Reign

2 Comments Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Reviews, TV Talk

Reign on Prime – 1×12: Royal Blood

Clarissa1x12This episode was all go, wasn’t it? From kidnapping, murder, and suicide fake outs (not necessarily in that order) to marriage proposals and gambling and breaking the rules of feminism (once again, not necessarily in that order).

Clarissa hanging out in Catherine’s room, looking through her mother’s jewellery box and finding locks of her half-brothers’ hair- before her snooping is rudely interrupted by servants looking to do the nasty in the Queen’s rooms. You already know that Clarissa, Peeping Tina Extraordinaire, is poised to do something to make you go ‘what the actual’. She doesn’t disappoint. Que Mary’s furrowed brow as she tells Bash she’s worried about hearing from the Vatican and Bash’s half-bros, Charles and Henry. She thinks it’d be a good idea to take them to the Frost Fair, but some peasants attack the carriage and the words ‘dirty whore’ are thrown about. Rude.

Mary and the princes make it back okay but she and Bash have some disagreements, mostly with how to better take care of the young princes after the attempt on their lives. You can see both their points and also see the cons of both their ideas. Of course neither of them see Clarissa coming, do they?

Although Mary wants to integrate Clarissa into society. She even makes her a creepy phantom of the opera type mask that doesn’t help Clarissa at all. When Mary relays this to Catherine Catherine’s harsh stance on this is heartbreaking. She wants nothing to do with the daughter she gave up. Meanwhile Clarissa sits in the tunnels, where Olivia must be- surely, watching her half-brothers play through the walls. And for some reason I’m reminded of that Supernatural episode ‘Family Remains’.

image

Lola comes to a house of abandon in Paris, no less, to pay her brother’s debt and get him out. While there she’s grossed out by the owner, who wants to do the ‘horizontal no pants dance’ with her. To be honest when she walked into the place I thought she was there to find Francis. Funny that, because Francis is there and is masquerading as a wealthy viscount who conveniently, after a fake out loss, wins his wager (I didn’t know the game but everyone clapped so we knew that Francis won) against the owner saving Lola from an unpleasant night ahead. So they get drunk together instead and then get freaky with each other? “We’re a pathetic pair, aren’t we?” Teenagers get with each others significant others and exes all the time, even if it’s against the Bro Code and/or the Rules of Feminism or something.

Bash being adorable and bringing the ‘Frost fair’ to his brothers. But they make the mistake of leaving the kids under Kenna and Greer’s watch and they seemingly go missing. There’s a creepy guy off to the side and everything to pull the best fake kidnapping since Bash was locked up by the Italians who stormed the castle that one time. Bash pulls Mary aside and assures her that the whole thing is a ruse set up to get the boys safely out and on the road, which proves to be the worst idea because Clarissa. Suddenly the princes are kidnapped for real, by their facially disfigured half-sister who’s mentally unstable. Unstable enough to tell the boys to put rocks in their pockets and go for a swim with her while it’s still technically winter. They’re eventually found by Catherine and Mary who’ve had to work together on this one despite the whole ‘you tried to kill me’ issue.

Catherine’s Mary’s main antagonist, but she’s not the ‘bad guy’ she’s a complicated character. She’s in the clear, once Nozza helps her fake a suicide to get out of jail but upon hearing about her sons’ kidnapping she refuses to listen to any reason and with all the stealth of the ninja in the corner of your room watching you without your knowledge she sneaks into Mary’s room because nothing’s more important to her than her sons. Too bad that isn’t extended to Clarissa who’s knocked over the head by Mary as she holds the prince who’s not only her half-brother but was also the only one to play with her at the castle.

I suppose it takes a betrayal to highlight the other betrayals.

Honourable Mentions:

- “Oh good. More sanctimonious talk from my self-appointed redeemer.”

- Greer and Kenna had one job.

- Mary proposed to Bash but then he tells her that’s not how it’s done. Bro, you’re a bastard about to be legitimized- don’t go telling people how things shouldn’t or should be done. Also, them eyes.

- I do believe we have a Wedding to attend next week, but who pray-tell is the groom?

Leave a comment Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Reviews, TV Talk

Reign on Prime - 1×11: Inquisition

1x11 Inquisition

You know what else works really well for Reign? When they don’t even pretend at historical accuracy. As Torrance Coombs (our lovely-eyed Bash) said, Reign is ‘historical fantasy’ more than anything. Mary’s earlier years were boring as hell, I mean, the most interesting parts of Mary’s life, as told by history, comes much later. We’re talking unhappy marriages, murder and eventually something called the ‘Babington Plot’ (none of which occur in France). Oh yeah, the Tudor Era was my favourite history subject in college (high school for you Americanised few). I say Tudor because I only learned about Mary, Queen of Scots via my obsession with Good Queen Bess.

