PinkRibbons

In regards to Damon and Stefan's relationship, I'm wondering if in the next few episodes, we're going to see a more protective, big-brotherish side of Damon than before. He and Stefan seem to have buried the hatchet quite a while ago but IMO there hasn't been nearly enough scenes of the brothers together to show how their relationship has evolved. Damon has just spent four months being Bonnie's sole companion and, in some ways, protector, and it seems to have softened him. Knowing this show, it'll be a while before Elena is de-compulsioned, leaving Damon to focus on the other important person in his life, Stefan (I mean, hopefully while also trying to save Bonnie). He's got an idea already of how badly Stefan was doing without him, and I don't think he'll hold Stefan's giving up and trying to move on against him (really, the only way Stefan could have saved him was by getting the Gemini Coven to help, and Stefan did in fact contact them with no apparent results. There's a good chance they had no idea that anybody else had landed in Kai's hell). What I'd like to see is Damon at least telling off Alaric (if not Elena as well) for not taking care of his brother in his absence. Stefan is the oldest in the group, but he's also 17. Everyone expected too much of him and, aside from Caroline, didn't seem to want to give him any room or time to grieve.

Is it too much to hope that the Amy/Bernadette plotline will be picked up again in later episodes? Because this was a pretty serious situation to just leave hanging, even for TBBT writers. For one thing what Bernadette said was incredibly hurtful -- like, friendship-destroying hurtful. And for another thing, I thought that the story was actually touching on some really interesting subject matter. Although I admit that I agreed with Amy the whole way through. Bernadette's "I was winning this conversation until I said that!" line didn't actually seem right to me. Amy talked about how she wrote the magazine complaining about very real issues of sexism, and she said so in what sounds like a totally logical and valid way. I also liked the discussion about whether one female scientist's actions can be damaging to other female scientists. Bernadette getting pissed off really did seem just like her wanting to show off her "assets" and be featured in a magazine, since she resorted to the "you're just jealous!" argument pretty fast.

NOTE: Reign airs on Wednesdays in Canada, meaning that the episodes are very often viewed a day before they have aired in the US. Therefore please be aware that this thread will almost definitely have spoilers for those who wish to wait until Thursday night to view the new episode. New Theme Song Footage! Well, I'll give this to the writers: I don't think I've ever before seen "I'm going to seriously hurt your feelings instead of putting you in danger by telling you the truth" and truly believed it had to be done. (I mean, I wish he hadn't used that particular lie because it was so painful, but Mary is relentless and you could see that Francis was grasping at straws.) Toby was magnificent in this episode. And I really like that the show made use of all that time spent on building up the idea of spirits and Darkness and all that jazz so that the idea of Caroline being a faker is actually a twist! That's one incredible actress Narcisse found. I enjoyed the moments of levity with Lola and Kenna (and Catherine!) and Monsieur Mysterious Butterfly Wink Wink. We needed some funny at this point. But speaking of Catherine I'm very surprised she didn't have more to say about the religious conflict. She's usually all up in any Royal Business and this is a thorny issue I'd think she'd want to advise more on. Finally, YES! GREER! Excellent choice, girl. I'm sorry that she'll probably end up in all kinds of religious mess, but I'm still super happy for her. Castleroy and the kids are such sweethearts.

I'm honestly still annoyed they had Francis claim the baby instead of being named Godparent along with Mary. They keep comparing the situation to Bash's, but in that case Diane and Henry had been together for years and every single person at court knew who the baby's father was. Lola and the other ladies worked hard to establish legitimacy for her baby; she could have been a respectable widow with a child who returned to court to serve the queen because her husband had died and left her nothing except his title. Her marriage prospects would be fine; presumably she still has her own funds from her family and also as Mary's Lady she has a relatively high position in court. Francis could have spent a lot of time with the kid under the guise of Godfather and yeah maybe it would hurt that the kid wouldn't know that Francis was his father instead of Julian, but is that really worth ruining Lola's life, endangering the throne (bastards are a liability, as we learned all too well last season) and embarrassing Mary (which, btw, has international implications because now the whole of Europe will think she can't have children. In history most likely it was a deficiency on Francis's part and I think everyone knew it, which is probably why she was such an eligible remarriage prospect after Francis died)?

