Anyone who thinks Taylor Sheridan's portrayal of the draconian behaviour of the "sisters of mercy" is over-the-top has clearly never attended a convent school.
I was at convent school for a year in 1964/5 courtesy of my Roman Catholic grandmother and while, granted, the education I received did set me up for a scholarship at a good grammar school and, for the most part, the nuns were kind and considerate, there was one sister who was borderline psychotic. She was very fond of battering ten-year olds across the back of the hands with a metal edged ruler and on one occasion, my parent were forced to "have a word" because they felt they were paying fees for education, not for torture.
My wife, too, was convent-educated and more than once ran away from the school when she was denied a drink of water by the "well-meaning" nuns.
So I would have no problem with Sheridan's portrayal of nuns, especially in view of what's come to light around how the Catholic church treated unwed mothers in Ireland as recently as the 1950s.
That aside, 1923 continues to be a riveting watch, almost - but not quite - as good as 1883. But then, I'm only on episode 5, so there's every opportunity for Sheridan to knock it out of the park in the last few episodes and elevate my score of 9 to 10.
I was at convent school for a year in 1964/5 courtesy of my Roman Catholic grandmother and while, granted, the education I received did set me up for a scholarship at a good grammar school and, for the most part, the nuns were kind and considerate, there was one sister who was borderline psychotic. She was very fond of battering ten-year olds across the back of the hands with a metal edged ruler and on one occasion, my parent were forced to "have a word" because they felt they were paying fees for education, not for torture.
My wife, too, was convent-educated and more than once ran away from the school when she was denied a drink of water by the "well-meaning" nuns.
So I would have no problem with Sheridan's portrayal of nuns, especially in view of what's come to light around how the Catholic church treated unwed mothers in Ireland as recently as the 1950s.
That aside, 1923 continues to be a riveting watch, almost - but not quite - as good as 1883. But then, I'm only on episode 5, so there's every opportunity for Sheridan to knock it out of the park in the last few episodes and elevate my score of 9 to 10.