Reign’s strongest episodes feature four things, creative liberties with Mary’s story, random acts of violence, plot-line revalations that might not make sense except for the fact that it totally does and leave for Megan Follow’s Catherine de Medici to outshine everyone in the episode. Yes, even Bash’s eyes. This episode is a treasure trove of soap that culminates in one of the most intense scenes of this season yet.

Mary and Bash are trying to protect his cousin’s pagan baby. And they’re making eyes at each other but all our eyes are fixed on Catherine, her ruthless Medici family and the unfortunate soul accused of having an affair with her.

“Hello old friend, too bad you didn’t see this one coming.”

“Somehow I never see anything coming that could help me.”

NOZZZY! Of course that’s who Henry’s accusing Catherine of treason and adultery, that sound is my 14 year old sister screaming about double standards behind me. The Medici’s pressure on the Pope meant Henry couldn’t get his marriage with Catherine annulled- so he’s keen to get rid of her through other avenues. Thanks to the Medici pull, however, Catherine has the chance to perhaps save herself, or at least secure Francis’ spot as king again, but how does she go about it? By trying to expose Bash’s dark past. She only succeeds in exposing her own dark past, it would seem. Speaking of dark, we find out why Noz thinks it’s okay to keep Clarissa in a cage, he feels responsible for her. Nozzy’s dad tried to remove this bastard baby’s birthmark and botched it up so badly the baby’s face had to be covered by a sack for the rest of her life- Nozzy feels responsible because not only was it his dad’s fault that Clarissa ended up looking the way she did, but also because he couldn’t just kill her or release her into the wild as a kid. I love that it’s been how many episodes and Mary’s barely gotten a glimpse at Clarissa, but Catherine sees Clarissa lurking in the shadows and grabs a hold of her like damn, no fear. Catherine’s face when Noz tells the story, though. How can she go from cruel and harsh to confused and hurt in 60 seconds flat, Follows is ridiculously rivetting.

Catherine’s inquisitor turns out to be Henry’s friend, Richard Delacroix, she had banished from court a long time ago. Henry thinks he’s got someone not ridiculously loyal to her but what Henry doesn’t know that Richard and Catherine had a thiiiiiiiiiiing going on. Just call her Mrs Jones. The reveal was enough to make me go ‘what?! WHAT?!’ Especially after (Richard’s mule comment) finding out that once upon a time Henry and Catherine were happy, or were at least in love with each other early on in their marriage. I didn’t know I could ship Catherine and Henry, but I shipped them so much in those few minutes they were discussing, well shouting, their past mistakes at each other.

And then Reign pulls a fast one on us and Catherine is suddenly in the Richard’s arms as he comes to tell her that Henry’s had second thoughts about the trial. Everything seems to just snowball at this point. Because Bash and Mary’s storyline finally start to converge with that of what we’re all fascinated by. The lady looking after the pagan baby reveals what we’d been suspicious of since Nozzy told Catherine the story of the deformed baby having a weird birthmark and what happened to it.

CLARISSA IS CATHERINE AND RICHARD’S LOVE CHILD. Bash and Mary rush to narc, I mean which is totally what they should have done after all she’s trying to get Bash killed, trying to pin him as a pagan. Henry, proving he’s quicker in the noggin than we give him credit for puts two and two together when hearing the pagan-baby’s carer’s story about Queen Catherine’s illegitimate child with a portwine birthmark and the fact that his ‘friend’ Richard has the same kind of birthmark. Richard tried to save Catherine but only ended up condemning himself and so Catherine gives one last ditch effort to expose Bash as a pagan by bringing up Diane’s pagan decorations. But it doesn’t go quite as she planned.

Henry’s reaction to one of the guards just trying to tell the truth is so very Game of Thrones. It may be the first time I ever found King Henry attractive, not sure what that says about me. But hey, I’m here for it. As Follows utters ‘well played’ just before she’s dragged out you can almost feel her desperation. Henry’s rage is splattered all over her face in the guard’s blood and Catherine may have seen through it, his real anger does reside in what he perceives as not just Catherine’s ultimate betrayal, but Richard’s too. I mean, yo that’s one of the most important rules of the Bro Code. Don’t bone a bro’s wife.