The place to guess at the future with nothing but what's already been shown to us! I keep thinking that the Mystic Falls barrier is going to end up manufacturing a vampire cure by sheer accident. Let's take Stefan (who I would really prefer to get to be human, which means it'd more likely be Damon) for an example. Say something happens (magic, whatever) that lands Stefan inside the barrier at night. So his daylight ring not working isn't an issue. Stefan died from being gutshot, and we know it took him longer than Damon to go down (as it seems Damon got hit to close to his heart and died almost instantly); long enough to see Katherine nearby and wake up quite a while after Damon had already woken up in transition. So say that the bullet wound was too bad for Katherine's blood to heal it, but maybe he stayed alive a little longer because the vampire blood was trying and failing to save him. Presumably he died from bleeding out. What if someone inside the barrier (I'm looking at you, Matt) managed to stop the bleeding long enough to get Stefan into surgery? If he doesn't die, the vampire blood in useless within Mystic Falls, and that leaves Stefan human. (Also someone better versed in CPR could tell me if this would also work for Caroline, since she died by being smothered. There might be a window where she could be revived; same for Elena if they could force the water from her lungs. Modern medicine is pretty amazing.)

My memories are murky; was there not any kind of conflict between Mikael and Esther after she cheated on him? I feel like before now we've been given the idea that Mikael beat up on Klaus a lot more mostly because he knew the kid wasn't his. I even had the impression that he was punishing Esther in a way by hurting one of her children. So I do wonder on what kind of terms those two would be.

I have to say that Ikki was so good that I actually still can't tell if she was manipulating the guards or just being herself!

This was mentioned in the latest episode thread but I thought I'd bring it here: it seems to me like Phoebe Tonkin is really struggling with her American accent. I would understand it happening right after the summer hiatus when presumably she went back home to see her people; however we're four episodes in, and it's still a problem. She's been playing American for at least three years already; on The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, and The Secret Circle. I know that a lot of international actors rely on the fact that they grew up watching American TV to be able to emulate an American accent by default, but if TPTB have any sense they need to hire an accent coach for her. Her speech is sounding really strange lately, almost like she's actively fighting with her natural accent at times and can't quite win.

We saw a lot of Leonard's chest in the episode with the itchy red sweater. That was...unpleasant.

I spent the whole episode thinking Emily's plan would be to call a press conference and blow her own cover. Let's see Victoria keep David from hearing about that. But I forget if there's evidence behind what she's done that would put her in much legal peril. I mean, obviously the Graysons would sue for fraud but they're so unpopular that Conrad's death isn't being investigated at all, I have the feeling that most of the public would be on Emily's side. "I took on this new identity in order to clear my father's name, since the rest of the world had long given up on him. I myself have been personally put through hell by Victoria Grayson, who, knowing I had seen her steal my father's laptop, paid off a child psychologist to effectively torture me into hating my father. When I was shot last summer it was Daniel Grayson holding the gun and he did it not because he had any idea of my identity, but because he was drunk and had found out I wasn't pregnant. Oh, and Victoria Grayson personally smothered my lover to death and left his body on my couch."

The part about Bolin makes me wonder just what they're counting on him for. I mean, I hope it's that they believe he will manage to mediate peaceful talks, which would be in his personality. But I wonder if Kuvira has an emergency plan in place for if Bolin turns. I really want to know how far Bolin has gotten with his lava-bending (and if he is in fact the only person known to be able to do it), whether Kuvira has been encouraging practice or deliberately distracting him away from learning. 'Cause there's a possibility here that Bolin is going to be Toph-level powerful. I don't think any army, no matter how well fitted-out, is gonna be able to keep marching when the ground turns into lava. (And now I have a really funny image of my head of Toph standing calmy in front of Zaofu as the army approaches, cracking her neck and her fingers and grinning because she's about to annihilate. Bolin's also there, really freaked out, but doing what she says. Heh.)

I wonder if Zach did remember on some level. Before he was killed off in season one I seem to remember him saying that the reason he didn't start a family was because he didn't want the family vampire issue to get anyone else hurt (or something in that vein). Maybe on some very deep level he could still sense what happened?

