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Well, things got super weird on ‘Reign’ again & frankly it’s about time
There have been three French kings on the throne thus far, on “Reign.” First, the cocksure Henry (Alan van Sprang), undone by both poison-Bible-induced psychosis and an ocular joust injury. Then, our earnest Francis (Toby Regbo), felled by an ear infection and John Barrowman — and that leaves us, now, with King Charles (Spencer MacPherson), who is possibly a vampire or a serial killer but either way is really pulling off a My Chemical Romance cosplay.
It’s been a lot for mother Catherine (Megan Follows) to deal with, particularly when — going mostly unspoken through four seasons — we all know she’d have done a better job ruling than any of them. Which is only part, of course, of why it hits so hard to see Charles physically throw his mother in this week’s episode.
Much of the joy of this series all along has been in Follows’s bravura performance as Catherine, developing her almost immediately from antagonist to one of the show’s most beloved figures. When Charles turns on her, he’s not only alienating himself from his most powerful advocate — he’s turned one of the world’s most powerful fandoms against him.
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On a show as vibrantly, multi-dimensionally feminist as “Reign” it’s particularly galling to watch Charles’s poor little rich boy routine. He doesn’t want to be King, but he also doesn’t seem to want anything else (other than whatever blood or other lusts he’s indulging, always mainly for attention). We can only feel relief that not even “Reign’s” 1560’s has the technology for Twitter.
But contrast with Mary (Adelaide Kane) and Elizabeth’s (Rachel Skarsten) constant, desperate quests to be taken seriously as monarchs –even when Mary toyed with abdicating last week, it was partly for the good of her country. Either of the cousins would love nothing more than to be in Charles’s position; unquestionably accepted as ruler, surrounded by supportive family and courtiers. Yet, as ever, Mary and Elizabeth must continue their constant battle for status quo.
Both the English and Scottish Queen are committed to their respective paths: Elizabeth, like Charles never raised to rule, knows that part of securing her nation’s fealty is providing them with an icon of unshakable power. Not only does she get to wear her first pair of trousers as she joins her late father’s colleagues on a hunt, but setting her ruthless ambition against a single stag gives her, for once, a indisputable win.
Mary, whose parents were not as beloved as Elizabeth’s father, must depend upon her rebranding as Definitely Not an Out of Touch French Aristocrat — along with marriage to the wholly unknown quantity that is Lord Darnley (Will Kemp).
Mary gets an unexpected PR boost when she’s able to arrive, bearing food, for a crowd of peasants primed to turn against her. That she, her brother (Dan Jeannotte) and Darnley are present, and able to help save the same peasants from a fire, both wins her the admiration of the villagers and shows her would-be fiance in a new light.
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Now, did Darnley have something to do with setting the fires? We’d all suspect so, even before Mary gets a letter from a secret admirer warning her off of him. The same reasons that make him a powerful husband to her and formidable enemy to Elizabeth are the one he could use to usurp Mary’s crown. She soundly dismisses his prenuptial request for the Crown Matrimonial — a sort of Renaissance version of one spouse buying out a large life insurance policy for their wealthier partner. His making the request raises alarm bells for her, but their marriage of convenience still remains her best offence against her cousin. And if his worst trait is being a bit too ambitious… He’s still a better pick than some of the other men who have tried to wed her.
Were we to gauge the power index for these Queens, this week ends with Elizabeth slightly higher than Mary, who is slightly higher than Catherine, left unconscious on the palace floor. We’ve seen Catherine wreak utterly deserved vengeance against those who dare to wrong her or her family — but she is, for now, powerless against her teenage son.
We’ve watched the goalposts move, as Catherine’s demands go from “Please act like the King you are,” to “Stop terrorizing young women because you’re bored” to, now, “At least wipe the blood off your chin.”
What recourse can even Catherine have, against a son — and monarch — who denies her any control? And of course, the show continues to tease us with what, exactly, is going on with the young King. Is Charles literally a vampire, or just a run-of-the-mill serial killer? Did he, in fact, treat last week’s young woman to a visit to a group of dead sailors, like she said, or did he hunt her through the woods, Ramsay Bolton style?
In his refusal to bend to anyone’s will, King Charles perversely wields more power than ever before — because he’s got nothing to lose; conversely, Mary and Elizabeth’s struggle is that either could lose everything, at any time.
What does this mean for their respective countries? By episode’s end, England and Scotland have at least the security of devoted monarchs willing to sacrifice self for country. France, with a moody black hole where their leader should be, is in a much more precarious position…
“Reign” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.