“That was bloody good; tense, unexpected, and interesting.” That was
my first thought, when the episode ended. That and how much I’m going to miss Reign.
So, where do we start? Let’s go with France first, shall we?
Have we ever witnessed a family dinner at French court that didn’t end up
in mass murder, castle invasion or death? I don’t believe we have. This family
dinner was no exception; it was a total disaster, but also a lot of fun. Henry
is bold and ambitious and having led an army into battle he is generally more
mature than his older brother, who is on the throne solely because of being
born first. Thank you, Narcisse for voicing over my thoughts from the previous review.
Of course the removal of Charles is also a way out for Narcisse and his
‘obligatory sex sessions’ with Nicole, but still, things would have been much
easier with Henry on the throne. The France
would have a sane king and Spain
will be satisfied and all this madness would be over. Henry is certainly the
right horse to back, only for Catherine, as a mother, it would mean loosing her
son, because they were right - Charles would be murdered one way or another. In
order to help him, Catherine turned to black magic. We’ll see what will come
out of this. I was curious about her being so opposed to it; I guess poisoning
is where Catherine de Medici is drawing the line.
Bravo Gideon for helping Mary despite his feelings for Elizabeth. He was too smart to believe there
was no threat to his queen, so of course he went to check. I was glad Bothwell
didn’t kill him. After coming back to England
he told Elizabeth half-truth; he didn’t
implicate Mary but used this failed coup to make Elizabeth marry Ferdinand of Austria. We know
she never will, but I believe this whole situation might taint Gideon’s love
affair with the Queen.
Mary’s marriage reached its ugly peak. It was horribly obvious how
vulnerable Mary is. With Bothwell away and James in exile, she only has Greer
and David to confide in. She felt trapped and oddly like a prisoner in her own
castle. I was amazed at how quickly Darnley turned the situation to his
advantage. He is obnoxious, rude, disrespectful, and overall disgusting, he even
threatened Mary openly. He is also a coward beyond imagination. He did come up
with a pretty good blackmail scenario though, to make Mary sign the crown
matrimonial. It was a clever plan, and if it wasn’t for Bothwell and Rizzio,
Mary might have found herself in a very difficult situation.
Historical bits
David
Rizzio, was in fact a
real figure; he was indeed a private secretary of Queen of Scots. There were
even rumors they had an affair. Jealous Darnley even suspected that Rizzio was
the father of Mary’s child.
Elizabeth did have serious negotiations about
possibly marrying the Archduke of Austria, though the real Archduke was called
Charles Francis, not Ferdinand. I suppose they decided there were too many
Francises and Charleses on the show already.
Catherine de Medici was interested
in the occult and it was believed that SHE educated her son, Henry III in dark
arts, and it was Catherine who was at the origin of a Black Mass, but all of it
was just rumors, never proven true.
Charles is dark-haired in the series and Henry
is blond. When I was a child and read ‘The
Forty-Five Guardsmen’ and ‘La Dame de Monsoreau’ of A. Dumas I always
pictured them the other way around: Charles blond and Henry III with dark hair.
Funny, but I was historically right.
Some observations
Claude and Luc are getting closer, still ‘not
being in love’ with each other; although I think Luc is.
Charles has been such a clown lately, I laughed out loud when I saw him at dinner table with his nose plastered. Laugh with me one more time.
Wardrobe department
The “Best Dress of the week”
Award goes to the Queen of England.
I must say, for whatever
reason, they dress Nicole very well, but Elizabeth’s
dress won my heart.
The “Worst Dress of the
week” Award goes to Catherine.
That was all kinds of wrong.
Memorable Quotes:
Mary: “How
many times must you disappoint me, Darnley?”
Claude: “I
was so excited for my family to be together again. But we're a disaster. Charles
is damaged, Henry's ruthless, and my mother is Catherine de Medici.”
She’s not wrong…
Sol’s rating: I’m inclined to give it 4.
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