'The Bastard Executioner' Recap: The Truth Is Out There
When Yahoo TV talked to Stephen Moyer for a postmortem of The Bastard Executioner’s premiere, he predicted that viewers would be surprised by what creator Kurt Sutter had in store as the series went deeper into its first season: “Their jaw is gonna be on the floor by episode six or seven,” he said. He wasn’t lying.
Episode 7, “Behold the Lamb / Gweled yr Oen” written by Carly Wray and Sutter and directed by Ashley Way, had the most unexpected twist yet: Wilkin revealed his true identity to Lady Love (minus Milus’s connection), and together they allowed an innocent man to sacrifice his life. Also, Wilkin slept with Jessamy because he never expected to see her again, and Milus revealed his backstory before brutally murdering Wilkin’s friend Calo, whom he forced to refer to him as “Little Lamby.” Let’s break it down.
Wilkin’s truth is out there: Was anyone expecting this to happen in episode 7 of 10? It’s no small feat orchestrating that kind of game-changer in 60 minutes (90, with commercials). But there was a perfect storm:
Locke, continuing to suck
1. Wilkin saw that being under Milus’s thumb was crushing Toran’s spirit, even before they went on a raid of a nomad village with Locke, Denley, and Leon. Locke framed the nomads to look like rebels so they could steal their prized possessions. When the men of the village returned, Toran and Milus had to become the guys they themselves hate.
Through. The. Head.
2. Toran and Milus let one nomad escape, and that guy ultimately killed Denley with a knife through his handsome head. They knew Milus would never believe that they hadn’t murdered Denley, and they were right. Milus took swift revenge, brutally killing Calo in retaliation (more on that later). So not only had Toran and Milus lost a friend for something that was out of their control — which could always happen again — another innocent man would be blamed for it.
RIP, Calo
3. Berwyn, the man who agreed to confess to killing Pryce’s wife, Lady Trula, had made that deal because Pryce had offered to pay off all his considerable debts and Milus promised to secure a life for his wife and the children he hadn’t already lost to starvation. Wilkin was being asked to kill this innocent man in the worst way possible — two horses running in opposite directions, taking his limbs with them. Buying Berwyn’s life to further his own agenda is the sickest thing Milus has done so far and proves he’s willing to exploit any weakness in the name of the shire.
RIP, Berwyn
4. Everyone — from Toran to Milus — seemed to see that Lady Love was Wilkin’s weakness, which Wilkin had to know wasn’t good for him or her. He thought he had to keep pushing her away, which he did successfully after she’d spoken with Berwyn and confirmed the man had never met the Wolf but would stick to his story. Why would a man lie knowing that it condemns him to a fate of death? Because he’s afraid of the truth and the responsibility, Wilkin told her. But isn’t the weight of the untruth a greater burden? It’s a weight that some shoulders bear well, even feel uneven without, he said.
5. Even after all they’d been through and lost, Toran was still a good friend to Wilkin, someone who, like Lady Love, knew he was a decent soul even when Wilkin had lied to him. Wilkin wished he could be a better friend to Toran.
6. Lucca told Wilkin he wanted to be just like him, insisting he help prepare for Berwyn’s execution. But the life of an executioner, let alone one who’d have to do Milus’s bidding, wasn’t something Wilkin wanted for Lucca. When he saw Lucca walk off with Toran, he wished he could make both their lives better.
Then it hit him: Wilkin was ready to take responsibility for the lie he’d told and killing Lady Trula, and in doing so, would save himself and Love from executing an innocent man, get the chance to finish his revenge mission before he was sentenced to death, and have a moment to ask Love to free Toran and their innocent friends from their servitude.
What’s interesting is that while Wilkin told Lady Love about his history with Ventris, he never named Milus. Presumably that was because he didn’t want to risk Milus inflicting more pain on anyone. But isn’t Love smart enough to piece it all together? She’d had the scribe search all the records for Berwyn and uncovered the promises made by Pryce and Milus. She knows that Wilkin never would’ve attacked innocent Lady Trula’s carriage had he known she was inside, so it was an order given to him. After Pryce’s post-concert sharing of his “revelation” that God wanted them to come together to become “stronger, sounder, and more pious” than they were individually — and her conversation with Milus that involved her slapping him — she’s very aware that Milus and Pryce share the hope that she’ll agree to marry Pryce to save Ventrishire. If she knows her husband’s history, she would assume that Milus was by Ventris’s side when Ventris sent Wilkin to slaughter years ago, which means Milus must have recognized Wilkin. She should be asking why Milus went along with the lie and figuring out that a man who uses people would have blackmailed Wilkin. And let’s not forget that Isabel knows the “giggle wenches” (a.k.a. the twins who serve Milus) had sent Wilkin to Lady Love’s chamber the night Calo was killed. Love must know it all leads back to Milus, even though she hasn’t named him either.
