Reign - Sins of the Past - Review: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Hey Royals! Whose ready to talk about last night’s episode of Reign? I know I am. Even though there were no swords or sex scenes I found this episode to be very interesting. It seems as though a new chess game has begun and I can wait to see which pawns fall first. There’s lots to discuss so let’s get started.


This week’s episode saw the castle prepare for The Winter’s Ease Feast. King Antoine of Navarre revealed to Francis and Mary England’s plan for revenge against France. Bash learned that an “undead” man has been seen in the village and his efforts to track the man down lead him to a mysterious woman in white. Meanwhile, Catherine found out the cause of her hallucinations.

This episode was written by Doris Egan & Melody Fox. The directorial duties were provided by Deborah Chow. Y’all know how much I love it when there’s a double dose of girl power on the technical side. I quite enjoyed the pacing, dialog and characterizations in this episode. There were quite a few unexpected character interactions that worked really well. While I don’t enjoy all of the coming together and pulling apart of Frary, I do understand it. But I really miss Frary vs. The World hopefully this season is just their crucible and they come out the other side stronger for it and we will see an unstoppable Frary for a good chunk of season three (fingers crossed).

We open this week’s episode of Reign, with a dreary snow riddled courtyard and a down trodden group of servants to match when suddenly a beautiful bloom is spotted in the snow. A slight buzz of excitement begins and the young lady rushes off to collect her reward which leaves Kenna and Lola to explain to the audience that another ball and feast is in order, this one is called The Winter’s Ease Feast. It’s all about celebrating new life and new beginnings (and of course that means a party and new dresses).

After that we learn that the king of Navarre is on his way to France to sign a peace treaty. But Francis is more concerned with building Mary (and himself) a nice quiet getaway chateau in the French countryside. Mary think that it is a nice sentiment but is not actually sure it will help their situation.

Then we come to a scene of a woman visiting a loved one’s grave. She gets distracted (as would I) by an unearthed grave. We all know that Bash will be called into investigate that (and he was).

When we return from the opening title card, a trumpet plays to announce the arrival of the King of Navarre. Antoine seemed cheerful and upbeat at first but then within a matter of seconds the whole mood changes. The second thing out his mouth is a request for money and a reminder of what a kerfuffle Francis has caused during his dealings with the Protestants.

On a more adorable note, Conde walks in on Lola directing the ballroom for The Winter’s Ease Feast and asks to escort her. Lola counters saying she’s understand if he couldn’t since technically with his brother in town he should be his liaison and help him navigate the French court. Conde replies that his brother prefers to do that sort of thing himself. Right on cue, Kenna waltzes in and attracts Antoine’s attentions and makes an advance. But Kenna spots Bash and excuses herself. Conde takes the opportunity to dissuade Antoine on pursuing her since she is the king’s sister-in-law and what not. Then Antoine spots Bash and tells Conde that he thinks Bash is the one that killed their brother during the Italian War.

Just as Mary tells Francis that they should consider giving Navarre the money, Catherine barges in and objects. Francis recounts the tale about the Bourbons that Catherine told Mary. But we also get another juicy plot point that seemingly and conveniently compliments a little piece of Antoine’s claim, Henry sent The Bourbons and their supporters to fight on the front lines of the Spanish and Italian war to thin out their ranks (and hey maybe even assassinate one of them). We also learn about some of Antoine’s traits. Catherine wants to refuse him and send him back to his own kingdom. But this is obviously a matter that requires a little more digging.

Sometime later, we find Catherine taking refuge in her room reading the bible and Francis comes in to talk about his sister Carissa and the unfulfilled prophecy about his death. His eyes begin to bleed and he collapses in her arms. Catherine screams for help and we the cavalry does arrive she is holding thin air. The jig is up, it appears Catherine has officially gone bonkers. But she thinks it’s a vision. Turns out Catherine isn’t crazy she has syphilis much to Claude’s delight.

Next we find Kenna trying to make Bash happy by laying out all of his favorite food in an effort to get back on his good side. But Bash is not having any of that and tells her that he is off on another ghost hunting adventure. Kenna derides him about his pagan roots and that makes matter even worse. Bash basically tells Kenna that being the King’s Deputy is his way of making up for the mistakes of his past and he takes his position very seriously but says that he’ll be back before the feast.

Francis decides to unleash Narcisse and directs to get to the bottom of Antoine’s request. Narcisse ponders aloud if it’s really Antoine Francis has a possible coral with or if he just wants to rid his court of Conde. He states that if the latter is true then he could arrange for an accident to befall Conde. Francis tells Narcisse to do what he has asked and ONLY what he has asked of him and sends him on his merry little way.

Narcisse then makes a bee line directly for Lola and suggest they have a sexy little rendezvous after the feast since she must keep up public appearances and attend the feast with Conde. Lola feigns interest but you can tell she is weighing her options. Narcisse tells her to wear a flower in her dress if she wants to sneak away and also assures her that he will be back on feet in no time.

