S02.E03: Coronation

[PinkRibbons]

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.

 

Quote

 

Mary looks for a solution to be able to feed the people of France. Francis is haunted by suspicions about his dead father's ghost. Catherine plans an extravagant coronation ceremony.

 

[Rhondinella]

Soooo . . . I presume from the (awesome) evil glint in Catherine's eye during the final scene that she is the reason Mary hasn't become pregnant yet?  I mean, I have no idea how exactly that would work with renaissance-era medicine, but this show hasn't exactly hewn closely to reality for anything else, so . . . .

 

Actually I hope that is the upcoming plot and I'm a little mad at myself for not realizing it sooner.  Of course Catherine is behind it.  Catherine is behind everything.

 

In other news, as great as it is to see SOME consequences of their foolish decisions coming back to haunt both Mary and Francis (but especially Mary) I really need to have some storylines that do not end with Mary and/or Francis coming up with a brilliant scheme to get themselves out of it.  Monarchs make difficult decisions, and sometimes not ones they like.  I would like to see them wrestle a little more with this reality, although I do appreciate how much more the show has become about actual political machinations and the realities of keeping power as a king or queen.  I hope that trend continues.

[PinkRibbons]

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.

[missbonnie]

Oh how I love this show. I love the costumes and I love the plot lines. I especially love the character Catherine, however, if she were to do something to deliberately cause Mary to miscarry, I am going to have a problem with that. I really, really wanted Francis to take back the land of Leith's that he had been forced to give to that snake Narcisse as punishment for the all his bullshit double dealings. I felt so bad for him last week, he was so lost as to why Francis would do that to him.

[Rhondinella]

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.

 

 

I completely expected that storyline to turn out differently.  Once it was announced that Lola was pregnant with Francis' child, while Mary was having trouble getting pregnant, I just KNEW they would solve both problems at once by "faking" a pregnancy for Mary and then substituting Lola's child.  There is historical precedence (as if the show cares about that).  But I admit that having Lola and the baby kicking around court as they have set it up now opens some interesting possibilities as well.  If Mary doesn't ever have a son, then Francis might consider legitimizing Lola's son (again, a fair amount of historical precedence for this too).