the Maddox bedchamber, where Jessamy gazes at a just-waking-up Wilkin. She tells her faux spouse that he is lovely when he sleeps. He tells her that she’s been awfully … vigilant … lately.  It’s […]

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Drama

The Bastard Executioner episode 5 recap: Piss Profit/Proffidwyr Troeth

Welcome back, TBXers. Did you spend the week declaring that things be “divided into serds” or was that just me? Gaveston! Putting another deliciously nasty bastard in The Bastard Executioner! • The Bastard Executioner Season 1 recaps: Episode 1  and 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 On the subject of Gaveston, we learn the truth about Lady Love’s startling announcement at the end of last week’s episode when she hands her bloody undergarments to Isabel and apologizes to her handmaiden for making her complicit in the deception. Ever the voice of reason, Isabel says there is time […]

Drama

The Bastard Executioner Episode 4 recap: Milus to go before anyone sleeps

When I talked The Bastard Executioner with its Milus Corbett, Stephen Moyer, in August — episode 1 under my belt and little idea of all that lay ahead   — Moyer was practically vibrating with excitement over the scripts Kurt Sutter was putting in his hands. For good reason. Tonight’s episode, “A Hunger/Newyn,” fully displayed the spectacular depth of deviousness with which the Chamberlin has been bestowed. • The Bastard Executioner Season 1 recaps: Episode 1  and 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 |Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 “People are going to want this shire,” […]

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Drama

The Bastard Executioner Episode 2 recap: Brattle by a nose…

When we left Welsh soldier turned barley farmer turned reluctant Bastard Executioner Wilkin Brattle (Lee Jones), he had just used his battle savvy to sever the head of Chamberlin Milus Corbett’s (Stephen Moyer) hapless half-brother. On said Chamberlin’s orders. This  week, we open on Brattle’s spiritual adviser Annora of the Alders (Katey Sagal) employing a massive dead hog to teach Wilkin the ways of the punisher, so he can maintain the ruse she insists is his destiny. “A man’s flesh will give to the blade,” she tells him, as his knife glides through the poor beast. Cut to a sculptor teaching […]

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The Bastard Executioner premiere recap: Nothing more dangerous than a Welshman with nothing to lose

Kurt Sutter’s much-anticipated new FX drama The Bastard Executioner launches with a primer of sorts: “Wales, the dawn of the 14th century. Roman Catholicism dominates the religious landscape. The Welsh, fighting fiercely for independence, have been crushed by Edward Longshanks, King Edward I of England. After Longshanks’death, his impulsive son, King Edward II, takes the thrown. Tension grows in the turbulent marshlands between Wales and England. Fearing rebellion, English barons rule their Welsh fiefdoms with uncompromising brutality. The oppressed peasants of these shires desperately cling to their faith that a loving God is watching over them.” • MORE: The cast and creators […]