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Also noteworthy is that, in this trying time, we never saw Wilkin have a vision of Petra. Is that because his vision of her in a grave looking like a burnt Lady Pryce was him deciding he’s no longer worthy of her, or because Annora had her hands full elsewhere? Does that mean Wilkin sacrificing himself for his friends and not having that child with Lady Love was the path Annora wanted Wilkin on? Or was Wilkin’s destiny always to be stopped by Lady Love, who broke up his attempt to kill Leon and Locke in the torture chamber (otherwise known as his final task)? She told Locke and Leon to never speak of it, but Leon heard Toran address Wilkin by his real name. He’s going to mention this to Milus, right? What will Milus’s next move be?
In a way, Love is using Wilkin as Milus does, though they’re at least on the same side and Wilkin has all bit professed his love to her (after he confessed, he’d said the time with her was worth the punishment he’d receive, then kissed her). Both Milus and Love need him to be Maddox now. She knows the burden of the lie on his soul because it’s like her own (was that confirming to him that she’s lying about the pregnancy?). As she told him, she’s not sure whether what she feels for him is God’s will or the work of a clever demon, but either way, it’s what she’s been waiting for: a relationship based on love and not a sense of duty. She needs him to help find the truth of who she is (the show’s most cunning rebel?) — and, later, the truth of how hot kissing again would be.
So for now, they’ll open their minds, close their hearts, and play the game: she let Baron Pryce escort her to the execution (romantic!), and Wilkin gave the signal to tear the poor Berwyn apart. They’ll let Milus think they’re both in line while working together against him. Does this mean Love will tell Wilkin the truth about her funding the Wolf’s rebellion and being his half-sister? Don’t forget, Wilkin told her he was one of those hooded bandits, and she knows the Wolf trusts the honorable man who killed Ventris. He’s proven he’s on her side.
But what about Jessamy? Almost as surprising as Wilkin coming clean to Love was Wilkin having sex with Jessamy. He did it because he wanted to give her the “thank you” she deserved for saving him and the gentle intimacy she hadn’t had in years before he died. He also, no doubt, wanted to exhaust her so she wouldn’t be out thwarting him as he tried to execute his final revenge. Was there a tiny part of you that wondered, as he was shirtless on top of Jessamy, if he was distracting her so he could kill her? Of course he wouldn’t do that, but think about it: Lucca wouldn’t be left alone with her then when he was gone. Toran would take care of the boy. Wilkin must’ve believed that with “Maddy” dead for good, Jessamy would’ve moved on and stopped trying to keep that abusive relationship alive for herself and Lucca.
Now the question is, will Wilkin have to continue sleeping with Jessamy? Taking away that affection would be cruel after he’s given her a taste. We’ve seen how creative she can be when fighting for their life together. A jilted or jealous Jessamy would be a loose cannon.
Before we move on from the Wilkin-Lady Love-Jessamy triangle, is anyone else getting worried about Isabel? She knows all of Love’s secrets, and if Milus (or Jessamy) can’t hurt Love without causing an incident, isn’t Isabel next in line? Let’s hope her “that will happen when pigs learn to dance” line wasn’t foreshadowing an awful boar “accident.”
Milus’s backstory is tragic and twisted: As previously mentioned, Milus had the giggle wenches summon Wilkin to Love’s bed chamber knowing he would figure out it was a diversion and rush back to check on Lucca and Jessamy first. That left Ash and Calo unattended. Calo got up in the middle of the night to take a leak and a hooded Milus cold-cocked him with a hot iron. Milus took the time to reveal why that was his weapon of choice: when he was nine or 10, a cleric that ran the foundling home where abandoned Milus lived would teach them piety and patience with a hot iron. It was cruel and effective, Milus said, and at night, the cleric would visit the boys as they slept. He had 20 or more to choose from, but Milus was his favorite because he was “pretty and firm.” And as the cleric sodomized Milus, he’d call Milus his “Little Lamby” so sweetly. Milus made Calo speak the horrifying endearment as he beat him to death. Milus put the iron in the hand of the man who was meant to watch Calo and Ash and skulked away. Wilkin heard Ash scream and knew what had happened.
Father Ruskin is on to Archdeacon Robinus, who’s on to Annora: The Archdeacon had all the men in servitude at the castle brought in to the chapel and stripped of their shirts so he could see if they bore the mark of the Seraphim. When Father Ruskin tried to gain entrance, Robinus’s muscle, Absolon, threatened his life. You do not threaten a character played by Timothy V. Murphy, sir.
Father Ruskin went to Berber the Moor, who told him what had happened and asked him to warn Annora. We assume they didn’t know that the scribe was listening and would go straight to the Archdeacon and share the information in the hope of improving his own situation. When Father Ruskin went to see Annora, she handed him The Book of the Nazarene, which she says is the Latin translation of the text on the Seraphim’s bodies. This is where those of us who need the religion stuff spelled out get a bit lost.
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While he read in the cave, she went out to see the Dark Mute, who was dressed like a knight in chainmail. They knew they were being watched, so what’s the plan? If you have a guess, share it.
We leave you with one final question: Despite the fact that you were probably talking to your TV begging Sutter not to show Berwyn’s limbs being ripped from his body, how well done was that sequence?
The Bastard Executioner airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
