Mary & George Episode 5 “The Golden City” features the mess of Sir Walter Raleigh (Joseph Mawle), the discord in Mary Villiers’s (Julianne Moore) own household, and even an indecent proposal thrust George’s (Nicholas Galitzine) way. However, the shot that has stuck with me for weeks since I first saw the episode is a fleeting glance back at George’s first love, Jenny (Emily Fairn). Fans of the Starz show will remember that all the way back in Mary & George Episode 1, George was convinced that he ought to be with the family’s maid, Jenny, despite the star-crossed nature of their romance. As George’s star has risen, though, Jenny’s life has only gotten more dire. She’s still the Villiers’ maid. Worse, though, is the fact that she has been horrifically maimed by George’s beloved older brother John (Tom Victor) in one of his fits. George stands by his brother no matter what…that is, until he sees what he did to poor, sweet Jenny’s face.
According to Mary & George creator D.C. Moore, the scene where George sees what’s become of his first love was almost cut entirely from the series.
“There was a bit of pressure to cut it because of time, but I was like, ‘No, we need it because they’re both people,’” Moore said.
Moore had previously explained to Decider that one reason why he was determined to include Sandie (Niamh Algar) in the show was to illustrate what life was like for people of different classes in the Jacobean era. “Not getting too pretentious, [but] I did want some class analysis in this show, to see the different costs for people from different classes,” Moore said.
Part of that initiative was to chart the vast differences between opportunities for George, the handsome son of an upper class family, and Jenny, their maid.
“You know, they were basically teenagers who had rough and tumble together. And they’re not different. They’re both people. They both have agency and rights,” Moore said, “but the nature of their birth means that’s where they are.”
“People who are lower in society are more likely to be killed and more likely to be maimed. They’re more likely to get left by the wayside. So that was partly why I created [the scene].”
The moment not only convinces George that John must be sent away, but it underscores just how much George himself has changed. He might not be physically marked like Jenny is, but he, too, has been drastically transformed from the young man with the gallows eyes we met all the way back in the Mary & George premiere.
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