The Boleyns Win This Round in 'Wolf Hall's "Anna Regina"

As Wolf Hall reaches its midpoint, Thomas Cromwell has lost his protector in Wolsey and needs to find a way to keep himself at the king's right hand, lest Henry suddenly turn on him. What better way than to hook one's self to a rising star? As Katherine of Aragon faces being deposed, Anne Boleyn begins to conquer her enemies, making her ascension to the throne as queen a sure bet. Cromwell knows that every game is a risk, but it's 1533, and it's not like the king is going to get divorced and remarried four more times in the next ten years, right?

Anne: People should say whatever will keep them alive. You would, wouldn't you?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that no matter what type of period drama we are facing or what channel it airs on if the prestige drama focuses upon a family with peerage pretensions, there will be an episode with a wedding. If royalty is involved, there will also be a coronation. From Downton Abbey (which remarkably held out until Season 3 before giving us nuptials) to Poldark, at some point, the wedding gown is wheeled out. Coronations and weddings happen in Victoria, Game of Thrones, and The Crown (which also married and coronated Claire Foy). 

Wolf Hall is a show that takes itself a step beyond those other shows with their commitment to period faithfulness and old-school pacing. But even they must bow to these realities. And so it came to pass that in the third hour of the drama, in the year of our lord 1533, Anne Boleyn did get her way. The second wedding of King Henry VIII occurred, and she was crowned queen. 

To get there, they just had to reverse about a century and a half of accepted religious and political policy.

People don't like change. To Henry and Cromwell, much of the change they want to enact, which will pave the way for a second royal marriage, are merely words on paper. When you look at the big picture, does it matter who is the head of the church or which man in furs and robes claims to have the highest authority? These things do not matter in the day-to-day lives of, say, your average blacksmith or even your average member of 16th-century Parliament. But, as all good politicians know, these things are about optics. One rich white man running the church instead of a different, more Italian-looking one won't change the price of grain. But that doesn't mean people won't think it matters. 

This is where Cromwell's cold-blooded tactics run into a wall. Despite all the arm-turning and wheeling and dealing, we see how hesitant the peerage is in the vote staged in Henry's court. The King has to lean in his chair and stare down his lords to get enough of them to stand on the right side of the room.

The rise of religious hysteria grows as Henry's wedding date approaches. Thomas More is torturing heretics while droning on at them in Latin; Archbishop Warham is sponsoring the latest in mystic maidens touched by god, this one in the form of Elizabeth Barton, the "Holy Maid." Everywhere, people come forward with various attempts to prevent this marriage from going through - as if somehow, by stopping the inevitable, they can turn back the clock to the way things were when there was only one god, one religion, and one hierarchy, as it had been for generations before.

But while the anticipation of this episode is the wedding, the joy of it is watching Cromwell and Anne find kindred spirits in one another. Cromwell is a hustler, and so is Anne. Her background and methodology may differ, but both are creatures who thrive on the ladder chaos provides. Hence, when the least religious complication arises - that of Harry Percy - it's Cromwell to whom the Boleyn family turns.

Percy, as you might recall, was the one the Cardinal stopped Anne from marrying back in the series' opening episode, and part of why she viewed him as her enemy. Percy was also the gang leader who set the Cardinal on the road to his death and then played in pantomime the act for the court's (and Anne's) enjoyment. What a difference two years makes. Now it's Percy who the Boleyn family shuns as he stakes his claim. Despite the Cardinal preventing the marriage all those years ago, Percy claims he married Anne anyway, threatening everything she's worked for.

Cromwell does not solve the Percy problem by smashing his skull or roaring until the rich boy cowers. Instead, he calmly sits and explains how the world works and how, simply by a few words to the appropriate bankers, a man can have his life effectively ended. It is the 16th-century version of the famous "Primal Forces of Nature" speech from 1978's Network and the most remarkable moment of the hour that doesn't involve a wedding or a coronation gown.

But while Cromwell is tying his fortunes to those of Anne as she rises, his personal life is in shambles. Though he may find himself Keeper of the Jewel House by the end of the hour, he has lost anyone he might want to share it with. His relationship with his dead wife's sister comes to an abrupt end when they both realize he's substituting one for the other. His tendre towards Jane Seymour has hit a snag when Jane's father is found sleeping with his daughter-in-law. 

Anne, of course, is delighted by the turn of events and that her Lady in Waiting has been removed and sent away in shame. Cromwell is left at loose ends, with no prospects for remarriage he finds himself interested in, and having to escape the over-eager Mary Boleyn yet again. Even though Jane returns by the end of the episode, the chances of him having her are slim.

As the hour closes, with marriage and coronation complete, Anne heads off to have the royal baby, confident in her ability to have a boy child. Meanwhile, Rafe wonders to Cromwell if he's made the right choice, putting all their eggs in this basket. As the boat sails away with Anne in it, his expression suggests he, too, is starting to wonder the same. Next week, we'll see how everyone feels when she returns with a baby of the wrong sex.

This post was originally published April 2015. Updated 11.10.2024

The original 2015 Wolf Hall will continue on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on most local PBS stations and the PBS app. All six episodes are available to stream on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and for members of PBS Passport. Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light will debut in 2025.