S01.E01: Medici Bitch

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

TBA

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

I liked it. Elements of "The Great" amidst historical drama, with some great performances. I really only knew Catherine from some history courses way back when in MY history, and her role in "Reign", which I didn't take all that seriously. And, of course, Nostradamus! Now I am watching every YouTube vid about her!

She was quite a formidable woman.
 

This is a very different style than the other Starz historical dramas but I like it. Suits Catherine’s personality. I liked the actress playing teenage Catherine. I wonder if the entire series will be told in flashback. 

[AntFTW]

Good first episode.

I was skeptical but it has my attention.

[ferjy]

I agree, it’s different but held my attention. A lot because of the actress playing young Catherine. Samantha Morton is always good, so I expected it from her, but Liv Hill is very good. I haven’t seen her before. I don’t mind the breaking the fourth wall, so was okay with that as well. Looking forward to more.

Edited September 14, 2022 by ferjy

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

This is a very different style than the other Starz historical dramas but I like it.

I noticed Becoming Elizabeth seemed to incorporate a lot more steady cam shots than all the previous series had. This one seems to do more of that too, plus different narrative style now. It’s ok so far, I guess. I think I really liked Charles Dance as the pope the best, he was cracking me up.

[Scarlett45]

9 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I noticed Becoming Elizabeth seemed to incorporate a lot more steady cam shots than all the previous series had. This one seems to do more of that too, plus different narrative style now. It’s ok so far, I guess. I think I really liked Charles Dance as the pope the best, he was cracking me up.

I always love when Charles Dance shows up. He’s such a good actor. 
 

I do want them to develop Catherine’s retinue. Let’s let them have real personalities and assist her in her adjustment to France. 
 

This characterization of Henri seems complex as well. He presents himself as a pretty decent guy, same age range as her, you THINK they’d get along swimmingly, but his ego is so bruised by the bedding he lashes out. And yup he’s got an older woman as a mistress, who has his emotional attention right now. Let’s see how Catherine adjusts to this knowledge- and the one woman she thought would be her ally. 

[ferjy]

22 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

I always love when Charles Dance shows up. He’s such a good actor. 

He has such presence. He didn’t even have to speak yet, just the look on his face as he approached on horseback was enough. 

[Razzberry]

It's got my interest!   Can't go wrong with Samantha Morton and Charles Dance.  I like the sarcastic dark humor, but was the bloody scalpel scene really necessary?  Yikes.

 

Who doesn't love a juggling dwarf?

And the main performance drew rave reviews...

Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Bort]

3 minutes ago, Razzberry said:

And the main performance drew rave reviews...

Oh that… I mean, I know that’s a thing that actually happened for royal wedding nights but… dear god. A whole gallery of people? What’s wrong with a semblance of privacy, just a couple of people behind a screen so they don’t have to deal with twenty eyeballs staring at them.

[Razzberry]

I think it was probably more discreet IRL, but this group is something else.  I heard a smattering of applause,  a bravo, and well done.   But then, the Germanic position is always a safe bet.   LOL  

Edited September 12, 2022 by Razzberry

[Bort]

Not to mention the jousting metaphors.

[Pop Tart]

I think they did a good job at meshing real historical details with the sly, dark humor. It certainly felt better researched than The White Queen, Spanish Princess, et al. Those shows just feel like historical soap opera (not that there's anything wrong with that 😉) where this one feels like historically researched fiction with contemporary, sharply pointed humor.

Not sure I'm explaining it well. But like The Great, it's using the basic through line of the historical record to tell a modern story? To really great effect. Perhaps that's what I mean.

[Bort]

5 hours ago, Pop Tart said:

I think they did a good job at meshing real historical details with the sly, dark humor. It certainly felt better researched than The White Queen, Spanish Princess, et al. Those shows just feel like historical soap opera (not that there's anything wrong with that 😉) where this one feels like historically researched fiction with contemporary, sharply pointed humor.

Not sure I'm explaining it well. But like The Great, it's using the basic through line of the historical record to tell a modern story? To really great effect. Perhaps that's what I mean.

I find the details so far to be about the same level of change for storytelling purposes as the predecessor shows. I mean, Catherine’s father’s death depiction was correct, but not her mother’s (postpartum infection). And Catherine was parked in quite a few other stops along the way in between her grandmother’s and the convent. The predecessor shows had made dramatic changes, yes, but each of them had genuine attention to detail about a lot of things.

I really don’t feel like it’s like The Great at all, because that show goes out of its way to depict itself as a satire that doesn’t intend to follow actual history, while Serpent Queen seems more earnest in its storytelling, just trying to be creative about it.

[Haleth]

I thought it was fun.  I mean, who doesn't love Charles Dance?  The actress playing young Catherine was wonderful portraying her as intelligent, sarcastic, and not shy about speaking her mind.  I'm on the fence about how the story is being showcased as (a series of?) flashbacks and I felt sorry for Rahima.  (Although if that was a test she definitely passed by stealing the orange.)