This reminds me of an episode of Supernatural, where Sam's version of heaven includes reliving the day he walked out on John and Dean. Dean is horrified because he remembers it as one of the worst days of his own life. I think the writers were trying to convey something like, that Damon felt here was where he finally went too far and drove Stefan too far away. I don't know how convincing it was, but I think that's what the writers were trying for, when Damon himself considers something to be the worst day of his life/worst thing he's ever done, not necessarily what anyone else would consider the worst from him.

Ikki and Jinora are saints. If Meelo was my brother, I would have smacked him ten minutes into the journey. Loved that Ikki got to be the hero for once. I sympathize with her, everyone always left me out of things too. The airbender kids were funny and interesting, but I wish their screentime had been limited a little more and given to Korra. The resolution to her illness still seemed abrupt to me, even after four episodes and 3 and a half years.

Okay, so Adelaide Kane has finally impressed me! I thought she was fantastic this episode, and Toby turned in his usual excellence. What I find funny is that when you look at Lola and Mary, the two of them are extremely similar. If the situation was reversed -- Lola the queen, Mary the knocked-up lady in waiting, I don't think the results would be any different at all. I think Lola would be understanding and patient and Mary would be nervous about how calm Lola was being. Words cannot express how much I LOVE the idea of Narcisse being a bad bad man but a good husband. That right there is how you give a character depth. And I was seeing the chemistry there with Lola too, maybe if they get married she can reign in his more evil tendencies. I like how the show isn't staying away from couples with huge age discrepancies when it was actually common for noble women at the time to marry men much older. I appreciate that the show isn't trying to cater to its modern audience in that: they don't go out of their way to make Castleroy seem like a gross old man, because he really is a decent guy and this is a decent match. Greer continues to be one of my very favorite characters. Her speech about why she won't marry Leith was so mature and well thought-out. I feel like media lately (especially on the CW) is always pushing for us to root for the handsome young man no matter what he's done. Leith hasn't been the worst person, but that speech he gave to Greer at the end of last season was a red flag and she realized it. The kid is ambitious and if Greer doesn't care for that, she should be allowed to move on. That being said I fully expect Castleroy to die soon after marriage to pave the way for a very rich widowed Greer to marry Leith. I'll miss Castleroy though, especially if they keep his character the same. It's funny, but yesterday I suddenly felt in the mood to watch The Tudors, the Catherine Howard episodes specifically (Torrance is so creepy as Culpeper ugh). I've also been watching medieval documentaries on youtube. As far as marriage goes, both parties agreeing to be married made them as good as married in the eyes of the church (Catherine Howard really did seem to have agreed to marry Francis Dereham, and while Henry probably could have made that go away if he wanted, that "precontract" was sound legal basis for divorce). Technically Greer and Castleroy aren't doing anything wrong, even if they haven't had a ceremony yet. I wonder if the show is going to go into why Mary had her miscarriage, if there is a cause other than sadly it can happen for no apparent reason. The scene when she and Lola are drinking together made me wonder. To a modern audience maybe they were trying to imply that the alcohol intake caused it? Earlier in the episode when the girls were toasting with champagne, Mary didn't seem to have drank any because Kenna distracted her. But then again, in moderation drinking some alcohol during pregnancy isn't theoretically the worst that can be done. In any case I don't believe the connection between alcohol and harm to fetuses had been concretely identified yet in this time period, although I'm sure pregnant women probably didn't over do it, especially when they were so concerned about the health of the child. I'm kind of surprised Catherine wasn't all "You can't have sex while she's pregnant!" at the couple since that was also a theory at the time. But another thing about the drinking scene that's needling me is that the bottle they were using looked to me a lot like something out of the chest of medicines and food Catherine gave Mary at the beginning of the episode. I really hope it's not true, but if Catherine is convinced that Francis will die no matter what she does, her pragmatic side would possibly go as far as to poison Mary into miscarrying. I think the only way they would know is if Lola too starts having cramps heavy bleeding out of nowhere (especially if she's still nursing, which usually suppresses periods for a while.) I hope that's not true, because messing with a pregnant woman seems far even for Catherine, motherly as she is. The scene when Mary starts miscarrying I was practically shouting at Conde, "go get Catherine you idiot, go get Catherine!" Because without Nostradamus, Catherine may have been the only one around who had some remedy on her that could have slowed the miscarriage and saved the baby. In any case another woman should have been there (midwife or even just another lady that had miscarried before), and without one leaving Mary to miscarry alone was incredibly reckless; Mary could have died. Even if Catherine is untrustworthy Conde would be nearby to witness, and Catherine could have kept the secret from Francis until after the christening. When the chances of saving the pregnancy were low, they may as well have tried what they could. Speaking of Catherine, I'm intrigued by those two little girls because I wonder if they're meant to be the manifestations of the twins from Catherine's final birth; twin girls who both died in infancy. The birth almost killed Catherine as well. Obviously the girls are way too old, but creepy little girls are far more interesting then creepy newborns who can't really do anything. It would explain why Catherine didn't quite recognize them. On a lighter note I love that they used the instrumental version of The Lumineers "Stubborn Love" for a dancing scene. It's kind of obvious but I really like them doing that occasionally instead of using just the whole original modern song for score. I was tickled when they danced to Lorde's "Royals" at Lola's wedding last season too.