However the episode isn’t finished with you yet. Because the Medici then advise Catherine that the best way to save face is to take some poison and that final montage of Catherine getting ready does seem to lead trick you into a false sense that Catherine’s about to do the unspeakable. Instead she makes her way to Mary’s chambers, where Mary had been doing the opposite (stripping down for a bath) and tries to poison her. Deciding to go kamikaze, before Clarissa bursts in to save Mary’s day, and in the process also save Catherine who rejects her. It’s all very disorientating, but at least Mary winds up back in Bash’s arms just as the credits roll.

Savour these Mash/Mabastian moments, Mash shippers- because Francis will be back soon enough and history will intervene at some point. (And yes, I’m aware that this comes at the end of a review that barely even mentions Mary and Bash.)

As Catherine is dragged off by guards, yet again, and Mary says ‘we’ve killed you’, I have to wonder how Catherine will get out of this bind this time.

Honourable Mentions:

- Life lessons from dear old dad:

- After this season I might just start reviewing them in real time, that is the day it airs on the CW. Thoughts?

- Quote/Shade of the week goes to King Henry: “No one cares, Kenna.”

2 Comments Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Talk

Reign on Prime – 1×10: Sacrifice

Reign-Sacrifice-01Here’s the thing, Reign works so much when it’s a ridiculous borderline fanfic. When the writers indulge our ships and bloodlust you best believe it’s going to be insane, while also managing to be one of the best episodes of the season so far.

It’s so beautiful, mostly because there’s more Bash- Coombs is given leave to showcase more of his talent than broody bastard- in its soapy goodness. Sassy Bash is the best, his excitement about being Regent in Henry’s absence is written all over his face. He’d rather spar with the guard his mum sent him than go play at being King.

But as someone tries to assassinate him (which has Catherine’s name written all over it) it’s clear that people are not keen to have a bastard on the throne. Even if he’s Henry’s favourite son. Speaking of Henry’s son, Francis is noticeably absent this episode. Off enjoying his free time to do as he pleases? Also absent, Nozzy and Clarissa- Clarissa’s probably lying low under Mary’s bed as Nozzy continues to bleed out in the cell where he kept Clarissa.

The guards bring in a heavily pregnant Pagan girl who has strikingly familiar blue eyes, they want to search her place so they can find all the Pagans. Bash and Mary ride out to get her to safety, but not before Mary asks the question people want to know the answer to. Is Isabel his baby mama? It isn’t until that moment you realise Isabel has such strikingly familiar eyes because they resemble Bash’s and you find out that she’s his cousin. When Greer tells Isobel not to worry because they dress Mary on a daily basis, I know that historically it would be true, but on Reign it just comes off as a joke. Like, when do you guys do anything?

Although in this episode they almost make up for episodes of not doing much, especially Lola (Anna Popplewell) who chooses this moment to hop onto my list of characters I don’t want to see die.

It’s understandable that Mary would freak out in the blood woods when she comes across a Pagan decoration hanging up on a tree outside their tent, but dear lord why would you touch it? If she had left it the Pagans wouldn’t have decided to go mental and sacrifice those poor horses. Maybe.

The way she stares at Bash, when he starts chanting to, you know, save their hides which she put in danger, is like Bash had gone outside and slaughtered the horses himself. Mary confronts him about the ‘Heretic’ chanting and he tells her not to be so ignorant. Despite his familial ties to the Pagans, Bash himself is Catholic, the religion of Henry and Mary as well.

Their argument is interrupted by Isabel going into labour, luckily Mary’s there to help deliver the baby because she learned to do so via NunTube- she did say she saw a lot of babies being born. Unfortunately Isabel dies the next morning, but not before marking the baby with a Pagan symbol and making Bash promise to find the baby a good home.

It’s sad that Bash has to pretend to bring Isabel’s body back as a dead fugitive, but at least he gets to bury her as she would have liked. Even Mary comes to pay her respects.

This may be the first time I believed Mary and Bash as a couple, don’t tell my sister or she’ll kill me in my sleep. It’s just hard not to be swept up into the moment- what with Mary cutting herself to honour Isabel’s beliefs- and then them making out with bloodied hands all up in each other’s faces. Hawt.

Honourable Mentions:

- Bash Watch: Sassy Bash is the best Bash.

- Catherine still has the best lines. Mostly when she’s insulting Kenna.

“You’re not smart enough to survive at court.”

“Do you think I care what the king’s former bed thing chooses to gossip?”

