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I didn’t notice it until it was too late. By the time I got to writing this, it is certainly too late for any readers of this post to do anything. You see, Netflix has removed the series Versailles from their streaming service. Well, they’ve removed the first two seasons after February 9th. As with Reign before, the final season (the 3rd in this case) remains after the first two have been removed.

In another case of the company seeming to respond to the complaints that I’ve made in these pages, Netflix has added a FAQ page explaining why their offerings sometimes disappear. The explanation, be it the full story or not, is that there is a licensing cost to have shows available via streaming, even if nobody watches them. This also helps explain how some shows get scheduled for removal only to get a reprieve before that final date. A surge of interest, especially in a series format, might be enough to reverse the decision.

As I explained before, the fact that only part of series is going away makes Netflix’s notification system do some funky things. About 2/3rds of the way into Season 1, I noticed that the “Last Day to Watch” warning was no longer visible? My hopes rose. Did a surge of new interest get the series renewed for a bit? I only noticed this show for the first time in February and there was no possible way for me to watch two full (10 episodes per) seasons in a mere six or seven days. Such was, however, a false hope. The messaging is only unclear because there are portions of the series not to be removed. Said warning remains if you look for it ion just the right place (as an individual episode begins to play seems reliable).

Speaking of what happens when an individual episode begins to play…

I noticed I was having another problem. Netflix provides a convenient option to skip over the “previously on (such and such)” recap that often precedes a serial episode. That option is there for Versailles and I used it – being, as I said, very short on time. On one of my most recent watchings, I mashed the wrong buttons and ended up having to restart the episode again – this time, the “skip” option having been disabled. I discovered my problem.

In Versailles (and, I’m sure, not exclusively), the little bit before the opening credits roll is not a recap. Rather, it’s a bit of introductory story. With each “skip recap,” I have apparently been passing over about two minutes of fresh story. What is less clear to me is what happens when I watch two* episodes in one night. Streaming shows will typically skip the “previously…” bit as the service well-knows you’ve just watched the previous episode. In the case of Versailles, does it automatically skip the opening two minutes? This is something I’m going to keep my eye on in future and you should too.

So with all that technical stuff aside, is the show worth it? You’d think it must be, given all I’ve put in to trying to get to, at least, the end of that first season. (I watched a couple of Season 2 episodes as well).

In terms of the “fictionalized history” genre, I’d say Versailles is as good as some and better than most. It’s done in the “soap opera” style of the likes of Reign and The Borgias. I’d say it’s less female oriented than the recently-popular historical series (shows I haven’t watched such as The White Queen/White Princess, The Tudors, et al.). Yes its full of (as one review put it) sexytimes and the accompanying machinations, but it is also about the the power that is held by ruler and the personality and will that is required to hold on to and exercise that power. Something for everyone, perhaps?

The show begins in 1667 (well, maybe**), shortly after the death of Louis’ chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin. Louis had been declared to have reached the age of majority at age 13 following the death of this mother and regent, Queen Anne. For another decade, however, Mazarin continued as minster and Louis’ personal control of government was limited. The show starts with Louis determined to regain control and assert his divine right of rule. The key to it, per the show, is his construction of a new seat of power at Versailles, where he can distance himself of the ambitions of the prior generation’s established order.

The series freely mixes fact, fiction, and salacious speculation to create popular drama without flying entirely off of the historical rails. I’ve defended the practice many a time and I feel like this strikes a pretty good balance. Of course, I’m hampered by my shallow understanding of French history at this time. I’m sure that some things I now accept as historical fact are obviously misrepresented. Furthermore, the focus on court life to the exclusion of the rest of the nation and world surely distort the events portrayed.

One review states that Versailles is the most expensive TV series ever made in France. That money is spent on the scenery*** and period costume and truly does impress. I’ll contrast a bit with, say, The Borgias, in that Versailles does not attempt to portray the large-scale battles that feature in its narrative. Season 1 concerns the Battle of Cassel, a victory captained by Louis’ brother Philippe, Duke of Orléans. The show uses a rather coarse grained CGI depiction of the battle… most obvious to my wargaming eye, it reuses the same rendering of the battle lines in two separate engagements. Even in this, it wasn’t terrible. The show has high production values across the board.

