YMMV / Becoming Elizabeth

• Alas, Poor Villain: Edward Seymour, who starts the series at least appearing as a villain, goes to his death as the only major player who cared about England above all.
• Ensemble Dark Horse
  • Romola Garai as Princess Mary. Normally, Mary is portrayed as pitiable or evil or some combination of the two. Here, Mary is a complex, sometimes wise, sometimes stubborn, lonely woman who develops a romantic friendship with Sir Pedro, and has caused more than one viewer to declare that the show should be called "Becoming Mary." This is made more poignant given her storyline is basically a Start of Darkness one.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Despite Thomas/Elizabeth getting far more screen time and at least by many being perceived as the show's main romance, fans far preferred Elizabeth/Robert, as Robert's unrequited love for Elizabeth and age-appropriateness was far more appealing to many.
• Jerkass Woobie
  • King Edward. He's hot-tempered, petulant, and a religious bigot. He's also a child, one who never knew his mother, barely knew his father, and is manipulated by his uncles. Placed in a role way beyond his years, we are reminded that Edward is ultimately still a child when he tearfully cradles his dead pet, or is brought to sobs when trying to reconcile with his sister.
  • Princess Elizabeth definitely has a mean streak, setting Jane up for public humiliation in Episode 2. She also has been raised to feel ashamed of her mother, who was executed when she was two, hardly knew her father, and is groomed by her predatory step-father.
  • Princess Mary. Discriminated against for being part of a Catholic minority at court, Mary is isolated from her beloved brother and sister, and treated to a viciously anti-Catholic masque. At the start of the series, all she wants is peace between her and her family. But she's not without her mean side, making some very unkind remarks to Elizabeth as time goes on.
• Moral Event Horizon: Edward and John Dudley cross it when they burn a priest at the stake for refusing to convert to Protestantism.
• No Yay: After Season 1, Episode 2 aired there was a backlash over the perception that Elizabeth and Thomas's relationship was being portrayed not as predatory but as a doomed romance. Claire Ridgeway, the author of several works of popular Tudor history and the owner of The Anne Boleyn Files website, was particularly vocal in her criticism. Afterwards, actor Tom Cullen and series creator Anya Reiss reached out to Ridgeway and both claimed that the show's intent was not to portray the relationship as a romantic one, but rather show that Elizabeth may have seen it that way in the moment. Cullen, especially, made it clear that he sees his character as a predator. Since in real life, Thomas Seymour's behavior toward Elizabeth was seen as inappropriate, and yet people took him seriously as a suitor for Elizabeth not long after, the issue is somewhat historically muddy.
• Protagonist Title Fallacy: Elizabeth does get a lot of screen time, but so do Mary, Edward VI and Edward Seymour, all who are far more interesting characters.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • Despite far more historically accurate costumes, the tonal similarities with The Tudors have inspired some fans to call the show a fan fiction sixth season of The Tudors.
  • The show attracts a similar audience to another Starz show, The White Queen with the added similarity of giving much-maligned historical figures a rare-for-television Historical Hero Upgrade, with Mary Tudor and Richard III.
• Tearjerker
  • "Duke Somerset. You have no enemies in this crowd today." Truth in Television since Somerset's heroism is debatable, but he was very popular among the common people and the crowd at his execution was firmly on his side and there was hope for a pardon until the last moment.
  • Edward Seymour apologizing to Elizabeth for how she was treated by Thomas.
• The Woobie
  • Jane Grey. The socially awkward Jane is the pawn of everyone around her. She is humiliated in front of her crush who is the king, loves Catherine and Thomas far more than they care for her, and history tells us that none of this will end well for her.
• Vanilla Protagonist: One reason for the series's failure to gain an audience was that the titular character, Elizabeth I, was one of the least interesting in the cast despite the historic Elizabeth being one of the most fascinating women in history. The show's problematic take on Elizabeth's relationship with her stepfather made her look shallow and the writing didn't really nail her character. Supporting characters like Mary, Edward VI and Edward Seymour were far more interesting and well-written, despite getting less screen time. Some critics speculated had the show been titled something less focused on Elizabeth, it might have survived.