Hey, Royals! It’s time to discuss another episode of Reign. There were quite a few twists and turns that left me scratching my head as well as clutching my pearls. I found it to be another solid outing. Shout out to the Frary folk, it’s always darkest before the dawn and as a member of Team Castelroy I’m happy to say it looks like we have scored the definitive win (for now). Well, let’s just jump straight into the review.
This week’s episode was written by P.K. Simonds & Nancy Won, who are brand spanking new writing team it seems. I thought they did a great job, no character felt off and there was a great variety in types of scenes as well as emotional highs and lows. Not to mention every single character got a chance to shine. The directorial reigns were handed over to Norma Bailey who always does a wonderful job and this week no exception. Both the scoring and the soundtrack were pleasantly well done once again this week. The song that kept playing in my head after the episode ended was “Starts” by Charles William.
If I had to make a long story short here’s how I would sum up the episode’s course of events: Tensions rose between Catholics and Protestants. During one confrontation Louis' Protestant nephew was killed. It's revealed that Caroline was in the pay of Narcisse, and she faked being possessed in order to get Francis to confess to his father's murder. Narcisse heard the confession and used it to blackmail Francis into letting the Catholic murderers of Louis' nephew go free. Mary demanded to know why Francis was acting strange, and Francis lied to her and told her that it's because he believes she will never give him an heir, which hurt Mary deeply. Greer learned that Castleroy is close to converting to Protestantism, but she accepts this and the pair are wed. Lola is surprised when she's approached by Narcisse, who wishes to pursue her as a potential partner.
“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.”
Character Contemplation
OK, let’s be real, Bash’s storyline has stalled and I hope I’m not the only that is disappointed. I love Torrance Comb to pieces (just in case you haven’t gathered that information for yourself at my umpteenth time saying it). I thought being the king’s deputy would be a great opportunity for the character. So far it has not been. It keeps Bash on the fringes of the story, out of the castle and away from the two characters (Kenna and Francis) that shine best when he is around them and vice versa. While I am a fan of the potential the new characters have, if they weren’t going to do anything with the old characters they should have just killed them during the plague. There is nothing worse than having a bloated ensemble cast that is primarily for fan service.
OK, it’s been awhile since I have said this… criminal underuse of Megan Follows. Now the little we did see of Catherine was awesome. It was great getting to see Catherine as the comedic relief. I like the light and sarcastic side of Catherine. I really appreciate that even though Catherine is an older woman they still show her as relevant, capable and desirable.
While I am still very much smitten with Sean Teale, I am completely over Louis Conde for now. He has been nothing but duplicitous trouble since he showed up. I know this show is “historical” drama but can we focus more on the historical and just a smidge less on the drama. It’s interesting that Conde now possesses the mark but this character is very ho hum right now. I liked that spark his character first interjected into Francis but much like Bash he has been pushed to the fringes of the current arc and I’m losing interest fast.
I am so happy for Greer. She is married to a man who loves her and wants her to be his full partner in life. I’ve been on Team Castleroy for quite some time. I’ve actually never really been a fan Leith’s (unless he’s spending time with Francis). The wedding was so cute and her dress was fabulous. It’s odd how we never got to see her mother for as much as she was mentioned. But now I’m worried about the thrice scorned Leith being vindictive and outing Castleroy as a secret Protestant. It’s nice to see one of the ladies having a slice of happiness though with it being Reign, you know it can’t last for long.
Finally, some substantive use of the character of Kenna and it quite a fun use of her to boot. The Kenna’s dressing dowdy than ever her spirits seem to be better than most of her friends. I love how Kenna just wants her friends to be happy. It was also refreshing to see them remind us that Kenna is smart and cunning in her own way (we haven’t seen that in a while). Much like Catherine, Kenna is at her best when she is being lighthearted.
Being a single mother in any time period is hard but when you’re the mother of a royal bastard and not the king’s actual mistress I couldn’t even fathom the burden. I’m not sure that I really want to see Lola dating. I love the glow that Anna Popplewell gives to the character of Lola when she is the baby. I would love to see the focus for Lola shift there. But hey, every character has to have a little titillation about them or what’s the point. Am I right?
When Mary hurts, I hurt. This was a brutal episode for Mary. Mary actually wasn’t in this episode very much and I’m OK with that. Her absence makes since story wise and it also allowed for a lot of other things to happen and more character interactions that we haven’t got to see much of as of late. I love that Mary can still hold onto her ideals but I’m going to need her to be more shrewd and pragmatic. You can’t rule with your heart all the time, especially if you want to keep your throne and your head off a pike.
The most succinct manner to describe my feelings about Narcisse is to imagine me letting out the longest and loudest sigh you can imagine. Last week, we learned that he was just unlucky in love and not an actual wife killing monster. This week we get hit with two other ice filled snowballs. The first being that he hired Caroline and it has been a long con, this whole time. The second was that he is interested in Lola. My verdict for this character? Off with his head. Craig Parker is doing the most with this character but the writers are all over the place. Let a bad guy be an unredeemable bad guy. I think those are the kinds that work best for this show, unless it’s Catherine. Actually, to be honest, I think that is what is rubbing me the wrong way, he is very much the male Catherine and well we already have a Catherine and it’s played by Megan Fellows so that space doesn’t need to be filled or retread.
Grade: B-
Awards
Character of the Night
• Francis
Best Character Interactions
• Lola and Kenna
• Greer and Castleroy
• Francis and Mary
Line of the Night
• Kenna: This is smut.
Scene of the Night
• The girls enjoying Greer’s last day as a single woman
Favorite Lady-In-Waiting
• Kenna
Lowlights
• Francis wasn’t being haunted by his father after all.
Miscellaneous
Biggest Surprise of the Episode
• Narcisse expressing interest in Lola.
