Once Upon a Time...

There are some things in life I just can't help liking. There's just something about them that makes me fall in love, over and again. And one of those things are period dramas. Not all period dramas, I'm a very picky consumer, I don't like period dramas made just for the same of showing some melodramatic women in epoch dresses. I mean, they have their charm, but for me, it's rather limited.

While looking for things to watch, I came across the new series about Catherine of Aragon (The Spanish Princess, I think it's called) and rejected it for that reason. It felt like a series made for the love of cheap court trysts and fancy costumes and I don't like that sort of thing. I want my series to be as historically accurate as possible. If not, I at least want them to have very good acting/plot and there was something that just didn't appeal to me about this series.

But while checking that out, I did find a historical series I'm enjoying quite a bit, called 'Isabel'. It's a Spanish production about Isabel of Castile, Catherine of Aragon's mother. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to Spanish history (yet), so I can't tell you how accurate it is, though from what I've read, it's pretty true to events, which I find really compelling.

I've only just finished season one, so there's a long way to go, but I really like what I'm seeing so far. There are a lot of talented actors on the cast and there are many strong characters. I've always been fascinated by kingmakers. By the men behind the rulers, the one who ruled without actually wearing the crown. Some of them fell, some were replaced by other men just like them, and yet some held on for years. It's incredible and not unlike what's happening in our society today (though much more compelling, I think).

'Isabel' explores that, these strong characters behind the rulers. But it also explores the lives of strong rulers themselves. Isabel of Castile was a remarkable woman, as was her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon.

And something that I adore is the fact that it's in Spanish (duuh), which is just such a beautiful language. I could listen to it for days. Which I sorta do, since the episodes are super-long (seriously, they're over an hour, sometimes they're like an hour and twenty minutes per episode). I feel like I've been at the Spanish court myself for quite a few years now. But it's cool, they don't drag on or anything.

I love that it's really got me hyped about learning some history again. I'm really on the lookout for a good book about that period, which is something I haven't done in a while. I miss following in love with an era, a place, a certain person in time.

Seriously, there's nothing I love more than obsessing about someone who's long dead and I feel a new historic crush coming.

So yeah, if that's your sort of thing, watch it, it's a really fun show. And it's great that it doesn't focus on sex or nudity to sell (not that I mind that sort of thing). Sure, the main actress is really pretty and all, but she's very pious (she wasn't known as her most catholic Majesty for nothing, you know), so there's not much of that happening. And I can count on one hand the sex/nude scenes I've seen. Again, I don't mind, but a lot of popular shows seem to think that's enough to sell a show and it's really not. I've seen it marketed as "the Spanish version of The Tudors" and while it does remind me of it, it's really not the "Spanish version" of anything. It's its own thing.

Thanks for reading,