I remember reading the TWOP recap back when the episode aired and laughed till I cried over the recapper saying something like (I'd quote it directly but it won't load for me), "Henry continues to stand there in the window, royal wang flapping in the wind."

I wonder the same about Catherine. But then again when the kids got married Henry was reasonably young and healthy and she didn't have to worry about ceding her crown to Mary for a while, so grandchildren weren't unwelcome. Catherine is, if nothing else, extremely motherly to her own children. And Mary seemed to have difficulty conceiving even before Henry started going mad, there was that hilarious scene with Catherine giving her "medicinal aids"...but come to think of it, talk like that seemed to stop fairly soon, didn't it, hmm... I would definitely believe that Catherine knows some kind of chemical that acts as a birth control or even as an abortifacient that, when administered in a timely way, would mask a very early miscarriage as a period. It seems extremely cold though, even of Catherine, who took ten years to produce an heir herself and got very very desperate. But if she is doing it I worry for the wee baby of Lola's, because that would represent the same kind of threat to the throne that Bash did. Other thoughts on the episode: I liked the juxtaposition of Bash and Kenna against Francis and Mary: the latter couple has to think about their country, and yet sometimes slip up in favor of their own feelings. Meanwhile Bash is actually going after some lofty ideals while Kenna is trying to preserve their lives. And actually I feel like that could add a whole new dimension to their marriage. If Bash is dead-set on putting himself in political and mortal peril, I wouldn't put it past Kenna to become the venomous protector of him. Oh, Bash is onto a noble and the noble is threatening Bash's life? Kenna strikes at the noble from behind utilizing something Catherine or Narcisse-esque. She can be a very savvy girl, she could learn to play politics very well if she put her mind to it. Also, Conde is so dirty you can almost smell him through the screen. How many times must a guy be caught red-handed but with a "good excuse" before you stop believing him? I missed Greer and Leith's story (though for sure Leith would show for the coronation, and maybe he did off-screen), but I understand why it had to be on the backburner this episode.

I say this as someone who loves Toph from top to bottom, but damn would I not want to be her kid. But then again I'm not a fan of tough love, and found the whole "you don't want to be better, you have to will away your PTSD" thing kind of harsh, especially since Korra has been trying so damn hard for three years and being told that her remaining issues are all in her head, only to now find out, she's still poisoned! (But I admit I should rewatch and might change my opinion on that, I got up at five to see this episode before work and my brain doesn't absorb as well that early.) My guess is that Korra is going to end up crying out the last of the metal, which should be a pretty beautiful image, I hope it's done right. Kuvira and the Earth Kingdom Empire is giving me serious USSR vibes. Hopefully it won't take most of a century to collapse! It's one thing to provide needed aid, but when its resources run low (and it should, considering Kuvira has just pissed off most of the world's leaders and likely destroyed a lot of trade), things should get ugly. Oh, and "camps" for dissenters? Yeah, that'll go over well. Not. I've been convincing myself that Bolin has been with Kuvira this entire time as a deep-cover spy for Lin or Tenzin. The way he acted in this episode may have contradicted that, maybe not. I would just love it to turn out that Bolin has been playing Kuvira this whole time. You never see the goofy dork spy coming.

I've been getting the episode descriptions from amazon instant video, but they don't show until the episode is ready to watch. Very annoying. That being said, I'm so excited for the next episode!!! The last one may have been the best the series has done. My only hope is that we get paralleling stories, switching back and forth between Korra and Republic City within the episode instead of switching every other episode. I can't wait an extra week for Toph!

