Reign “Coup de Grace” was written by the team of John J Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart and was directed by the wickedly, multi-talented Megan Follows. We got to a bit of history that I knew was coming but still managed to make me very sad. I knew as soon as we met him that David Rizzio’s days were numbered, but Andrew Shaver brought him so to life in such a short time! I’d hoped they might fudge that death a little. In fact, they did somewhat, as he didn’t die exactly according to historical records, and it felt like a bigger tribute making it seem very Julius Caesar.
The action in the Scottish court centers on the intrigues unfolding at court. I loved the cat and mouse scene between Mary (Adelaide Kane) and Darnley (Will Kemp) as he tries to follow her through the corridors as she makes her way to her secret meeting with Rizzio and Bothwell (Adam Croasdell). It was nice to bring it full circle later in the episode when the two escape through the same secret passageways. I wonder if Mary will ultimately regret having revealed that secret?
They’ve discovered that Darnley is paying off the Privy Council to get them to give him the Crown Matrimonial – damn, he was fixated on that! Mary realizes that the Privy Council will completely defer to Darnley if he gets it because she is a woman. She needs to find a way to gain control over the Privy Council.
Mary’s plan is to announce her pregnancy. It’s clear that Darnley – being the shallow idiot that he is – is happy to bask in the accolades from the courtiers. Rizzio compliments her on the brilliant move, but wonders if she wasn’t worried that Darnley might have made good on his threat to disown the baby. Mary explains that she just didn’t give Darnley any warning or time to think. She knows that he is not a complex man – he simply wants to be loved and adored, so she gave him an opportunity to feed his ego.
Meanwhile, Knox (Jonathan Goad) and Lord Ruthven (John Ralston) are less than happy with Darnley for giving away their leverage. Darnley is so stupid that he didn’t even realize that they wanted Mary dead! They tell him to come up with an alternative plan.
There’s a lovely scene between Mary and Rizzio. He tells her that the Privy Council is now on her side, except for the Treasurer – Ruthven. Mary asks Rizzio as someone with accounting experience through his business dealings to look into the books. Mary thanks him and tells him that she trust him with her life. He replies that this is his home now, and she is his friend. Mary is clearly very touched and tells him that a Queen doesn’t have many friends – and for good reason as it seems so many of Mary’s end up dead!
Rizzio does discover that Ruthven has been stealing, and Mary confronts him, telling him she’ll tell the other nobles that he’s been swindling them. Ruthven still refuses to vote her way. Rizzio, however, has more damning evidence against Ruthven and tells him that he’ll expose him as a homosexual – they’ve even had the same boyfriend! Ruthven points out that that would also expose Rizzio to the penalty – being burnt alive – and Rizzio maintains that he’d do anything for Mary. It’s a horrifying commentary on what life was like then – and really not even so long ago.
Darnley’s plan is to catch Mary in the act with Bothwell and accuse her of adultery. Darnley insists, however, that Mary be spared. Knox agrees to banish her, and leaves Bothwell’s fate up to the “King,” Darnley is thrilled to anticipate cutting off Bothwell’s head!
Bothwell comes to warn Mary that the Privy Council are moving against her to overthrow her. He urges her to leave, but she insists that she must remain strong and sends Bothwell to Dunbar castle to rally their forces. Rizzio stays as her witness.
Mary realizes as soon as Darnley arrives that his plan is to accuse her of adultery. She tells them to stand down an she will pardon them all of treason. Ruthven, however, once again refuses to be swayed and solves both his problems by saying they’ll just use Rizzio instead of Bothwell. Darnley does try to stop them, but of course, it doesn’t work and Rizzio is killed viciously.
Mary is being held prisoner in her chambers and fakes that something is wrong with the baby. She demands to see Darnley and points out to him how stupid he’s being. Knox hates the monarchy and is simply using Darnley until he can turn on him and kill him too. She begs Darnley to help her escape so that they can take the kingdom back together.
Darnley gets her out of the castle and most of the way to Dunbar before abandoning his pregnant wife alone in the woods at night. He tells her that he’s sorry about Rizzio, but he’s sure that Bothwell will kill him and he leaves her to go into hiding.
Mary arrives alone at Dunbar and tells Bothwell what happened. She delivers yet another inspiring speech to her loyal followers, telling them that their loyalty won’t be forgotten and that the traitors will pay with their lives!
In England, Elizabeth (Rachel Skarsten) is furious with the developments in France – Charles’ (Spencer Macpherson) killing the English nobles. She doesn’t want a war with France, but she also can’t appear weak in the eyes of the world. She sends Gideon (Ben Geurens) to negotiate, but she’s sad that he’s leaving.