“Where are you going? I’m not done abusing you.”

Leave a comment Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Talk

Reign on Prime - 1×09: For King and Country

Hello Prime Underclass, I know last week there was an encore screening of the Reign pilot, on Prime, which threw a lot of you off. If you needed a quick refresher of the last new episode to air on Prime mosey on over to: ‘Fated’ -1×08.
‘For King and Country’ picks up right where we last left off, with Mary and Bash running away- incidentally in the same direction- because Queen Cat and the soothsayer Nozzy (good name for a band I BAGS’D IT) had finally come clean about why Catherine’s been trying to sabotage Mary’s union with Francis. The guards are hot in pursuit and Mary and Bash have no choice but to-

-jump off of a cliff together. They end up at a tavern wet and cold and tired and Bash tries not to be a peeping tom but kind of fails and just when things look like they’re going in my 14-year-old sister’s OTP’s favour the guards turn up and drag the two back to the castle.

The storylines are starting to get a bit complicated but hey that’s life on the upper east side of the French court when King Henry can only see dollar signs (that’s not right- bags of gold? A golden throne?) when he looks at Mary and so agrees to go along with Mary’s demands that he legitimate Bash. In fact he gets so behind it, he stops an attempt on Bash and Mary’s lives by his lovely wife and decides he’s off to Italy to see the Pope about a bastard.

As per usual Megan Follow’s Catherine de’ Medici is a driving force of the episode’s villain-ry while claiming maternal instinct. However there’s something about the way Follow’s eyes can appear severe without much effort that strikes a genuine fear in me for Mary’s safety. Adelaide Kane does well in her portrayal of a young Queen scrambling to save her love from a prophecy that is way off, and Bash- reputation be damned! Even if Bash is not quite a friend or love (yet). I do feel for Bash who gets thrown in jail for being in the wrong (right) place, at the wrong (so so right) time to catch Mary on her way out and then help her run away.

That confrontation between Bash and a bitter Francis, I like bitter Francis, was well-played. Bash doesn’t want the crown despite the fact that he may want the girl. Francis has no idea what’s going on, even after he finds out about the ‘prophecy’ and tries to convince Mary about how much of a poppycock the entire thing is.

Speaking of poppycock premonitions, Nozzy didn’t see himself getting a stab and gap from Clarissa did he? But oh Clarissa you really should learn to use your raspy-voiced words!

Honourable Mentions:

- Bash watch! Them eyes.

- Someone give Francis a hug! Toby Regbo also does well when given the chance to show Francis having more than three emotions. ‘Long may you reign!’ Damn, son. Right to the feels. Don’t worry, history should serve you just fine…well.
- Until next time LONG MAY YOU REIGN!
1 Comment Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Talk

Reign on Prime - 1×08: Fated

FatedWelcome, welcome, to our weekly chat about New Zealand’s favourite new guilty pleasure. Are you calm enough to discuss? In a show that’s taken such liberties with history, so much as to assert that Mary’s marriage to Francis would spark off an earache-initiated demise for our future King of France, it’s interesting to see the show finally address the ‘prophecy’ issue in a way that continues to play out like an AU fanfic about Mary Queen of Scots, her notso sickly husband and his bastard brother who totally existed.

This episode was rich in, well, everything; the soapy melodrama was amped up, supernatural undertones were pulled to the forefront once again and historical politics pulled the strings that kept our ships in place- all helping to set a tone so tumultuous you felt a bit like Francis at the end, falling to his knees in an almost comical fulfillment of prophecy.

You know that when a couple start the episode in bed all loved up that something’s going to tear into their happy bubble and bring it all crashing down around them. For Mary and Francis it happens to be ‘fate’. On team ‘Fate’ we have Queen Catherine and Nozzy (Nostradamus), and to some extent Diane who’s still trying to get Bash aboard the legitimacy train. Team ‘Frary’ (at this point) consists of King Henry- who’s super happy to hear that Mary Tudor is dying and everyone’s ready to back Mary’s play for the English throne- Clarissa and Mary’s ladies in waiting.

Bash, in meta fashion, is on team ‘AU AU AU’, that is if the world were different he’d get the girl and still have his bro too.

