The Bastard Executioner
Season 1 Episode 5: “Piss Profit/Proffidwyr Troeth”
Directed by Kari Skogland
Written by Roberto Patino
Created by Kurt Sutter
Starring Lee Jones, Stephen Moyer, Katey Sagal, Kurt Sutter, Sam Spruell, Darren Evans, Matthew Rhys, Timothy V. Murphy, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Elen Rhys, Danny Sapani
FX
Air Date: Tuesday, October 6th, 2015, 10:00pm

Last week on The Bastard Executioner, while Lady Love (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) is away, Milus Corbett (Stephen Moyer) will play… manipulative violent games. Lady Love is summoned by the king to decide the fate of Ventrishire. However, she is treated poorly, the king only caring of play, so is at the mercy of his right hand. The decision is to split up her land, which she stops by faking a pregnancy. What is this? General Hospital? Meanwhile, Corbett is home trying to sell her. Plus, he imprisons Wilkin Brattle’s (Lee Jones) friends as leverage. That crazy Milus! Wilkin is starting to care for his fake children, but is a bit horrified by his crazy fake wife (Sarah Sweeney). Watch out for her!

Spoilers below.

The Bastard Executioner 1.4 “Piss Profit/Proffidwyr Troeth” review: “Piss Profit” means exactly that – kinda… someone who makes a prophecy from piss. Gaveston (Tom Forbes) pops in on a surprise visit with his man, to prove Love a liar. Lady Love is in deep s*** now.

Brattle is desperate to save his friends from the hole, so Milus tasks him with destroying Baron Pryce’s relic, as a freedom price. He and Toran (Sam Spruell) set fire to the wagon, setting fire to the innocents inside. What is up with Sutter and burning people alive? This results in a deeply satisfying brawl between Brattle and Corbett, that was a long time coming. Corbett is sending Brattle down the morality drain. No wonder his dead wife visions are so creepy and despairing.

Corbett is humiliated throughout this entire episode – literally on his knees and rejected. He beats his servant/lover in frustration, only getting satisfaction at the end by Gaveston’s outrage at Love being declared pregnant (thanks to Wilkin bringing her to Annora for help in a really touching scene).

It’s the end that’s going to drive the latter half of the season. Wilkin and “my” Love finally acknowledge the thing between them (that we all called), with a lingering hug. Lingering long enough for Toran to disapprove and then throw them under the bus with the fake wife. Not good. Gaveston’s incest spies are gross, yet were surprising.

TBX continues to be a mesmerizing hour+ of television. The story is well-crafted and not rushed. I’m unsure where the arc is going, but looking forward to finding out. Moyer and Spencer-Longhurst’s ranges are impressive in their subtleties.

The Bastard Executioner airs Tuesday nights at 10pm ET on FX.

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The Bastard Executioner – Next On: Piss Profit / Proffidwyr Troeth

The King’s right hand visits Ventrishire on official Royal business. Milus enlists Wilkin to go on a covert mission to retrieve a valuable artifact.