Friendly Reminder
Don’t forget to live tweet with the show (@CWReign) and me (@lilithhellfire) every Thursday night at 9 pm EST.
Well, now it's your turn to sound off in the comments section below. I look forward to reading your thoughts.
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About the Author – Lilith Hellfire
Lilith Hellfire is a 27 year old female who currently resides in NYC, NY. By day she toils away at a public relations firm. But by night she is blogging and DJing machine.
She is the host of
Welcome to Beacon Hills a podcasted dedicated to Teen Wolf. She's a rabid fangirl of the following shows: Arrow, Beauty and The Beast, The Flash, The Originals, Justified, Revenge and Sons of Anarchy. She writes about Beauty and the Beast, Reign and Young & Hungry for Spoiler TV.
I agree. Bash is underused. He needs a more complete story arc. As the king's deputy, I was expecting swashbuckling heroics with he and Leith, saving the day. Instead they're relegated to minor interrogations and arresting crazed shepherds. I want to see them weild their swords and take some bad guys out, 16th century style.
ReplyDeleteAny time I see Catherine, I'm thrilled. Definitely need a new story for Megan Follows magnificent talent.
I adore Narcisse and I'm almost sure that he's interested in Lola only to annoy Francis.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to enjoy the Mary and Catherine dynmaic in the next episode. In a way, its like mother, daughter bonding(:
ReplyDeleteIt makes me wonder how Catherine will react when she hears about what Francis said to Mary...
And I need some more action scenes! Get to the fights already!
Like you, I was super underwhelmed by this ep. Too little Catherine. No Bash/Kenna. Too much Conde. He's just everywhere and in everything, and Idk why Mary or Francis trust him. And while I never thought Bash was interesting as a character on his own, I don't get why he (and Leith) have been pretty much usurped by Conde. I also was looking forward to Leith/Francis as buds this season and we've seen none of that.
ReplyDeleteI do like Narcisse. Reign needed more mature male characters after the huge loss of Henry. I am looking forward to wherever they're going with him and Lola.
Totally agreed.
ReplyDeleteCondè is really annoying!
I also dislike the sidelining of Bash. He just has nothing to do. They need to give him a storyline. I dont like conde at all.
ReplyDeleteBash fans want MORE BASH not less. Come on, he's great. So loved the scenes where he broke down the doors to get to Kenna. So romantic. Loved the episode last year of being gravely wounded and still riding out to confront Tomas who was trying to trick Mary into marriage. He still bravely fought Tomas. And episode 10, when his cousin Isabel had the baby. He was so dynamic in this. But every episode highlighted with Bash is excellent. Cannot get enough.
ReplyDeleteBash is completely being underused but I hope this plays out much like it did last season where he was in the background for a while and then got to shine. I miss seeing him and Kenna and him and Francis together too. I loved the scene with Kenna, Catherine and Lola talking about the book. Some of the most enjoyable moments are when Catherine gets spicy and i agree that both Kenna and Catherine shine when they are being playful. As soon as Lola and Kenna went off on the hunt for the mystery man with the butterfly birthmark I knew it was going to be Narcisse and immediately got angry. I wish Narcisse were being played by anyone other than Craig Parker. Not because he's a bad actor or choice for the role (exact opposite really) but because every time I look at him I see Glaber and I HATE his face. I'm not a Castelroy fan but with him being on the verge of becoming Protestant I dont' see him lasting very long. I just hope he doesnt' take his new "full partner in everything" down with him. I will admit, their wedding was very cute, her dress was gorgeous and them dancing with his younger children was adorable. Last but not least, my poor poor Frary. The hits just keep on coming for these two. Mary's face when Francis told her he thinks she won't produce an heir.....broke my heart into a million pieces. it took me back to when Mary and Bash ran away together and Francis chased them down the lane yelling her name...oh, the feels.
ReplyDeleteSidenote - am I the only one waiting for Clarissa to pop back up? Because we all know she will....right?
Bash is so underused! He and Catherine are just phenomenal, and it's time that he got the screen time he deserves.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm definitely on the losing end of this one, but I've been team Mary/Bash from the beginning. I don't mind Francis, I just never though he and Mary fit well together (as they will both always put their countries before each other). I don't think Bash's storyline was handled well. His feelings and love for Mary he's had for years just disappeared? For Kenna?! I don't believe it.
Ranting over! Great review!
I'm Team Francis but I did like Mary and Bash together. I didn't invest too much heart in it because I knew she would end up with Francis. I don't think that Bash's feelings for Mary are gone (and i'm betting that they will resurface at some point) but he knows that he can't have her. pining for her isn't fair to himself or to Kenna. They (Kenna and Bash) decided to really give their marriage a true shot and I think in doing that he has fallen for her and her for him. a lot of arranged marriages usually go that way.
ReplyDeleteBash didn't have feelings for Mary for years. He didn't even know her as a child. They were kept separate according to torrance coombs who plays Bash. And he and Kenna are actually good together. They have chemistry and love each other. Best thing the reign writers have done is put those two together. Torrance and Caitlin sparkle in their scenes.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say he's wrong then, as weird as that sounds. There's one scene in the pilot (I don't know why I remember this scene, I just do for some reason) where he has this flashback to being a kid and he's playing with Mary...Mary tells him, "Francis is a girl's name."
ReplyDeletethat's mary and francis in the clip, not Bash. Mary is teasing francis about having a girl's name
ReplyDeleteREIGN is so good but Bash needs more to do. Last year he was so prominent. Conde nor Leith can ever replace Bash. LOVED how he bashed in doors to find Kenna. That's so Bash. We need action. We need less Francis moaning around Mary. Beef it up! Give Bash some meaty stuff to do.
ReplyDelete