Versailles (2008)

"Versailles" is the lavish period drama that traded stuffy history-lesson energy for palace intrigue. It's built around court seduction and the tangled ambitions surrounding the young Louis XIV. Sex and power are inseparable at this court. The series leans into that with real appetite. Daphne Patakia brings a raw physicality to her scenes. Amira Casar adds a seasoned, seductive edge to the palace scheming. Anna Brewster and Elisa Lasowski round out the cast with their own turns. They appear in the show's tangle of affairs and betrayals. Between them, the site hosts 12 scenes pulled from the series. These range from nude scenes to full-on sex scenes staged among gilded corridors. It's costume drama with its corset laces loosened. This ensemble is a big reason why.