Just as an extra quick thought about Mayim as Amy: the wardrobe department isn't just going for frump, they're deliberately putting her in lots of layers to obliterate her figure. I recently bought the Tonner Doll Amy Farrah Fowler, and she was wearing three layers on top, including a fully lined body suit. Took every curve she had and made it into a roundish line. Also, more proof that Mayim Bialik can be very pretty and even quite hot:

Reign airs on Wednesdays in Canada, meaning that the episodes are very often viewed a day before they have aired in the US. Therefore please be aware that this thread will almost definitely have spoilers for those who wish to wait until Thursday night to view the new episode.

I'm not positive that David recognized Emily as his daughter. It seemed more to me like he saw her and hesitated, wondering. And then got chased out by Nolan with a gun. Not to give Victoria too much credit because this is a ridiculous plan, but it's possible she's thinking she can convince David that the other Amanda was his daughter, since Emily was able to get Jack so completely convinced of that fact. Of course, Victoria doesn't have a slew of memories and inside stories to tell David about his so-called dead daughter, which backed up her credibility when Emily had her posing as the "real" Amanda. Twenty years is a long time not to see a child, it isn't impossible to believe David wouldn't recognize his own daughter, especially when the fake one was of similar age and coloring to her. Still, with him remembering Charlotte's eyes, his chances of recognizing Amanda now look a lot more likely. Victoria didn't necessarily know that he was observant in that way.

For me I the only one I can find slightly acceptable is "Lola" because I assume it's a diminutive for "Charlotte" (not the most common use of Lola; according to thinkbabynames.com it's most commonly used for Dolores and occasionally for Louise). Of course, the idea of "Lady Lola" is laughably absurd, but these girls were in fact historically great friends and it's not impossible to believe they had nicknames for each other, especially since the four Marys were commonly referred to by their last names, which they may have seen as clunky and/or unfeminine. Heh -- wouldn't it be hysterical if it came out that all four girls on the show were actually baptized as Mary, and that all their names were nicknames that deliberately sounded more Scottish? I believe the historical figures did all speak Scots to each other even at French court. My new headcanon for the show is that they chose those as nicknames to annoy Catherine, who hated reminders that she wasn't the only queen in the house. And while I'm there, thinkbabynames lists the definition of "Kenna" as "fire-born; good-looking" and says the name is of American origin, a feminine of Kenneth, nad that name is in fact Irish! (Though the site says it's also Gaelic, but doesn't say whether it's Irish-Gaelic or Scottish-Gaelic.) "Greer" is in fact Scottish, not surprisingly used for a last name and a boy's name as well. Apparently it's a variant of Gregory ("watchful, vigilant"). "Aylee" (when spelled Ailee, with an i) is a Scottish variation of Eileen. Looks like it means "bird". None of these names sound time appropriate to me, I have to say. Then again I don't remember seeing much in the way of Sarah, Ruth, or Rachel when reading about the Tudor period. It looks to me like they were wall-to-wall Elizabeths, Annes, Janes, Katherines and Marys, with a few Margarets.

I think the whole Lola/Francis hookup was pretty much what we saw on screen; two lonely, sad people finding a little comfort with each other. I don't think it had anything to do with Mary at all.

I think his grand entrance included some foreshadowing that he wasn't actually evil, just savvy. Yeah, he showed up with a girl in a cage, but he did in fact save that girl, an action that did not benefit Narcisse at all. Meanwhile Conde's in the woods hiding out and making plans for himself. I'm frustrated for Greer. I've come to like her the most of Mary's ladies, and this episode demonstrates why, I think. She's straightforward and honest. I love that she admitted that she went to see Leith, it was very mature of her, even if that wasn't appreciated. And I love that she doesn't pretend to be anything or anyone she isn't. I almost feel like she's being too hard on herself about Leith and Yvette -- after that speech Leith gave her, the idea of him just randomly going for a girl who just happens to be Castleroy's daughter seems absurd. Greer may have suggested that this was what Leith was up to partially out of jealousy, but she wasn't at all wrong in telling Castleroy about her suspicions. It's a shame that honest people get screwed over so much on this show.