Will Kurt Sutter Go Medieval on the Church in ‘The Bastard Executioner’?

Will Kurt Sutter Go Medieval on the Church in ‘The Bastard Executioner’? May 22, 2015

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Today, FX Network announced it has ordered a 10-episode first season for “The Bastard Executioner,” created by Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy,” “The Shield”).

Set during the reign of Britain’s King Edward I (1239-1307), the drama stars Australian newcomer Lee Jones as Wilkin Brattle, a warrior knight whose combat experiences have damaged him spiritually and psychologically, who decides to lay down his sword forever. But, when violence returns to his life, he’s forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all.

The pilot recently completed filming in Wales, where production will resume this summer before a fall premiere on FX.

The cast also includes Sutter’s wife (and “Sons” star) Katey Sagal, Stephen Moyer (“True Blood”), Flora Spencer-Longhurst (“Unforgiven”), Sutter himself (he also had a regular role on “Sons of Anarchy,” which he created), Darren Evans (“Galavant”) and guest star Matthew Rhys (FX’s “The Americans”).

As described by Fox Television Group Chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman (whose Fox 21 TV Studios is producing with FX Productions), “‘The Bastard Executioner,’ written by Kurt and directed by the talented Paris Barclay, is dangerous, brilliant, emotional and undeniable. This is the perfect follow-up for ‘Sons’ and another huge event series for FX from Fox 21TVS and FXP. Viewers are in for a wild and spellbinding ride.”

Sutter said: “I love history. I love theology. I love blood. It’s been very satisfying weaving fact and fiction to create a new mythology that combines all these elements. And with this extraordinary cast — Stephen Moyer, Katey Sagal and newcomer Lee Jones — this world explodes on screen. I love working with FX and Fox21TVS. They’ve been my family for 15 years. They not only tolerate me, they embrace my extremely disturbing storytelling sensibilities.”

Anyone who saw the recently ended outlaw-biker drama “Sons of Anarchy” — especially its staggeringly brutal last couple of seasons — knows Sutter is not exaggerating. And since the Catholic Church was inextricably woven with every facet of British and European society in the Middle Ages, it seems nearly impossible that it won’t play a huge part in “The Bastard Executioner.”

As someone who’s watched Sutter’s work since he was a writer on “The Shield,” and spent a lot of time with him and on the “Sons” set, I don’t know how that’s going to work out.

On “Sons,” one storyline featured a shooting at a Catholic elementary school. When research revealed that this sort of thing didn’t actually happen in real life in America, I got on the phone to ask Sutter about why he made this decision (keeping in mind that Catholic imagery was sprinkled around “Sons” — and Sutter’s character, jailed biker Otto Delaney, killed a nurse by stabbing her with a crucifix in 2014).

Here’s his reply:

I went to parochial schools. I grew up and went to all Catholic schools. That’s my experience, so why not put my experience in there? I just mean in terms of how I was raised and the schools I went to.

I felt like, that was my experience, so I’m going to put that in there. So it was a little bit different. I didn’t feel like we were making a statement about the education system. Obviously, I’m making a statement about the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, blah, blah, blah, but I feel like, yes, there’s definitely some religious symbolism that I got to play with in there, that I felt, thematically … it has a bigger thematic impact than it did a political impact, which I think was good.

And there’s this Twitter exchange, regarding Sagal’s character, biker matriarch Gemma:

 

But, all attitudes about faith, pro or con, are rooted somewhere. No one knows another’s heart, but every now and then, you get a clue.

In the summer of 2014, I sat down with Sutter at a press event, and we talked about how his experience of growing up without a father affected his work on “Sons” and elsewhere. The subject of “The Bastard Executioner” came up, and what it had in common with “Sons”:

I’m fascinated and haunted a little bit by some of those familial themes that I’ve got to play with in “Sons.” Although “The Bastard Executioner” is a very different show–not just in obviously [the time] period, but it’s a different kind of hero–but I guess similar themes in that, it’s men really questioning destiny. That’s a big one for me, and [men] trying to do the right thing, and sometimes making good choices, sometimes making bad choices.

But when you’re in a position of influence and power, it’s not like making a wrong turn. They can impact the lives of a lot of people.

Specifically on his own experiences, he said:

I was raised by all women. I have two older sisters; I have no brothers. I didn’t really have a relationship with my dad, so all those things are things I crave and that fascinate me. So, when you have it, you take it for granted to a certain extent, and it’s not necessarily something that influences you, because it’s part of [you]. But when you don’t have it, and you fantasize it or you admire it, you seek it out. It tends to inspire you creatively a lot more.

Yeah, it’s all that this show is about, sort of disenfranchised brothers finding each other, which is definitely something I’m drawn to.

So, there you have it. I’m reluctant to assume ahead of time what Sutter will do — a good writer can always surprise you — but right now, I’d be shocked to see the Church or any of its representatives being shown in a positive light or as a positive influence.

Sadly, I expect what we usually get, an unbroken litany of corruption, perversity and oppression, with no effort at balance, perspective or understanding, and little quarter given to the complexities of the human beings involved.

Again, I could be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. The story of the Church in the Middle Ages is a vast tapestry of ideas, events and personalities. Within its walls, sublime art and thought came to life, and heroic acts of charity were performed. There were also examples of all the worst excesses of human behavior. The Church is meant for all of mankind, and all that is mankind is part of Her.

But in a 21st Century world that still lives off the intellectual and moral capital of Christendom, but insists upon thinking it just all materialized out of thin air, this sort of nuance is usually lost in a self-righteous campaign of derision and condemnation.

Telling the whole story of Catholicism in the mainstream media may require a bravery and an intellectual honesty that modern sensibilities and fashion won’t allow.

But, I will withhold any judgment until I get to see something substantial. In the meantime, click here to see photos and hear news from production on the pilot.

And there is a little glimmer of hope (there are more videos at FX Networks’ YouTube Channel):

Image: Lee Jones, Courtesy FX


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