Reign: 4x10 “A Better Man”

“This is worse than I feared.”

Yep. I’m right there with you, Catherine! This was a waste of time in royal proportions! That doesn’t mean the hour was a total disaster, I did enjoy only about a third of it.

Loved absolutely everything that was going on in Scotland, even though I didn’t understand some of it. Knox played Lord Hamilton and Emily, exacting her own revenge, played James. Yes, he believed her way too quickly. If she was banished from the house how on earth would she learn about an assassination attempt? Oh, well… what happened, happened, but Greer was right, there was another way to resolve this situation, without exiling poor James. At one point I thought the eavesdropping Darnley will take the blame for killing Lord Hamilton. He had a good reason, their families have been on each other’s throats for ages, and his position at court is much more secure than James’, so Mary would never send him away. This whole situation was concocted purely to get rid off James, and I just can’t understand why. To make room for Bothwell?

Darnley is working on himself. Boy, he tried; he tried very hard. Being able to stood up to his enemy, listening to all these insults and still not explode and stay civil – that was painfully beautiful to watch. Anyone, I mean anyone, would break Hamilton’s neck (or kick his ass) for his spiteful remarks. What’s worse, Hamilton knew Darnley can’t do anything, so yeah, he deserved the knife in the heart. Plus, by killing Hamilton, James might have saved Mary a future pain. Having someone like that in your Privy Counsel. Yikes.

I am curious if we gonna have a time jump to skip the pregnancy. We must, otherwise I don’t know how they gonna fit everything into the remaining 6 episodes.

No one, no one loves France and its history more that me – but why are we still there? Nothing that is happening there relates to Mary and her Reign. If they would just have Catherine visiting from time to time, that would’ve been more than enough. Watching Charles playing King is tiresome. And as if we don’t have enough people filling the screen, we now have Henry. Having said that, future Henry III is more King, than his brother. Let’s be honest Charles is not fit for the role; his mood, his religion, his affections, everything changes from day to day, and all under the influence of a peasant girl. Come on! He even needed her approval to go on a walk with his mother. I’m amazed at how much power and influence Nicole managed to grab; and as if that wasn’t enough, she is now in love with Narcisse. The actress is doing a very poor job, especially opposite Megan and Craig. The actress in incapable and the character is repellent – that is never a winning combination. Poor Narcisse, my heart broke for him. He is still mourning Lola’s death and his sacrifice was the only thing that made our time in France this week bearable.

At least England is relevant to the Queen of Scots’ journey, but nothing major happened there either. Gideon and Elizabeth are in love. Yak! The potential suitors parade, albeit slightly entertaining, was for nothing, since we know she won’t get married. What was the point? For her to realize that sex with Gideon is something more? Please…

I was looking at the episode’s title and was wondering: who is ‘a better man’? Darnley for not strangling Lord Hamilton? Narcisse for putting France before his own heart? Or was it James who sacrificed everything to save Mary’s reign? Yep, your guess is as good as mine.

Historical bits

I’m conflicted with the introduction of Henry so late in the final season and so early in the ‘history’. I mean Charles still has to get married first, admiral de Coligny is yet to show up on the stage. Then again if they time jump we might just jump straight in the midst of that ugly St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, since Henry, still being Duke d’Anjou at a time, played a big role in it. Only Mary’s reign would be over by then, so may be not. My question remains: why introduce a character so late in the game?

Some observations   

No Bothwell, but way too much Nicole.

Well, I guess now Greer will have to be more patient with James in exile.

David, the Italian merchant sent by Bash, is now a private secretary. What a quick career development; not as quick as Nicole’s, but still.

Boy, Elizabeth’s suitors were all obnoxious at best; no wonder she sent almost all of them packing.

Do you think Darnley poisoned the bottle intended for Lord Hamilton?

It must be horribly difficult for Catherine as a mother to try and protect each of her sons.

Wardrobe department

The “Best Dress of the week” Award goes to Queen of Scots.

Simple and beautiful.

 

The “Worst Dress of the week” Award goes to Queen of England.

All these feathers ruined the otherwise gorgeous dress.  

 

Memorable Quotes:

Lord Hamilton: “A Catholic who becomes a Protestant still serves the same God. A Scot who becomes an Englishman loses his soul.”

Hmm... interesting logic...

Gideon: “Prince Erik, too powerful. Duke of Savoy, too powerless. Count Alejandro, too dull; Alfonso D'Este, too... lumpy? Elizabeth, these are all viable marriage candidates. You need to take this seriously.”

LOL

Mary: “You have cost me much, Emily. But something tells me there is some truth in your lies about the way you live, hmm? Go home to the powerful man who knows that you betrayed him. Enjoy the living hell that is your marriage. That is your punishment.”

Poor Emily, stuck in the world of men and loveless marriage…She didn’t really deserve any of it.

Sol’s rating: 2.5 and I’m being generous…