The marriage bed scene was equally horrifying and hilarious.  The comments from the spectators had me laughing out loud.

I'm guessing we are not to talk about actual history here?

[Bort]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

I'm guessing we are not to talk about actual history here?

You can once it happens on the show. But not events that have yet to occur.

[CountryGirl]

I finally had a chance to watch last night and I am loving it. 

Charles Dance elevates anything, without saying a word, but both actresses playing Catherine are fantastic.

I love the clever use of breaking the fourth wall by younger Catherine - it makes sense as her older self is narrating her own story and she's letting us, the audience, in on things. Liv's facial expressions (like when spitting in one of the French dude's wine) are amazing. 

To think that she was only 14 and a bounced-around orphan when she married Henry. 

The costuming is gorgeous, even if Catherine did look as if her attire were attacked by a bedazzler here.

I loved her recognizing making friends with the oppressed to gain loyalty like "perfumier" Angelica. 

I agree that Rahima passed the test with Catherine by "getting her own back" with the orange. Well-played.

Mathilde, speaking the truth.

Diane is such a trifling bitch. Pretending to befriend the smitten Catherine while instructing her in exactly the wrong behavior for her wedding night with Henry. I hope Catherine gets some revenge for this. And gross to what comes off as a mother/son relationship between Diane and Henry. 

I'm all in on this smart, sassy, sarcastic, and funny as hell series.

[Razzberry]

I just want to say that closing the episode with Patti Smith's cover of Gloria was amazing.   I think we're in for a wild ride!

[Linda956]

Well, this was different.  I was expecting a straightforward historical drama on Catherine de Medici like the other historical series on Starz, but this is almost played in parts for laughs.  Not a "Ha Ha" funny type of laugh, but more of a dry wit and sly observation.  Breaking the fourth wall is also different.  I normally don't like historical dramas that use modern dialogue, but since this is breaking so many other rules, I guess one can overlook it.  Using Patti Smith's "Gloria In Excelsis Deo" to end the first episode tells you this will be an interesting tale.

[rollacoaster]

Just based on the comments here, this sounds AMAZING. 

I'll wait for all the episodes to drop then renew my subscription to STARZ. 

[PinkRibbons]

Don't mind me, just listening to the audiobook this show is based on according to the credits....

I think I can say pretty fairly that this is not gonna be a very historically accurate show. That is not however a bad thing. As a lover of history I am far more put off by media that has pretenses to accuracy but goes way off the mark. (The Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movies for example are just so glaringly not right I can't stand to watch them outside of isolated scenes on youtube. Cate does a damn good dressing-down of the Spanish ambassador.) When a show comes along that actually does get things accurate (i.e. Becoming Elizabeth - not completely accurate of course, but way closer than any other historical drama I've ever watched) I take it as a nice surprise, but it's not a given.

The again, when you have a show that knows it can't be accurate to tell the story they want to and goes ahead with what they want while winking at the audience? I love that. The Great, Six The Musical, even Reign to an extent. Drop your pretensions to accuracy and embrace anachronism to tell a universal story? I can work with that. I won't love all of it (the entire second season of Reign was just endless. rage. But then again that show had a habit of taking itself too seriously), but I'll enjoy it for what it is.

[greekmom]

On 9/12/2022 at 4:08 PM, Pop Tart said:

I think they did a good job at meshing real historical details with the sly, dark humor. It certainly felt better researched than The White Queen, Spanish Princess, et al. Those shows just feel like historical soap opera (not that there's anything wrong with that 😉) where this one feels like historically researched fiction with contemporary, sharply pointed humor.

Not sure I'm explaining it well. But like The Great, it's using the basic through line of the historical record to tell a modern story? To really great effect. Perhaps that's what I mean.

The White Queen and Spanish Princess were both based off of Philippa Gregory's novels.  This one is based off of  Leonie Frieda's book which is non fiction.

[taanja]

On 9/16/2022 at 1:44 PM, Linda956 said:

Well, this was different.  I was expecting a straightforward historical drama on Catherine de Medici like the other historical series on Starz, but this is almost played in parts for laughs.  Not a "Ha Ha" funny type of laugh, but more of a dry wit and sly observation.  Breaking the fourth wall is also different.  I normally don't like historical dramas that use modern dialogue, but since this is breaking so many other rules, I guess one can overlook it.  Using Patti Smith's "Gloria In Excelsis Deo" to end the first episode tells you this will be an interesting tale.

THIS!! ^^ I came on to say this!

I watch a crap ton of historical series but I am loving this new take.

They got me immediately when Uncle Pope (Charles Dance) is saying how she isn't pretty or whatever he was droning on about and Catherine looks at the camera and spits right into his cup of wine!

loved it!

[andromeda331]

Off to a great start. I love Catherine de Medici. She was awesome. Diane was a bitch but I always hated her. Her relationship with Henri has always been really creepy. Why Henri would prefer her to the awesome Catherine? He's clearly an idiot.