So the King is ready for Mary and Francis to finally tie the knot- heck he doesn’t even know they’ve rocked the boat. Giggity. And this sets Catherine into a rage, she’s ready to poison everyone to stop this unholy union that will be the undoing of her baby boy. Nozzy has another vision that foretells the death of one of Mary’s bff-ladies. And yes, it’s the one we have zero attachment to, if it had been Kenna I would have been relieved but Aylee’s death gave me no feels at all. I’m not sure if that makes me a monster or whether the writers intentionally set it up so that the first ‘regular cast member culling’ wouldn’t phase their audience too much.

Catherine finally decides that it’s time to come clean to Mary about why she keeps trying to sabotage her relationship with Francis. Only because Nozzy urges her to, she’s content to kill Mary off but the Nozmeister convinces her that the truth will set her free.

Kenna, so thirsty to be Henry’s one true mistress, gets burned when he tells her straight up that he’s never going to drop Diane because she’s the best he’s ever had. He didn’t say that, but he might as well have. Also, in her thirst, Kenna doesn’t realise the Priest who mistakes her for Diane has just shaded her. Like he just mistook you for someone old enough to have a fully grown son. Maybe that’s why the king will always go back to Diane? Double burn.

Speaking of burning, why’s Nozzy so mean to Clarissa? Sure, she’s somewhat responsible for Aylee’s death because she pushed her down the stairs but only because she would have died anyway, poisoned by the drink meant for Kenna. Kenna sees a cat lap some of the cup’s spilled contents and then sees it die. Ooooooh shit.

Isn’t it just perfect that while Bash is getting ready to run away, Mary’s also about to go on the run ‘fer the sake of her lurve!’ And so, timed most perfectly, as they’re riding out Francis comes running out too, in an effort to try to stop Mary from leaving. He sees her and Bash on their horses about to go a’galloping off together and as they do he falls to his knees, much like how he does in Nozzy’s visions making it look like Nozzy misread his own prophetic images.

Honourable Mentions:

- Anyone else feel shafted by how the ‘prophecy’ panned out? I felt a bit shafted by the fact that images that Nozzy saw of Francis supposedly ‘dying’ is suspiciously exactly the same as that final scene of Francis falling to his knees heartbroken from seeing his girl galloping away with his brother.

- King Henry telling Mary that Elizabeth will target Mary no matter if she makes a play for the English crown or not. Mary does, spoiler alert, die by Elizabeth’s orders…but only after she’s implicated in a plot against her.

- Megan Follows poisoning her bird though. That’s messed up.

- Until next week? Things continue to get dicey, and much more complicated.

1 Comment Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Talk

Reign on Prime - 1×07: Left Behind

Good evening Prime Underclass, how are we tonight? Did you catch Reign? Shall we discuss what transpired tonight? We saw some characters buckle underneath the pressure, some traumatised by the events that occured and interestingly enough we see a few rise to the occasion. One thing’s for sure, Megan Follows can hold an episode together like no other as she convinces us that Catherine de’ Medici’s probably one of the most complex characters Reign has to offer. Can we also take a minute to acknowledge that this episode was basically ‘what would you do for your children?’

So the King and his troops are away and this leaves Francis, Bash and a few guards behind to watch the castle. This turns out to be the worst idea ever as the castle is sequestered by one Count Vincent of…some place in Italy. At first we think he’s here to say hi, but nope he’s here for VENGEANCE! Also, he’d been colluding with Diane- Sebastian’s mum. Yeah, remember when she mentioned to Bash that ‘bastards being legitimized was all the rage in France’? Bash spends the majority of the episode locked up haha, but there’s a ‘Bash Watch’ mention down below. So Count Vincent’s really here because his son had been taken hostage on French soil and wound up dead. His men are down to fox with the ladies against their will and he’s going to let them. The episode is pretty brutal.

Speaking of brutal- I must say I haven’t discussed Leith (ridiculous name) and Greer in a while. Mostly because this is the most interesting they’ve been, no? You know it’s love when he slits some guy’s throat so that you don’t have to carry the burden of murder on your own.

We go from this murder to Mary and Catherine having to work together to get everyone out of the castle before Count Vincent is to leave with Francis as his hostage. It goes down while Catherine, Mary and Mary’s ladies have to have dinner with Count Vincent and his men. Throughout the evening Mary gets people out through the tunnels with the help of none other than our favourite sack-headed Clarissa- who’s marked a safe passageway out.

Speaking of ‘safe passage’ Olivia, you had one job. Serves her right to be lost in them tunnels, because she couldn’t do one thing and bolted.

Because of this Mary and her pals can’t get out and are almost raped by the Counts’ men- almost. Catherine poisons the gold that the Italians had gotten overexcited about and it kicks in just as things get rowdy… they all die except for the Count who tries a YOLO rape attempt which backfires as Mary stabs him with a fork. Daaaaaamn.

