The Tudors: Episode 2-1 (season premiere)

(S02E01) The Tudors is back. And in true Tudor style, it's back with a vengeance. Last year in the season finale we left Henry on the brink of a climax. And I would say no pun intended, but if you saw the season finale, you know that pun was definitely intended.

A lot was set in motion with the premiere of The Tudors. The ambitious Boleyns will rise even higher in the king's esteem this season. However, if you know your history, you'll know that we will watch their bloody fall from grace too. Henry and Anne's fiery relationship will deteriorate. And influence of Protestantism will continue to surge, while Catholicism in Britain will collapse almost entirely.

This season will mostly likely bring us the demise of the Boleyn family, particularly that of Anne. They were ruthless last season in their jockeying for the king's favor. And this season, with Anne as their trump card, they are going beyond ruthless to morally reprehensible and a little careless.

Tonight, Thomas Boleyn paid a cook in Bishop Fisher's household to poison him and his attendants. Anne's father also threatened to kill the cook's entire family if the cook ratted him out. The poor cook was boiled alive for his murderous attempts (a new punishment invented by the king).

I think we also saw hints of problems in paradise with Henry and Anne. (Just little hints, mind you.) All was well at the end of the episode when they left court for a month. In an effort to quell Anne's jealousy over the queen still making shirts for his majesty, Henry ordered Queen Katharine to leave the palace by the time he returned.

But while Henry still plods along on his journey to divorce the queen, he seems a bit tweaked by Anne now. He looked downright angry with her for yelling at him about the shirts. Indeed, He looks more stressed out this season already. The king is pulled in many different directions and can't trust anyone. Perhaps he can trust Thomas More. But the Chancellor is too much of a moral compass for Henry who is seeking follow his own desires and only needs morality and theology for his justification.

Before I conclude, I'd like to commend Showtime for bringing on Peter O'Toole as Pope Paul III. Already he's more insidious (and therefore more interesting) than Pope Clement last season. He was in one scene tonight and it was the only one I rewound to view again ... just for the sheer pleasure of it. I still can't decide what his best moment was. I think it was when he called Anne Boleyn "the king's whore" and asked "Why doesn't someone just get rid of her?" But I nearly laughed out loud when the Pope blessed himself piously after lambasting his predecessor Clement and mentioning that people took Clement's body out of his grave to stab it and drag it through the streets.

See you next week after The Tudors which airs 9 ET / PT on Showtime.