Mary & George – Season 1 Episode 4 “The Wolf and the Lamb” Recap & Review

The Wolf and the Lamb

Episode 4 of Mary & George begins with George having to field King James’ mood swings, from biting him to speaking in riddles. John’s affliction gets worse as he almost drowns while trying to swim to France.

James plans to go to Scotland with George but instead of making Edward the keeper of the seal, he appoints Francis Bacon. A desperate Francis teams up with Mary to help him rise. But first, she tries to get her hands on his daughter, Frances for John. While Lady Hatton is away, Mary, Sandie and Edward kidnap Frances. Francis Bacon catches them and as the proxy ruler, gives Mary and Lady Hatton joint custody of Frances till James returns.

At Edinburgh, James pushes George away and then gets jealous when he befriends, Somerset’s cousin, Peter Carr. George’s older brother, Kit joins them but is wary of everyone. George hooks up with Peter which leads to James giving him the silent treatment.

In one of John’s bursts, he stabs a maid, Jenny in the eye. Mary overhears Lady Hatton and Francis plotting about it as it seems they are having an affair.

James continues with his mood swings and almost drowns. He kicks out George who decides to party with Peter. Kit continues to lurk in the back but stays away from Peter. Peter takes George to a castle where James had been kidnapped as a kid. It had all been because of his first love, Lennox who had James in his thrall. With the castle being abandoned, it is all a ruse to kill George to avenge Robert. However, Kit shows up and point-blank shoots Peter in the face.

It breaks James out of his reverie and he apologises to George for pushing him away. He reminisces about Lennox who taught him everything and promises to teach George. They unearth Lennox’s heart from an unmarked grave and give him a proper burial – the whole purpose of this trip.

Francis shows up at their camp as they head home. George greets him and having been looped in by Mary, he guesses that Francis hopes to tell his version of John’s tale to James. However, Mary has one-upped him and already won James’ approval. Kit is made an Earl for saving George and John marries Francis at the made of Mary & George Episode 4.

The Episode Review

Mary & George Episode 4 switches up the structure, going constantly back and forth between George and Mary’s situations which is a little different from the previous episodes. Previously, it puts out all the elements of one storyline before moving on to the next subplot and sometimes tying the two together as well. However, in this one, it is a change of pace which is actually pretty welcome as it makes the show unpredictable in a good way.

And well, with every passing minute, the Villiers don’t fail to surprise us. And it is because they are actually just amateurs which makes them relatable. They are not perfect Machiavellian villains who are untouchable. They make mistakes, they fumble, which is why there is a sense of danger that keeps the show exciting.