The Pillars of the Earth – Come on, Netflix

The Pillars of the Earth ended this week, but if you, like me, watched the series via Netflix Starz Play service, you haven’t seen the finale yet. The series ended like it began, with two episodes shown back to back, but only the penultimate episode is available to stream as of this moment. I’ve been annoyed for most of the weekend, hoping that the episode would show up so that I could review it. However, it has not. That’s not going to stop me, though. I may not have seen the final hour, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about the penultimate installment.

I’m not surprised that Starz chose to air the last two episodes together. The first of the two definitely felt like the beginning of the end. There were actually good things that happened to the protagonists. Jack and Aliena were reunited, Philip reclaimed the title of Prior, Jack was put in charge of the cathedral, and William Hamleigh was rebuffed in his latest attack.

I remember the building of the wall and the ensuing battle as one of my favorite parts of the novel and I think it translated to the screen pretty well. I think it’s a sign of how tough things were in that day that even when there were huge interpersonal issues going on (as there were between Jack and Alfred), some things just always came first. It was nice to see everyone come together to protect the village, even Ellen.

William began to see his power fade, and I can’t wait to see the rest of it torn away from him in the finale. It’s about time. I’m not sure if the fall will be as steep for Waleran, but I certainly hope it is. I’ve had enough of their underhanded scheming work out so well for them. And for crying out loud, can we finish that cathedral already?!?

I’ll be sure to post a review of the finale as soon as Netflix realizes that the episode aired on Friday!

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 29, 2010 @ 16:45 EST5EDT