Isabel Episode 1

Isabel can be found over at DramaFever.

Lots of sumptuous costumes and court intrigue. Be warned, there's also lots of nudity and sexual situations. If that sort of thing bothers you, you may want to skip this show. On the other hand if that's your kind of thing then by all means watch.

We open in the Kingdom of Castile in the year 1474. King Enrique (played by Pablo Derqui) is gasping his last breath. Was this a natural death or did someone help him on his way? We may find out later. Anyway, two men hightail it to deliver the message to Enrique's half sister, Isabel, played by Michelle Jenner. (Here's my one quibble so far about the show. Those are some really fake looking castles people are always riding to or from.) 

So the king didn't leave any written will officially naming his heir. The courtiers are gathering to debate whether to give the crown to Isabel or to Dona Juana, daughter of the late king. Isabel, along with her right hand man Don Gonzalo Chacon (played by Ramon Madaula), seizes the moment - and the crown. She calls her own courtiers and has herself named as Queen of Castile. Her husband Ferdinand (played by Rodolfo Sancho) probably won't be happy about this. He was aiming to be king of both Aragon and Castile. 

(Sorry, I don't know how to make those little wavy lines above some of the letters.)

We now flash back several years earlier to the (fake) castle of Arevalo where Isabel and her brother Alfonso live with their mother, the former Queen Isabella. They live in genteel poverty because their half brother, King Enrique, doesn't pay up like he should. Their mother also has the tendency to see the ghostly specter of one Don Alvaro de Luna, a man she helped get sentenced to death. The children are overseen by Chacon, a former student of de Luna's.

Meanwhile in the (fake) castle at Segovia, the king is trying to create a son but he has a bit of trouble getting the deed done. Is he perhaps gay? Unable to climb aboard the Queen Juana (played by Barbara Lennie) and sail away, they seem to be doing an early version of artificial insemination to get her pregnant.

Poor Juana is awfully horny but her husband is more interested in going off to hunt. Juana must get her jollies by watching another couple get their jollies. (Hence the nudity and sexual situations.) Juana attempts to seduce Beltran, Enrique's favorite, but Beltran rebuffs her. The story with Beltran is he saved the king's life which is why he is such a favorite. And rumor has it he may also be the king's boy toy.

Juan Pacheco (played by Gines Garcia Millan) is practicing his swordfighting with Alfonso Carrillo de Acuna, Archbishop of Toledo (played by Pedro Casablanc). Pacheco is the man who helped clear the way to the throne for Enrique but he's now been pushed aside by Beltran. Pacheco and the archbishop decide to start concentrating on young Alfonso, since they doubt the king will be able to be fruitful and multiply and they sure don't want no stinkin' woman on the throne.

Hail Mary, Queen Juana is pregnant. Worried about her unborn child's claim to the throne, she asks the king to have Isabel and Alfonso brought to court so she can keep an eye on them. Although she's young, Isabel shows she has a spine already. As she's in her bedroom trying to pray, she hears a couple out in the hallway getting it on. (Castilians are loud lovemakers.) She holds her head up and storms past the butt-nekkid couple to go complain to the archbishop. Only she finds the archbishop has some nekkid company of his own.

The next morning the queen, who had planned the loud lovemaking, asks how Isabel slept. Isabel doesn't give in and replies she adjusted to all the noise. Alfonso accidentally knocks a glass of milk over. Juana orders him to clean it up. (I'm kinda backing her here. He made a mess, he should clean it up.) Isabel stops him, loudly reminding everyone they are the children of kings, they don't clean up anything.

Months pass and the queen gives birth to a girl. The king has everyone pledge their loyalty to his daughter. Secretly, Pacheco has written out that he was forced against his will to swear his oath and that the princess is really the daughter of Beltran and therefore not the true heir to the throne. 

Years pass and all Isabel and Alfonso want is to return home and see their mother. Alfonso unwisely goes to the queen to beg for her to intercede on their behalf. Juana asks for a favor in return. Alfonso must give up his Order of Santiago (something very important) to Beltran. 

Speaking of Beltran, the king is marrying his favorite off to the daughter of the Mendoza's, a powerful clan. This doesn't sit well with Pacheco and his group nor the passing of the Order of Santiago. Pacheco is ratted out to the king.

Isabel and Alfonso get to return home only to find their sickly mother doesn't even recognize them. They're not there for long before Enrique orders them back to court. Isabel swears to make pay everyone who's made her family miserable.