Evil Anne of Green Gables: Queen Catherine

[Rhondinella]

I totally stole the epithet from Dan Feinberg at hitfix.com, cause it cracks me up.

In case you weren't aware or didn't catch it, Queen Catherine was Catherine de Medici.  Yes, THOSE Medicis, which explains a lot.  She references this in the first episode when she says her family wasn't noble but was filthy rich, which is how she came to marry a king.

[aradia22]

I love the title of this thread. I used to watch Megan Follows in that Anne of Green Gables movie all the time. I had the box set but the sequels when she got older were not as entertaining. I've only watched the first few episodes of Reign but I wish she was a little more deliciously evil. Catherine de Medici should be such a compelling female character or at the very least a deliciously camp role and at least in the first four episodes, I don't feel like she's really been going for it. 

[Rhondinella]

As I said, I borrowed the epithet from Dan Feinberg at Hitfix.com (and the Firewall and Iceberg podcast he does with Alan Sepinwall).  I've never watched the Anne of Green Gables stuff and had no idea who she was.

[paramitch]

I'm only posting here because friends mentioned how fantastic Megan Follows is in this role as Catherine, so I bingewatched Season 1 over the past 2-3 weeks and thoroughly surprised myself with how much fun it was. I'm a history teacher's kid so I was immediately snobby about all the sometimes hilarious myths and inaccuracies, but I also admit I'm totally sucked into the show, in spite of myself. I appreciate that events move fairly quickly and that Mary is not always a likable character.

 

Which brings me to Follows. I was actually kind of unwilling to watch her here at first -- I loved Anne of Green Gables and didn't want to tarnish that memory in some weird way, but Follows is so brilliant that of course the idea is just silly. She is an utterly different character here and there's no trace of Anne at all in the performance -- it's rich and nuanced, as well as being campy and downright funny when she intends it to be.

 

I love what Follows is doing with Catherine and think she's damn impressive, and on a better show, she'd be a shoe-in for some Emmy nods. As it is, I think she's brilliant, and interestingly enough, you can definitely see how her Stratford Shakespeare theatre work informs her character here. Catherine is a wonderful character -- human enough to identify with (however fleetingly) yet also proud and cruel enough to be believable when countries and thrones are at stake. 

 

Also, on a technical level, it's great to see Follows working at this level -- her accent work, her carriage, her acting is all superb -- despite some uneven work around her (the guy who plays King Henry has some very obvious accent problems throughout season 1 that really grate on me). She manages to make me care about Catherine despite my continued horror (and humor) at her antics and what she's willing to do to stay in play on the chessboard.

 

I love the title of this thread. I used to watch Megan Follows in that Anne of Green Gables movie all the time. I had the box set but the sequels when she got older were not as entertaining. I've only watched the first few episodes of Reign but I wish she was a little more deliciously evil. Catherine de Medici should be such a compelling female character or at the very least a deliciously camp role and at least in the first four episodes, I don't feel like she's really been going for it. 

 

I hope you kept watching. By midseason Catherine is simply fantastic and definitely by the end of Season 1, Catherine shows herself to be a character who is both willing to die and kill for her kingdom. She's a fantastic character who is both villainous yet also shows glimmers of humanity when you least expect it.  She definitely makes the show for me and is performing at a whole other level from the rest of the cast.

Edited February 24, 2015 by paramitch

[LilJen]

Just found this on Netflix. I'm only through the first few episodes, but I definitely enjoy Evil Anne with an 'e'. It's kind of fun to see someone who's scheming not just because she's evil and power-hungry but also nutso over some soothsayer/visionary dude. Eagerly awaiting further developments :)

[DaynaPhile]

Whomever posted the link for Genevieve Valentine's blog that tears this show apart while simultaneously declaring its love for Anne..ahem...Catherine...is my hero. I'm reading every entry and it's so awesome I have no words.

Also, do any other Anne fans think it's funny that Mary Queen of Scots was the play she chose to put on as the benefit concert when she worked at Kingsport Ladies College?

Edited December 4, 2015 by DaynaPhile