The focus on French history and, some would say, an overlooked period of Louis XIV’s reign ties in with the official French sponsorship of the show. It therefore seems strange that the entire production is in English. Indeed, some French cultural critics complained bitterly about this. The decision, apparently, was made so as to create a larger and more lucrative audience for its distribution. The decision makes it easier for me to enjoy the show. I don’t mind subtitles but it is easier without them.

The use of English to substitute for French produces some interesting results. The one major English character through Season 1 is Henrietta of Bedford, daughter of King Charles II (of England) and wife to the Duke of Orléans. She is portrayed by Swiss actress Noémie Schmidt, whose accented English is clearly that of a native speaker of French. Most accents in the French court are using proper (upper class) British English. In another lingual twist, Orléans’ second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, is portrayed by English actress Jessica Clark. Her German-accented French, which the court apparently disdained, is rendered as a lower-class British patois.

So let’s get back to the title of my post and those aforementioned sexytimes.

Amazingly enough, given Mel Brooks’ gratuitous smattering of T&A, the series goes so much further in that regard than the referenced sequence from The History of the World Part I. Louis’ sexual appetites are as vast as his kingdom and his exercise thereof are generously depicted for the viewing audience. Is it all spiced up? Almost certainly. Is it a misrepresentation? Wikipedia lists 16 illegitimate children on top of Louis’ six legitimate heirs, adding there were certainly more beyond those that have been documented. Producing that many children takes some dedication of time and effort.

Continental Europe seems pleased to accept as main-stream entertainment what, in the U.S., would pass for soft-core pornography. This show is extreme even by the standards of the other European productions I’ve recently enjoyed. Featured are explicit (and loud) couplings, full-frontal female nudity, lots-and-lots of butts, and very explicit sexual references. For example, in one scene a mother flips up her daughter’s skirts and “grabs her by the pussy” to punctuate the source of her political power. Although the the show stops short of male full-frontal nudity or portrayals of, um, arousal, Versailles does break some new ground in that it offers us the visual of an extracted uterus (and associated organry), having been removed from a woman during an autopsy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before and, by the Lord’s grace, may never again.

One wonders if this is something middle-class British families (or the French****, for that matter, assuming they can abide the subtitles) would sit and watch with their young teens. I wouldn’t and I don’t, but it does seem that an increasing segment of entertainment is unsuitable to all but the “adult audience.” Heck, maybe the cultural conservatives are right. If there was a directed effort to normalize homosexuality, adultery, drug use, and other “depravities,” it might well look like this.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I do like Versailles. Or did. Maybe I’ll get the chance to finish it one day.

Game pairing: Louis XIV.

– Photo by Joan Costa on Pexels.com

*I’ve disparaged “binge watching” and those who do it, but how is this defined exactly? Many a time, I have watched more than one episode of a show in a night… especially if the episode runs substantially under an hour. Is “binging” simply watching more than one episodes at once? How about number of episodes viewed in a week? Is seven already excessive? How about fourteen? Am I the very person that I belittle?

**The tax reform shown in the first couple of episodes probably took place in the years before 1667. The rumor that Louis’ wife, Queen Maria Theresa, gave birth to a black daughter (which we’ll kindly call suspect) concerns an event that supposedly happened in 1664. Time in the show is squishy. The space between episodes can be minutes or years, and little is done to nail down the historical timeline.

***As an example of the blurring of reality… The drama uses historical locations to film. The problem is that the Versailles as it is preserved today is not necessarily the Versailles as it was constructed in the 17th century. For those who know what they are looking at it must be a glaring, and galling, anachronism.

****For a time, perhaps as I had already begun composing this work, the term “the French” was prohibited by the AP style guide, the phrase apparently being dehumanizing. Rest assured, I am no longer assaulting their human rights. The prohibition has been retracted.