Reign is historical fiction with a dollop of teen angst
What is it? Reign, Season 1, 22 episodes on five discs from Warner Bros. When? Now How much? $59.98 Whose reign, exactly? Mary Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane). She’s not in Scotland, though. She’s in France.
When the series begins, 15-year-old Mary has been hidden away in a French convent for her own protection. But a failed assassination attempt sends her out of seclusion and back to the French court. After all, she’s betrothed to the French dauphin, Francis (Toby Regbo). Naive, awkward with courtly life and tomboyish, she’s nervous about going to live with the royal family.
Francis, a dashing young prince, is handsome and charming but also somewhat indecisive when it comes to Mary. At least at first.
Mary arrives back at court with a gaggle of giggling ladies in waiting (Celina Sinden, Caitlin Stasey, Anna Popplewell and Jenessa Grant) with anachronistic names like Greer and Kenna. They’re all so excited to be at the glamorous French castle with all sorts of strapping, attractive men running around.
But it’s not all fun and games. The two royal teens have the weight of two countries on their shoulders, so they can’t exactly be typical kids in love.
Francis’s father, King Henri II (Alan van Sprang), is a bit ambivalent about the impending marriage. Not ambivalent? Francis’ mother, Queen Catherine (Megan Follows). Spooked by predictions from Nostradamus (Rossif Sutherland), she’s determined to make sure Mary and Francis’ marriage doesn’t take place. And she’ll go pretty far to achieve her goals.
Meanwhile, Francis’ illegitimate half-brother Bash (Torrance Coombs) is forming his own attachment to Mary, which could bring about more complications.
Sixteenth-century politics and religious turmoil are bringing tensions to a boil. But it really all boils down to sex.
Is this historically accurate? Ha! No. Not at all. But at least it doesn’t pretend to be.
The anachronisms in speech, behavior, even names are too numerous to list. And when it comes to events in these real people’s lives, the series is wrong more than it’s right. Also, many of the characters bear no resemblance to their real-life counterparts whatsoever. For instance, the real Francis was a sickly, frail young man who surprised no one by dying just shy of his 17th birthday. He was hardly the stereotypical dreamboat depicted here.
Basically, this is Gossip Girl in the 16th century. Or Vampire Diaries without the bloodsuckers. You get the picture. Basically, they’ve taken the names of actual human beings and pasted them into a paint-by-numbers soap opera with 16th-century costumes and atmospheric castles.
It’s the TV version of Mad-Libs.
Who would like this? People who can’t get enough of CW series about teen angst. People who love historical fiction (emphasis on “fiction”).
History buffs are more likely to tear their hair out or maybe just laugh their heads off.
It’s an attractive show, to be sure, and the acting is pretty much on par with other series of this type, with Follows a full head above everyone as conniving Queen Catherine.
Are there extras? Two behind-the-scenes featurettes and a slew of deleted scenes.
New this week: American Horror Story, Season 3; Bates Motel, Season 2; China Beach, Complete Series; The Flying Nun, Seasons 1-2; The Following, Season 2; The Office, Complete Series; Penny Dreadful, Season 1; Psych, Complete Series; Vikings, Season 2; The Wonder Years, Complete Series.
Next week: 2 Broke Girls, Season 3; Dracula, Season 1; Fargo, Season 1; Murdoch Mysteries, Season 7; Two and a Half Men, Season 11.