Catherine is intriguing, she’s admits to Mary afterwards that she hadn’t been completely sure that the poison would have kicked in when it did. She reveals, in a rather poignant yet steely moment, that the first lesson she ever learned was to never wait for a man’s rescue.

Mary and Francis get together at the end and, well, bow chika wow wow. We’ll see you next week, where Nostradamus is back to give us some premonitions. Even though he didn’t predict this episode aye.

Honourable Mentions:

- Gloriana was mentioned again, granted it was Diane talking smack. How dare she call Elizabeth a bastard. How dare she. Although one shouldn’t compare Good Queen Bess to someone who didn’t even exist. Hehehehe.

- “Give me your heart, then. Carve it out and hand it to me so that we might understand one another. That is diplomacy, to understand my loss, to carry the weight of a dead heart with you every night and day until you find your grave. Roberto. Give me Roberto, and I will let your children live.” Gotta feel bad for him, his son had been murdered- although doesn’t mean he had to get all rapey.

- It’s awkward enough that Olivia has to report her sexual encounters with Francis to his mum, but to also have to admit that she called her Mary?

- And in this week’s ‘Sebastian Watch': Lordy is he aesthetically pleasing to the eye. He’s sassy too! I don’t care that you didn’t exist, please don’t ever get rid of Torrance Coombs!

Anyone else think he looks a bit like a lion?
Leave a comment Posted on by Mata Reign, TV Talk

Reign on Prime - 1×06: Chosen

You know when you do something and it turns around to bite you in the- what what now? Yeah, so does Sebastian. He screwed the pooch on the Pagan front, messing with a Pagan’s human sacrifice is like messing with a Pagan’s emotions. He knows this, because he’s now dreaming about his encounter with the Pagan boy who hurled himself off the balcony after telling him he done messed up. Bash’s interference has consequences, consequences that see Mary waking up to a damn stag’s head strung up over her bed as blood drips down from it onto her hand. The Pagans seem to be good at two things, human sacrifices and ultimatums. And the Pagans gave Bash an ultimatum, either he chooses someone to sacrifice to make up for the sacrifice he botched up by interfering in, or they choose someone for him. Bash tells them to stick where the sun don’t shine and they chose for him.

Thanks Bash.

Of course this throws the castle into a kerfuffle as they have to figure out how someone managed to drug Mary (so she wouldn’t wake up while someone was redecorating her room) and get the stag head hung up over her bed. Obviously an inside job. So Mary asks all the servants, to no avail- even Catherine steps in to play bad cop to Mary’s good.

But don’t let that fool anyone, because Queen Catherine is still Team Olivia, because ‘Mary will be Francis’ undoing’ according to her soothsayer.

And guess who’s back? Back again? Diane’s back… and Kenna’s pissed. The King comes back from Paris and brings with him Bash’s mum, you know the mistress he’s gone back to time and time again. Granted after Kenna bitches enough he pulls out the tiles, which Kenna’s friends pointed out had Diane and the King’s initials entwined, but he winds up back in Diane’s arms complaining to her about Kenna’s irritating behaviour. Like, really bro? No one told you to be creepy and hit that.

Meanwhile, Bash finds a thief to sacrifice and strings him up by his ankles in the woods. However his conscience stops him, and he uses the thief as a decoy so he can sacrifice a pagan in the poor thief’s place. Unfortunately, the thief makes the mistake of saying that he knew who Sebastian (the king’s bastard) was and Bash had no choice but to push the guy off a cliff. He gets back to the castle in time to find Mary and Francis having it out over well over Francis’ seeing Mary and Bash kiss. And Francis uses the ‘we can have an open relationship and I don’t care who you see… as long as it isn’t my brother’. Really? Really man?

So Bash now realises that perhaps his place at court isn’t that stable after all and tells his mother that Francis threatened him today over Mary. Well, my boy, your mother did tell you you’d burn for a girl who will never be yours. And Francis runs right into the arms of Olivia- oh the teenaged melodrama.
Long may it Reign.
Honourable Mentions:
- Did you guys like the bonfire with a side of Pagan servants?
- I hope you’ve stopped trying to marry history with the show.
- Join us next week on Prime for a spot of Reign. Things get pretty crazy when the castle is taken over by a nobleman with a vendetta.
- If you need any refreshers click here to read all of our past ‘Reign on Prime‘ reviews.