Bridgerton, Watch Out: Mary and George Seriously Ups Period Dramas' Game on Sex Scenes

Summary:

• Mary and George is a period drama released in the UK on March 5.
• It is based on real historical events and follows a non-fiction book with their depiction.
• The show is not your typical period drama: it’s queer, it’s bold, and it’s hilarious.

Have you seen Mary and George? It’s a mini-series released in the UK on Sky Atlantic, based on a historical book that explores a relationship between James VI and I and George Villiers. Yes, you heard us—it’s a queer period drama that stars up-and-coming Nicholas Galitzine and Julianne Moore.

It does a great job of exploring various sexualities. There aren’t many shows that are willing to do that in historical context, even though gay people have always existed, and some of them played a very important role in the history of England, apparently.

Its way of showing sex scenes and male nudity is dark and raw and definitely sexy, though after a couple of first episodes, they act more as a standalone than a plot device.

The show subverts any expectations we have about marrying off your children to save an impoverished family. In books and movies, this is always done by a woman who must swallow her pride and get a wealthy man to help her family. Mary and George does the same—but with a very, very masculine man on a mission to do his mother’s bidding and seduce the King.

The show looks serious, it sounds serious, but it’s got some quality jokes that sometimes release the tension you didn’t know you were feeling. Yes, it’s a period drama, but it’s got that modern feel to it that makes it stand out from stuffy period pieces. The script is witty, and the dialogues are really good—if you’re okay with characters starting every single sentence with an F-word (to add some edginess).

The acting is definitely next level. The main cast has shown the nuance of the emotion so masterfully, especially Galitzine that’s been in the spotlight over the past year, and rightfully so—he manages to convey and portray vulnerability with just his eyes and microexpressions. We can even see that on the posters!

Every actor gave it all vis-à-vis performance, showing that nothing is as it seems, and even characters that feel entirely antagonistic might have some depth to them. We love it.

Besides, the show inspires reading: you’ll want to read the original book to drive home every single detail about that particular (and scandalous!) piece of British history.

Check out Mary and George on Sky Atlantic if you haven’t already!