While Gideon is away, Elizabeth continues to be pursued by Archduke Ferdinand (Steve Byers). Unfortunately, as he’s filling her chambers with flowers as a surprise, he finds the eroticism that she’s been writing for Gideon. Thinking quickly, she lies and says it was about the Archduke and she was planning on giving it to him on their wedding night. He’s excited that the Queen reads erotica! He also suggests that as they are getting married there’s no reason not to satisfy themselves. Elizabeth has really written herself into a corner here.
Later over dinner, Ferdinand has a ring for her. It sounds like they may have just cuddled – or at least not gone all the way. He tells Elizabeth that he knows the writing wasn’t for him, and he’s ok with that if they are honest and faithful to each other from this point forward. He doesn’t want to marry her just for her country. He tells her that it’s ok to enjoy sex with your husband! He’s not stupid, and he knows that they are marrying because his country needs the money and hers needs the Catholic support, but they can be more than that. Elizabeth agrees to stop the relationship with Gideon and have him removed from court. His name is never mentioned, however.
Catherine (Follows) and Narcisse (Craig Parker) discuss strategy. They need to give back the ships to avoid war, but can’t look weak. Catherine is also worried about averting civil war between the Protestants and Catholics. Narcisse complains about how clingy Nicole (Ann Pirvu) is – she even stayed back while Charles went to Paris.
Catherine confronts Henry (Nick Slater), who says he doesn’t care what England thinks or does. Catherine agrees that the English may owe taxes, but she also cautions him that his way is going to plunge them into war. Narcisse tells Henry that he’ll be meeting with Gideon for the negotiations – alone. Henry is not pleased.
Gideon is trying to smooth things over in France. Narcisse greets him at the docks and begins the negotiations with him. It’s clear that Parker and Geurens enjoy the chance to work together again. It’s a fun scene as the two quibble over the wording of the agreement – was it murder or execution?
There’s a terrific scene between Narcisse and Gideon in which Gideon accuses Narcisse of being driven by wanting revenge for Lola. Gideon assures Narcisse that Elizabeth also mourns the loss of Lola, but Narcisse insists that no one understands loss until they’ve experienced it. Of course, Gideon has, and tells Narcisse that he lost his wife and daughter – but when he found real love, it changed him. Being in love changed him – and boy, is he in for a rude awakening! However, Narcisse says that he’s happy for Gideon.
Gideon urges Narcisse to allow himself to love and be loved again or the bitterness will destroy him. Narcisse is genuine when he says that it’s good advice. He then warns Gideon that Spain is at court to support Henry. He tells Gideon to talk to Charles in Paris about the cargo. He might be surprised at how receptive Charles is.
Of course, Henry has seized the cargo which turns out to be saltpeter. And of course, it’s ridiculous that Narcisse didn’t know what the cargo was during his negotiations. It turns out that Henry has promised the saltpeter to Spain to make into gunpowder. Henry also moves against Narcisse with Nicole. He promises to show her that Narcisse is merely using and manipulating her to control Charles.
They hide in Narcisse’s chambers to watch his reaction to a gift. I thought that Gideon’s words might have saved the day here, but they prove just the opposite. Instead of giving Nicole a chance (thank God, he didn’t befoul the memory of Lola by having feelings for her!), he makes a move on Catherine (Follows) – which, YEAH!!!! Love these two together!
I loved Catherine musing about how good Narcisse is at manipulation because he manipulated her, and him saying that at least they were equally matched. Catherine is amused and says that after all this time, the two of them are still there – and Narcisse adds, keeping the kingdom together. Catherine tells him that when she told him to get over Lola, he didn’t mean for him to sleep with every woman at court – but she’s also different this time around and it doesn’t really bother her – can we really believe that?! The two make love while Nicole and Henry – his mother!!! – are forced to watch from their hiding place.
Gideon meets with Charles – and we get a nice shot of the Mona Lisa. Once Gideon tells Charles what’s going on with Spain, he gives back the ships and cargo so there’s no reason for war. On his return, Narcisse congratulates Gideon. Gideon asks him why, and Narcisse says he thought it would be nice for them both to have a win for a change. It’s time to bury the past and move on. Of course, Gideon is about to lose Elizabeth, and Narcisse is about to lose control of Nicole and burn any chance of allying with Henry.
Charles returns to court and calls Henry to him in the throne room. He tells Henry that he’s thwarted his plan with Spain, and that he’ll never have anything that belongs to Charles. Meanwhile, Nicole is standing beside him, and Henry has already “had” her – and no doubt will again. As Henry walks away, he’s smiling.
This episode moved things along. I’m still curious about how much they can stuff into the remaining episodes. It’s sad that here at the end, I think that the last 15 minutes – or less – maybe even 5 minutes – will be devoted to the last 20 years of everyone’s lives. What did you think of the episode? Do you think that Narcisse and Catherine can prevail? The Scottish and English histories are a little more clearly written… Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
