Since the news that Amazon Prime fumbled the bag to epic proportions by not renewing My Lady Jane for a second season ruined everyone’s lives, critics and fans alike have written many eloquent words about what an insane decision it is. Even George R. R. Martin is baffled. But my mother raised a mouthy daughter, so my sentiments won’t be quite so delicately expressed.
This is just one more example of an infuriating trend that television fans have been upset by for a long time. Namely, shows not being given a fighting chance before they’re put out to pasture. Many people are just now beginning to find this gem of a series, which makes sense because it only came out a few months ago, and that’s an incredibly normal amount of time for something new to start putting down its roots.
It’s especially frustrating because so much of the dedicated and constantly growing fanbase had to discover that My Lady Jane was a shining example of fantasy, magical realism, and shapeshifting romance through word of mouth and social media alone due to subpar marketing. People have to be aware of your show’s main selling points to be enticed and excited to watch. There’s cultivating an air of surprise, and then there’s just plain shooting yourself in the foot. Let me put it another way. If you send out a party invitation but fail to include some of the most important details that people need to know to show up, it’s kind of baffling to be upset if that party isn’t as well attended as you’d like it to be, isn’t it? You’d think, knowing they had something truly wonderful on their hands, that Prime Video would absorb those mistakes, learn from them, and correct course going forward.
But what do I know? I’m just someone who cares about storytelling, not a studio executive who sees every creative endeavor as a potential tax write-off. And it doesn’t go unnoticed for a second that yet one more project made by and for women is seen as disposable instead of something to nurture by the same powers that be who are more than willing to spend a ton of money when it comes to more male-dominated pursuits, which is infuriating because there is so much about this show that’s perfect for women. Most notably, the women themselves.
One of the things My Lady Jane does well — and there are many — is ask the important questions. The overall premise of the series, as described in the prologue, is “What if history were different?” However, there are also implied questions laced throughout the story. Questions like, “Aren’t anachronistic details so much fun when they’re done well?” and “Why isn’t every man a dashing, shapeshifting horse?” But my favorite might be, “What would women do without our sisters?” There has been so much fan love for Jane and Guildford, and there should be because they’re perfect, but I loved the relationships between Jane and all her sisters, biological and otherwise, just as much. I’m one of three sisters, so I loved the Grey girls instantly and all the ways Jane, Katherine, and Margaret have to band together against their sharp and sometimes caustic mother, Frances (especially when dodging unwanted husbands).
Despite doing everything she can think of to get out of her wedding, there’s one thing that finally makes Jane acquiesce to marrying Guildford in the end: her mother’s threat that if she doesn’t, Katherine will be married off to the ancient and disgusting Duke of Leicester. Now, granted, that works out very well for Jane, but she didn’t know yet that Guildford is her #1 Horse Prince Soulmate, so I think it still counts as a sacrifice. When Frances forces Katharine to marry Leicester for the money anyway, little Margaret, not to be outdone, is there to take matters into her own hands and rescue her sister from an old lecher by quietly and efficiently suffocating him to death with a pear. Just like any good sister would!
Gross men die (thankfully), but corrupt and dangerous political systems aren’t easy to snuff out, so things get real when Lady Jane becomes Queen Jane. With everything on the line, it’s her sisters that Jane trusts to secretly pick locks and shuffle through papers to obtain the physical proof that Mary and Lord Seymour are responsible for Edward’s presumed demise. But it’s not all so serious — this is female fantasy, after all. The moment Jane, Katherine, and Margaret all huddle together at Jane’s golden-hued Coronation Ball and squeal in excitement is one of my favorite little moments of the season. Who else would you want to giggle with about all of the fun frills of royalty if not your sisters?
Jane also has her maid, Susannah, who is also her best friend. Susannah might not be Jane’s sister in name, but she’s a sister in the way that the women you can always count on to be in your corner are your sisters. From the very first episode, they go to bat for each other. Jane is desperate to remain a single, independent woman, and Susannah puts herself at enormous risk by leaving home with her, being outed as an Ethian in the process when she has to transform into her animal form (a hawk!) to avoid arrest.
Shortly afterward, when Susannah is almost captured by authorities rounding up Ethians in a tavern, instead of fleeing with Guildford, Jane risks her own life to allow Susannah to escape. I like to think of myself as a girl’s girl, but that’s a true blue friend right there. If that handsome devil wrapped his arms around me and asked me to run away with him into the night, you’d never see me again. Jane also goes barreling through the dark woods alone at night when she thinks Susannah is in trouble, and in turn, Susannah, in hawk form, pecks out the eyes of the man tasked with beheading Jane. Who among us wouldn’t do that for our bestie? Classic girlhood. Jane even has Princess Elizabeth in her corner! Like the true Queen she’s destined to be, Bess comes to Jane’s defense at her trial even though it’s dangerous to speak out.
All of this is in contrast to Mary, who is a woman alone. Her anger at being passed over for the throne just because she’s female is understandable, and she would almost be sympathetic if she weren’t, you know…a psychotic bigot who’s trying to kill people. Kate O’Flynn’s performance is a delight to watch, and we love to hate her, but that’s not the supportive girly-pop vibe My Lady Jane is going for here, Mary! To her, relationships are only valuable if she can get the benefits she wants from them, Bess included and sisterhood be damned. The danger of going down that path is wisely depicted through the youngest girl in the show.
Margaret gets sucked into Mary’s orbit because she’s angry at her mother, and the small bit of power she gains over Francis by aligning herself with Mary has obvious appeal to someone so young and naive. But even a ten-year-old can quickly recognize that what she has with her sisters can’t be replicated with just anyone, and she realizes how empty she feels without them. The scene in the last episode of the season where Margaret visits Jane in jail to apologize and try to help her in what little way she can by sharing Mary’s plan has made me tear up every time I’ve watched it. Regret and forgiveness and love laid bare between them? It’s beautiful. And when both Jane and Guildford escape execution and ride off into the night, nobody’s smile is bigger than Margaret’s.
All of these women still have so much more to do! And My Lady Jane boasts incredible female talent both in front of and behind the camera who would bring it to life perfectly. Their stories and relationships with each other would make for wonderful material to be explored in a second season.
My Lady Jane fans are putting up a vigorous and passionate fight — also led by women — to bring it back in the same way fans of Sanditon and Lucifer fought to save their beloved shows, with an organized campaign and a petition that has already garnered over 90,000 signatures and counting and a GoFundMe that’s raised over $5,600 for things like toy horse shenanigans and singing telegrams (also horse themed, obvs)! Sadly, nobody could help the actual Jane Grey escape her unjust end, but this fictional Jane has an army of passionate women fighting for her.
My Lady Jane is on Amazon Prime now. Watch it, and then watch it again.