‘My Lady Jane’ Recap: ‘Wild Thing’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jordan Peters and Tallulah Greive as King Edward VI and Petunia in Episode 102 of ‘My Lady Jane’ – ‘Wild Thing’. (Photo Courtesy of Jonathan Prime/Prime Video.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘My Lady Jane’. To revisit the series premiere, click here.
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One particular reason that arranged marriages have gone the way of the dodo, is the sheer fact that we’ve learned… they don’t work. For love isn’t something that can be forged out of the blue between two strangers. We now know it takes chemistry to start the process to find a connection, and actual dating and time spent together to forge it, and to see if ideologies align and if that annoying yet wondrous ability that couples harbor, to work seamlessly together, can exist. Not to mention, they are simply morally wrong, because love is love and no one should be forced to marry anyone their heart doesn’t call out to loudly.

But despite knowing this, such matters still exist and were once commonplace back in the day, and well… in order to better understand the horrors of such matters, our favorite ‘What if?’ series decided to explore not only the gross nature of arranged marriage, but what kinds of surprises could come forth from a learning standpoint when one doesn’t know a thing about their new partner. Which allowed for the next episode of My Lady Jane on Prime Video to offer up one wild tale in ‘Wild Thing’. Which picked up shortly after Jane collapsed at her wedding, with an ‘illness,’ to get out of tying the knot with Sir Guildford Dudley. But once she learned she would go through hell to prove she was sick, she stuck with the wedding and that exploration got underway.

In a normal manner at first, since despite the deep attraction these two harbored for one another, they still were quite trepidatious in committing to matters of the heart. Because they both knew, they knew little of the other. It was just attraction and time would tell if this could work, because desire can fade. But also, because Guildford was harboring quite the stunning secret. One that Jane worked hard to uncover and rightfully so. For she was his wife, and should know the truth, but she struggled with the fact that Guildford, was an Ethian. A horse to be precise, one that could not change into human form until the night befell the land and well, that was a fine way to explore the core ugliness of arranged marriage with quite the ‘What if?’ twist. Since none of us have ever had to think about a shapeshifting partner.

But all surprise aside and all fun aside, it was good to learn that part of the arrangement was to use her big brain to cure Guildford, and that her freedom from marriage would follow said cure. Since that gave Jane some agency and purpose and while this alone could have carried the episode, there were more juicy plot points to enjoy. Since King Edward VI and his own Ethian, Petunia, went on a search to uncover just who was poisoning him. Since he had to know who was plotting against the crown and well, Mary and Seymour turned out to be the culprits. Since they met often to discuss his end and to throw anyone off of their trail, they had Lord Dudley arrested for the crime of regicide, which he did not commit. Giving them license to harm once again.

All of which sets the stage for an ugly fight for the crown, one that could right history as we knew it, or find unique ways to further change it. But while we wait, we can celebrate one creative tale. One that reminded us of why it’s okay to leave certain traditions in the past, since arranged marriage and the equally strange act of a bedding ceremony were just… gross, yet still managed to wow us with unique plotlines and a surprisingly charged bit of chemistry between Guildford and Jane. Since they do indeed harbor something that might go somewhere, on their own terms of course, and well, it will be interesting to see if Jane can cure her temporary hubby and whether or not the king can escape murder as season one of this unique show continues along. Until next time.

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