*SPOILER ALERT*
This article contains detailed descriptions of what happened in the Easter Rising.
IT ALL KICKED off in last night’s second episode of RTÉ’s Easter Rising drama Rebellion.
By ‘it’, we are of course talking about the rebellion itself with the rebels turning Dublin into a city of chaos and confusion.
What can you do for your country? Well, Elizabeth (Charlie Murphy) made a pretty big sacrifice by sacking off her Easter Monday wedding to instead go and fight for the republic.
She joined a rather raggle-taggle band of volunteers who marched up to the gates of Dublin Castle and demanded to be let in. When the constabulary man repeatedly refused, he was shot.
Much to the displeasure of some of her comrades, Elizabeth chose to treat the dying policeman rather than fight.
After the rebels begin to get routed by the British troops, Elizabeth heads for a retreat led by Jimmy (Brian Gleeson). It seems they hadn’t signed up for the glorious martyrdom being espoused by their superiors.
They nearly got it though after bumping into Jimmy’s brother, the British soldier fresh back from the fields of France. Fortunately, he lets them live.
Across the Liffey, Padraig Pearse (Marcus Lamb) and James Connolly (Brian McCardie) were busy directing the volunteers around the at the GPO, getting ready to read out their newly printed proclamation.
It appears, however, that Pearse’s socialist republic doesn’t exactly extend to parity among the sexes, with Frances (Ruth Bradley) ordered down to “the kitchen or the medical” with the rest of the Cumann na mBan volunteers.
The reaction to this portrayal wasn’t to everybody’s liking.
Frances later dons a Paddy cap and hides her long hair to look like one of the fellas and keep fighting. She even appears to be a more committed rebel than most, threatening to shoot Dublin citizens who are looting.
“We need to show them we’re serious,” she ominously states.
Meanwhile, May (Sarah Greene) is still sleeping with the enemy and some afternoon delight with her aristocratic lover meant the pair missed the start of the rising.
The worst part is that they then have to do a walk of shame through a Dublin convulsed by insurrection and rumours of German invasion.
And if you thought that was an inconvenience, it turns out she’s also pregnant. Mother of divine jaysus.
So, being the good adulterous English gentleman that he is, Charles (Tom Turner) sends her out to his Dalkey country house for safety. The bad news? His wife is out there having returned early from a trip. Awkward.
So that’s two episodes of five down. After last week’s cautious welcome to RTÉ’s €6 million production, there were a few more people online giving out after this latest episode.
Many were choosing to take issue with historical accuracy of this self-proclaimed fictional programme.
Irishmen and Irishwomen, you can never please them.
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