The sexy gets sucked out of the show for a bit when we take a detour to see some ridiculous medieval syphilis treatment get bestowed on Catherine. Cure #1? Birds pecking at her feet. Insert shudder here. Ever the dutiful daughter Claude is right there to comfort her mother. Delight in her pain.

For enduring that odd scene we are treated to a season 2 rarity, a tender Frary moment. Mary thanks Francis for being understanding and invites Francis into her bed to sleep but just to sleep.

Cut to two of my favorite lurkers skulking about castle, Claude and Narcisse. It appears that Claude was searching for Narcisse to make a very interesting proposition. It appears she wants him to serve her in the bedchamber as well as to learn all about French court politics and intrigue so that she doesn’t end up in a marriage of convenience and bored to tears. Narcisse jumps at the chance.

Our tender Frary moment gets interrupted by Mary’s nightmare and she awakens afraid and distance. But Francis convinces her that it will be alright and they will get through all of this and they hug.

The next night we see a happy and dancing Frary at the feast as well as Lola and Conde and Antoine and Kenna. But Conde looks none too pleased about Antoine’s saddling up to Kenna.

Meanwhile, in the dark forest Bash has tracked down the man that rose from the grave and even the man himself thinks he’s a ghost but Bash tries to squash that nonsense.

Back at the castle Lola tries to get Conde to dance but Conde is not interested, he’s more interested in what his brother is up to.

Narcisse comes bearing news about the kingdom of Navarre. There were French refugees in Navarre and England has offered the money Antoine seeks and there are rumors that England is setting up troops there.

I guess intrigue really gets Narcisse’s juices flowing because we see him next with his hands all over Clause and Lola spies them and gets frustrated.

In the nerve of all nerve Mary asks Conde to spy on his brother and he refuses.

Lola and Kenna ponder what Narcisse is up to being with Claude and Lola decides that she will give being with Conde a shot just as Conde decides to give being Lola a shot (no doubt out of spite of what Mary just tried to pull).

Claude tries to dictate the terms of what her sexual relationship will be with Narcisse and he ends up declining her proposition.

Things really heat up when Francis and Mary pull Antoine in to discuss what they’ve found out about his dealings with England. Antoine make a good point and Francis and Mary decided that the only choice is to give him the money. But first they want to know why Elizabeth is taking such extreme measures against France. Turns out she’s taking a proactive approach afraid that the actions of late that France had been making were leading up to trying to her throne and replace her with a catholic queen.

Meanwhile, Narcisse wiggles his way back into a friendship with Catherine by offering her some water while she is strapped into a primitive sauna/hot tub contraption and inadvertently discovers that Catherine has been poisoned and is not suffering syphilis.

A “drunken” Antoine sings ‘3 Ravens’ and cause a stir and wouldn’t you know it Bash comes to calm the rowdy boy down. Antoine bait Bash into correcting his geography and becomes convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bash is the one that killed his brother. After that bit of intrigue, Bash returns to his quarters and tells Kenna that he wants to the truth of heart and work on their marriage. They seal that conversation with a kiss, BTW.

Finally, we come to a scene with Francis and Mary discussing their options about Elizabeth. Mary realizes that the mistakes Francis made will keep her in danger forever and that she definitely wants to lead separate lives but not out of spite but because she loves him and wants him to be happy. Mary tells him to go find love somewhere else.

Episode Awards

Grade
• B+

Character of the Night
• Francis

Best Character Interactions
• Francis and Mary

Scene of the Night
•Francis comforts Mary after her nightmare.

Line of the Night

Most Memorable Moment
• Catherine’s “vision” of a dying Francis

Best Dressed
• Mary

Favorite Lady-In-Waiting
• Lola

That awkward moment when…
• That awkward moment when you’re watching Reign and all of the sudden you feel like you just got thrown into an episode of Pretty Little Liars. Was it just me or did anyone else feel like they were briefly in an episode of Pretty Little Liars when they saw that open grave?

The 'You Must New' Award
• The Physician: I don’t suppose your husband took lovers outside of the martial bed?

Double Entendre Alert
• Narcisse: It would be a mistake to think that I won’t be back on top.

Burning Questions

• Who poisoned Henry’s bible?
• Are we ever going to see Nostradamus again?
• So are we ever going to mention Greer again or nah?

Thanks for stopping by, you know I love you guys for reading. Please feel free to leave some comments below.

About the Author – Lilith Hellfire

Lilith Hellfire is just your run of the mill blogger/DJ/fangirl/podcaster/TV critic/YouTuber. She prefers serialized dramas over procedurals. Her favorite shows currently are: Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, The Flash, Game of Thrones, How to Get Away with Murder, Justified, Reign and Teen Wolf.

She covers Beauty and the Beast and Reign for Spoiler TV. If you are interested in finding out what other shows she covers be sure to check out her blog here.

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