Amph CW's Reign (2013 - )

One of the CW's newest shows to premiere this fall, Reign has overcome a somewhat shaky start and developed into a strong show. Episode 11, "Inquisition", in particular, upped the stakes and took a darker turn than perhaps any of the episodes before. I have not yet watched last night's episode, but I intend to soon. It will be particularly interesting to see how next week's episode turns out - whether Mary weds Bash or Francis. My money is on Francis, because I can't see the show straying that far from history (despite the liberties taken so far) by having her marry Bash, but I could very well be wrong.

"Since Mary, Queen of Scotland, was a child the English have wanted her country and her crown. She is sent to France to wed its next king, to save herself and her people - a bond that should protect her, but there are forces that conspire, forces of darkness, forces of the heart. Long may she reign."

 

Only two episodes left in Season One - "Long Live the King" tonight and the finale "Slaughter of Innocence" next Thursday. I have a feeling that France will have a new King by the end of the finale. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

 

Season 2: very hit and miss so far. Getting tired of the blackmail storyline, and the rumored rape spoiler that surfaced last month still has me wary in view of the just released description for 2X10. With ratings dropping like a stone, I don't expect Reign will get a third season, which is a shame. The show could be much better if the writers would relent on the angst a little.

 

I don't think CW reigns. It's better than it used to be, but still lags behind other networks in terms of audience and quality. It certainly didn't begin last year, that's folly!

 

Har, har, har.

 

Mods, please lock this thread, as no one else appears to be watching the show and I am not sure if I will continue to after tomorrow's episode.

 

I think the king might die tomorrow.

 

I have no intention of ever watching this show.

 

Thanks to a Canadian viewer on another forum who recapped the episode during commercial breaks as it aired in Canada last night, my worst fears were confirmed. Reign is as good as dead now. If the CW thinks that viewers will tune back in next week after seeing a rape scene played out on screen - after the rumor leaked in October and quite a few of the show's fans begged the writers not to do it, and it appears to have been thrown in for no other reason than to create more drama and angst between two of the main characters when the show was already grim enough - the network is deluding themselves. The key demo ratings are already in the toilet Stateside, and I'm betting they won't improve after tonight, only keep going down. I am well and truly done, and if "Reign" gets cancelled at the end of the season, as seems more and more likely, it will be no less than the writers deserve. I used to enjoy this show, but Season 2 has been too grim since Episode 4, and the rape is the final straw.

Good decision, Sith-Lord-Gunray. Season 1 isn't bad, but Season 2 is a mess.

 

Totally fine if you're done with the show, but I think the show is handling this well. They had the rape hotline number at the end of the episode. On facebook they had Adelaide Kane talking about how serious this was and where you can go to get help. I actually think this is a good thing for the demographic of the show (which isn't me I have no idea why I watch this show) because rape does occur on college campuses and it goes unreported and women deal with this on their own and they don't have to.

Also, the real Mary Queen of Scots was supposedly raped so they didn't just pick this up out of the blue.

Don't ever watch Game of Thrones or read the books.

 

FYI, I already read ASOIAF.

Second, my complaint isn't with the rape itself, per se, but the fact that it seems to have been thrown it just to create more drama as if the strain on Francis and Mary's relationship wasn't enough already. Since the end of Episode 4 they've drifted apart. The pregnancy storyline was both revealed and resolved in one episode. The blackmail storyline was dragging out for too long, and Francis didn't have the guts to tell Mary the truth. No matter that she would have been implicated too - she already WAS because of her and Catherine's failed attempt to poison Henry at the end of Season 1, before Francis killed him. Francis really has no good reason to keep the truth from her, and when it comes out next week, it may push them even further apart. To put it bluntly, the show has been almost completely dark, with no real rays of happiness, since Episode 4, and by throwing the rape in, the writers have pushed the darkness in more into the season.

 

Why do you think the rape will cause strain? I think it will empower them to get through it. It was Francis that was pulling away from her, this will make him come back to be her white knight. I think you have them completely wrong. And as I already pointed out, it didn't come out of the blue. This stuff happened frequently back then and I think time period-wise it makes more since to let this show address serious issues that still exist in today's world than say Arrow (which is another of CW's dark shows).

 

s65horsey, doesn't look like it. Read the third and fourth questions/answers.


https://tvline.com/2014/12/04/reign-mary-rape-scene-season-2-interview/

TVLINE | This was a brutal thing to put your main character through. Why did you feel it was necessary?

The rape is something we built to all season. We talked about it when we structured the season. We talked about the rising tensions in France and we talked about bringing them to a boil that became very personal and very destructive — not just to Mary, personally, but also to her marriage.

TVLINE | Was there any historical reference for this, or was it completely your own invention?

The Protestant/Catholic tension happened and there were assassination attempts on the king that happened, and this was loosely based on that. Given the fact that we’d already toyed with history by having Francis kill his father, I didn’t want to leave that hanging; I wanted it to actually mean something in the context of what’s happening this season. This was a way of bringing all those threads together and showing how vulnerable rulers were at that time, particularly a female ruler.

TVLINE | How is this going to affect Mary, both short-term and long-term?

Her sense of security is completely gone, and that’s something we’re going to follow through the season. In the short term, she’ll be traumatized, she’ll be scared, she’ll be fearful of her own safety. It’s also going to do incredible damage to her relationship with Francis because, even though it was a hideous act of hatred, it’s going to be hard for her to separate the rage people generally felt toward their rule from the choices that Francis was making.

TVLINE | Francis seems ready to take action.

Oh yes, he’s ready to take action. It’s going to be bloody and violent and it’s going to have ramifications for the rest of the season. He’s ashamed of the fact that he killed his father, even though he had a million reasons to do it, because it put all of them in grave jeopardy. He thought he was going to dig himself out of this problem, but every time he tried, he got further in. Now, it’s all going to pay off; once Mary learns the truth, it’s going to be hard for her to separate the trauma of being raped and the bloodshed that’s taken place in their region from the choices that Francis has made.

TVLINE | The follow-up scene between Catherine and Mary was so powerful. This is, I assume, a major turning point in their relationship?

That’s one of the reasons I wanted to write this story, as well. I really wanted to bond those women. No one else can relate to what Mary’s gone through the way Catherine can. We always knew we were going to do the assault on Mary, and we always knew it wouldn’t be the end of the episode, that we’d move past it to how this would alter the relationship between Mary and Catherine. I love the character of Catherine, especially her ability to step up.

TVLINE | The spoiler about Mary’s rape leaked online a while ago. Were you aware of fans’ responses? And what’s your response to their responses?

When people wrote to me online and said, “Please don’t do this,” I thought, “Thank God people are saying, ‘Please don’t do this.'” You wouldn’t want people to be saying the opposite. I felt their concern for a character that they’ve really come to care for, but it didn’t alter my thinking as to whether or not this was the right story to tell.

TVLINE | I assume you were also a little irked that the spoiler was leaked to begin with.

[Laughs] Well, that too. I did have that response, because it obviously came from someone close to the show. There was an e-mail that went out to the cast and crew — from me — because you don’t want things put out there out of context. It really does everyone a disservice, including the fans.

TVLINE | Lastly, I know we didn’t see exactly what was done to Mary, but could this result in a pregnancy?

I think that’s what she is fearing. I’m sure that’s what she’s afraid of; that would be horrible.