Reign: 1x11 “Inquisition”

Catherine: “There are times when lies... lack sufficient power.”

Wow! And all of a sudden Reign is not a guilty pleasure anymore. Because I don’t feel any guilt, none whatsoever. That good it’s gotten. 

 

This week Reign took a walk down memory lane drawing for us a picture of life that was twenty something years ago back when Queen Catherine and King Henry loved each other. Fear of becoming a queen who could not provide an heir because that would mean she’d loose her power and most certainly her head made her turn to alternative methods. From the sound of it she thought Henry was to blame in this situation, so he was the one who had taken all those medicines. Henry in his turn blamed Catherine for impatience and not caring during that hard time. Did Catherine want to get pregnant so badly she stopped seeing in him a husband and saw only a tool to get what she wants? Did that killed the love? Or love was there all along? It must have been, we saw the glimpse of this love in this episode, and it still is alive, though buried deep. All those years of resentment and hatred certainly can't help. And then, there is England, of course. Still he gave her the way out, she didn’t take it. Since Rome refused to annul their marriage, he then accused her of adultery only to find out that she betrayed him so many years ago. That led to the first in the series honest conversation between them. It was breathtaking to watch these two rubbing salt into each other's wounds, wounds that were supposed to heal long ago. That scene was fascinating and my favorite in the episode. Hats off to actors who totally sold it.

If this episode had a theme it was loyalty, or more accurately loyalty vs. love. Do those always go hand in hand? Can love exist without loyalty? Can loyalty beat love? Nostradamus who is alive and well and in prison for treason, more specifically for being queen’s lover, stayed loyal to Catherine, even in the face of death. Even after Henry tried bribing him, he still said no. That is loyalty, indeed. Would Catherine sell him out if the situation was reversed? Probably.

Henry tried staying loyal to Catherine, especially after their night together, it was obvious he was reluctant to go through with his plan. It was interesting to learn that Diane shared her heritage with Henry, much like Bash shared it with Mary in the last episode. Well calculated move on the part of Diane to disarm her enemy years in advance. She certainly trusted and loved Henry very much to be able to trust him with that. And it paid off, Henry stayed loyal to her. One can argue that if Diane was on his way to getting England he wouldn't be that tolerant. Probably.

The loyalty vs. love dilemma was more acute for me because of how the events of this episode influenced Bash, who pledged his complete and total loyalty and love to Mary. He also declared of his willingness to kill his own father if needed. Of course words are words, and no one knows what he'll do in such circumstances, but he was a bit too determined. That, I didn’t see coming and it felt a bit out of the character.

We were introduced to few new characters. I’m not sure I like the strategy of introducing the characters with the sole purpose of killing them or having them just disappear at the end of an hour. Like, what happened to Lord Hugo, for example? 

Another one who we just met and already lost before the episode ended was Viscount Richard Delacroix, Henry’s friend brought back to court to collect evidence against Catherine. I actually expected him to be Catherine’s ally, but I certainly didn’t expect him to be the love of her life. It would have been easier to sympathize them and feel for them and believe in their love if we saw him at least once before or at least heard of his existence. It was difficult to root for a character, although noble and all, that we know nothing about, so I didn’t care much when Henry ordered his execution. 

What I certainly didn’t expect is for him to be Clarissa’s father or for Catherine to be revealed as her mother. What a twist! Who could have guessed that a phantom girl that hides in the castle is supposed to be in the throne room. Thanks to Nostradamus’ story Catherine now knows that Clarissa is her daughter. Clarissa on the other hand knew exactly who Catherine was all along. Despite her feelings for her mother [whatever they are] she tried to help her only to be pushed away. Poor Clarissa, what a life. Having survived that horrid procedures as a child and doomed to hide her face to avoid mockery, she was once again rejected by her mother and lost a father she never knew [I am assuming viscount was already executed].

We were also introduced to other members of Medici family - Francesca and Pietro. Those two covered the whole spectrum of dysfunctional family. Worrying they’d loose power at French Court they tortured that poor girl to get the information [they actually stretched her on the rack! Thank you for not showing it, what I imagined was horrific enough]. At the end when they couldn’t help they provided Catherine with the poison. Although that might have been out of compassion.

This episode had so many turns and twists I kept thinking I should get used to those, yet Catherine’s last attempt to “fix” this whole situation by killing Mary and probably herself took me completely by surprise. Looking back that was the only option she had left, so her actions are totally in character. So I shouldn't be surprised but I was. 

Of course they both survived. While I didn’t worry much about Mary, her being the lead and all, I’m starting to worry about Catherine. There is no way they gonna kill her off! Right? I mean she’s such a delightful villain. But this could be the last straw. We'll see where they go from here.

And the last but nowhere near the least, I was blown away by Alan van Sprang's performance. I know he is a good actor, I've seen him in other series. However I was a bit annoyed with him playing such one dimensional character like Henry. Thank God, they finally gave him some material to work with.

Historical bits

If you look at Medici's family tree you’ll find there a Francesca and a Pietro but they never lived in the same life span.

In real life it was Henry who had a daughter with Philippa Duci, his mistress at the time.

Because Henry had already a child, everyone blamed Catherine for not being able to conceive. And it was Catherine - not Henry - who tried every known trick for getting pregnant, like drinking mule's urine for example.

Some observations  

I’m a little fuzzy on the timeline, so help me out, will you? Ten years of marriage without a child, then Catherine gave birth to Clarissa. Does that make Clarissa older than Bash?

I’m not exactly sure what happened with the baby. Did the pagan mark fade or was it another child?

Where is Francis?

Memorable Quotes:

Mary: “When the ax falls on your neck, I will be there... with Bash... the next king of France.”

Henry: “Well, there you are. Loyalty's an odd thing. Heaven knows how you engender it, my dear.”

I’m with Henry on this one.

Henry: “My hands are tied.”

Catherine: “Who ties the hands of the king? Other than a select lusty few?”

Henry: “A short good-bye, I know. If you need more time together, I can have his head delivered to your chambers within the hour?”

Henry: “Lesson for the day: next time you see a threat, large or small, you cut it down like a weed.”

Pietro: “You've disgraced yourself and our family.”

Catherine: “By what, adultery? How many of our family have taken lovers? Including the Popes.”

Francesca: “You've disgraced us by losing.”

Wonderful hour! What did you think? Comments are welcome!

Sol’s rating: 4 out of 5