TV

Things are heating up on Reign, as Francis’ utter inability to do anything right begins to backfire on him, and Protestants take to the street after making a martyr out of a man Francis refused to make a martyr of. It’s beautifully dismal. And even if there were something he could do to improve his situation, perhaps by alerting Catherine to it – but oh, what a wild dream that is! Never to be, never to be – Catherine is a little busy hallucinating and will have to get back to you. The full recap (and a breakdown of this season’s remarkably cynical approach to the nature of power) is up at the AV Club, in my last of the regular gig, which means it’s a veritable essay on how I feel the season’s done so far. And in case there was any remaining doubt that Lola’s new political subplot is contributing to her slow rise as the Catherine of a new generation, enjoy these equally Done faces. Catherine, in a pretty lovely gold-and-black ensemble,… Read more »

Last night, literally everything that could possibly happen on an episode of Reign happened. Over at the AV Club, I ding it for being overstuffed, even though I give it points for trying to have an episode overtly about women negotiating relationships based on limited choices, even if it ended with Narcisse standing over the body of his wife and confiding in Lola, who I swear has gotten more romantic bounce-around than literally anyone else on this show. It was also a christening, which meant a parade of costumes, the best of which was without a doubt Mary’s red gown, worn here as she and Lola make up after their fight, but definitely highlighting exactly what their power differential is, and the reason this fight will come up again. So many costumes in one episode would normally would make me very excited except that there was so much else going on I could hardly concentrate. This butter baby, for example, which was so amazing that they devoted a whole beat to Bash just staring at… Read more »

Guess who had their big day last night! An iffy tactician and her husband! Don’t get me wrong, her strategic scrambling has come together this season as an actual through-line and not just a series of awkward decisions enacted at random. The entire second season so far has been great; I wrote up why over at the AV Club, including asking why Francis is not wearing French blue, because the one thing this show remembers historically is that red is an English color and Mary literally wore it one time to be political. Show, please. Please. However, I’m the first to admit that, Francis’ color scheme aside, this was a week of great dresses on our main ladies. Kenna as hipster floaty queen, Greer as preemptive widow, and Lola as glittery Earth Mom carried through the whole episode. In this one, Celina Sinden is about to attack Mary with all the power of the xenomorphs over whom she is the queen if Mary can’t get her shit together like instantly. She did, though! What an… Read more »

So, this was actually a great episode, in that my major complaint about the show (its tendency to drop subplots and characterizations without a second thought, so for example Catherine’s use of a python to suggest Nostradamus not leave town was never really ever addressed, and by that I mean they barely interacted for the rest of the season – not because he was avoiding her, just for plot, and even then there was none of the snake-related tension you might expect) was addressed. EVERYBODY got some consequences! Bring your one-night-stand and her kid back to the castle? Her existing friendship with your wife is torpedoed. Shove a powerful nobleman’s son into a dungeon to die? That nobleman’s going to be proving his power by forcing your hand on some stuff! Constantly hang out with your douchey ex? Your fiance’s probably going to be sad about it. And of course, my favorite: try to gently poison Catherine for her own good? Ooooh, buddy, don’t. (The slightly more analytical version of that is at the AV… Read more »

Welcome back to Reign, the show that doesn’t care harder than any show has ever not cared! I’m lucky enough to be covering for Caroline at The AV Club for the opening few weeks of the season, which means the bulk of my commentary will be found over here, all official-like, for the moment. (Since it was the first episode of the season and I had to break down all the returning subplots plus remind everyone Leith is Gross Gatsby, it’s a monster.) My unofficial commentary will remain here! And of course, our primary concern is this nerd and the queen who occasionally tolerates him: Here, technically, she is talking about how they are unprepared for the spread of plague. In reality, we can only assume she’s making it clear how weird it is to even look at him after he shaved, as he studiously waits his turn for petty revenge. (Later, when he approaches the throne, Catherine motions the guards to let him through and he looks so gently happy about this restoration of… Read more »