Like most series premieres, King & Conqueror opens with an episode that sets the stage for the future and introduces several important characters. A text, near the beginning, informs us that England is emerging from a decade of bloody civil war, and the country's most powerful earldoms - Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria - have come to an agreement: They will crown a new king who happens to be Edward (Eddie Marsan). Who is Edward? He is the son of Lady Emma (Juliet Stevenson) and, at least in Episode 1, he comes across a little like a bumbling fool. Before his coronation, he goes through his speech like a clumsy student trying to memorize the whole syllabus an hour before the exam. When Emma kisses Edward's forehead before leaving the dinner table, he smiles like a baby who has gotten a seal of approval from his mother. He's a mamma's boy, all right, but his mother is a cunning woman. Emma looks like a snake that's always ready to bite her opponents. Her words are like poison — they intensify her viciousness. Stevenson seems to be having great joy playing a villain. The other actors, however, don't appear to be having much fun. They say their lines earnestly and without a trace of dramatic lilt. When an angry William (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) asks one of his men if he made a deal with Guy of Brionne, he looks less like a furious duke and more like someone who just found out their sibling stole their lunch. His wife, Matilda (Clémence Poésy), fares a little better. When she tortures Guy of Brionne, she looks determined and cold. Yet, the scene itself lacks a punch.
Perhaps director Baltasar Kormákur has no idea how to extract good performances. Or maybe he is just too concerned with page-to-screen translation, which, at best, is thoroughly bland and conventional. But this could very well be the "premiere problem": Kormákur is so focused on introductions and setting up conflicts that he takes his eyes off other critical elements. Is that why most scene transitions feel abrupt? He doesn't allow his scenes to breathe. With a whip in hand, he drives them forward, rushing from one moment to the next. What's more, the visuals are dry and functional, as if Kormákur filmed the show on a repurposed set from another production. Episode 1, overall, drifts past like a fleeting shadow. Nothing about it feels striking or urgent. But now that the table is set, I hope the upcoming episodes deliver juicy rewards. No one wants to endure eight dull episodes waiting for the payoff.
Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
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Publisher at Midgard Times