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Reign - Abandoned - Review: Consequences and Repercussions

24 Apr 2015

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Hey Royals! Are you ready to talk about this week's episode of Reign? I know I am. This episode had lots of sexy intrigue, terse Frary fake out moments and even action with Bash leading the charge. There is lots to discuss so let’s get started…

This week’s episode was written by Nancy Won and Robert Doty. We found Deborah Chow in the director's chair this week. I like the new writing team pairing of Reign veteran Nancy Won with newcomer Robert Doty. You get the wisdom of Won and some fresh blood with Doty and it resulted in an intense episode with great pacing and lots of sexual tension. Nevertheless, there was a lot of repetition of dialog, which drove me a little mad at some points.

This week’s episode saw Mary's actions drive Condé into the arms of another and who just so happens to be a rival queen! - Mary with the threat of England looming, aligns herself with France and thus, the ailing Francis. Condé makes a bold move that would tie him to England. With all of the turmoil, Catherine and Narcisse work to win favor in court. Meanwhile, Kenna got closer to General Renaude as Bash continued to be distant.

Did anyone else get excited when the episode opened up with an action scene? Call me corny but I love a good old fashion sword fight.

However, for some reason we bring the action to a grinding halt to cut to a Mondé meet-up in the woods. Apparently, Condé has been gone for a few weeks. Um, OK... If you ask me it sure would have been nice to see those weeks when was gone but whatever. I just want to ask what the point of moving the story ahead a few weeks was if you are going to employ the same exact stalling tactics for almost three fourths of the episode as the last batch of dreary episodes anyway. SIGH...

Back at the castle, Bash sets off back into the woods to get away from Kenna and Kenna inquires about his new “friend” She demands to know if this “friend” has breasts and a vagina. He informs that his new friend is of the female persuasion and tells her it is not her business just like what she does is not his. Before he can leave, news comes down about the children hostages. It turns out this is the doing of radicals who are ticked off about Francis sending troops to Scotland to defend Mary's crown.

Quick Aside: They really beat the dead horse about France being so vulnerable no thanks to Mary, didn't they?

Angry nobles gather to inquire about just what Francis is doing to get their boys home safe. A loose-lipped count gets reprimanded by Mary for speaking out of turn and she assures them that they are doing everything in their power to get their children back home safe and sound. Mary is genuinely concerned for the boys as she can relate to what they are going through on a visceral level. Francis tells Mary not to worry that she has his protection. And just when we think we're about to get a sweet and tender Frary moment, Condé shows his face and Francis quickly hardens his heart once more.

Catherine heads over to Narcisse's place to vent and plot. Turned on by Narcisse’s calculating, Catherine gets her creative scheming juices flowing and wants to hatch a plan to get rid of Condé. Narcisse is down for that but first he wants to satisfy some other primal needs first.

Meanwhile, Kenna and Lola are heading out to Greer's new place to drop off some money and offer up some moral support. Kenna bitches about Bash moving on so quickly and Lola tells her at now she does not have to feel bad anymore. Kenna and Lola are floored when they see Greer's new fabulous place and they don't even bat an eyelash when she tells them she's a running a brothel. Lola is happyish for her and Kenna is super impressed and curious. It’s not all peaches and cream because she can't buy certain things from certain establishments because of what she does. The upside? It is a mandatory requirement to have the finest champagne. Kenna offers up a toast to them, the fallen women.

We see Narcisse's and his men planting the dead bodies of Condé's men at the monastery.

Bash returns to update Francis and Mary with a scout report. Things don't look good. The boys are scattered throughout the monastery. The radicals have no demands but tons of gunpowder. Looks like this is a murder-suicide pack. They want to martyrs and they want to channel their inner Fallout Boy and be remembered for centuries apparently. Mary surmises that they are waiting for word to spread and for the fear to grow and when the fear and fervor is at its apex, that's when they'll blow it all up. Of course Francis feels the need to remind Mary that it is her fault, AGAIN. Now don't get me wrong, I totally see where Francis is coming from and agree with him but he is a king, he shouldn't be coming across a such a petulant child is all that I'm saying. And the fact that he did in front of Bash and an open door with guards there was just crazy.

Bash tired of the bickering tries to move the conversation along and set up a course of action. Bash gets all dramatic and assures his brother and king that he is willing to lay down his life for this cause but the team he has is not equipped for the mission he is about to embark on and off he goes out into the fray. Bash and his men try to take on the radicals at the monastery but it is a fail of epic proportions. In addition, Bash has spied men with Condé's seal. Uh oh...

Did anyone else catch the 'No Tea, No Shade' tea party Kenna and Lola threw for Mary? They are very concerned about Mary and her dangerous relationship with Condé. But all Mary can blather on about is Condé and how she needs to protect him. Lola tries to push Mary to get back in Francis' good graces but Mary informs them she is his queen only and not his wife. Kenna adds insult to injury when she asks if Mary really thinks she and Condé still have a chance. Apparently, at that moment Mary really did. Why? Your guess is as good as mine is.

Bash returns to the castle to scold Francis about forcing him to use the wrong soldiers. Catherine suggests that Francis use General Renaude's men. Mary reminds them that the general is loyal to Narcisse. Francis is hesitant to have anything to do with Narcisse but even Bash thinks it's a good idea so Mary acquiesces and finally so does Francis. But before Bash rides off he tells Francis that he saw Condé's dead men at the monastery and Condé did meet with Protestant leaders. Bash even suggests that perhaps Condé is looking for a way to power.

Bash meets up with General Renaude and they storm the monastery. It is pretty much a success but a few men are lost, including Renaude's right hand man.

Upon hearing, the news that some of his men were found at the monastery Condé makes a brash decision to come to Mary in her chambers. He tells her he is being setup and that maybe they should run. Mary insists that he stay and let her protect him and he DOES (at first)!

Mary storms into Francis' quarters and claims that Condé is innocent. Francis tries to blame the affair on Condé but Mary insists that it was her fault and not take it out on Condé. Francis is swayed somehow and says that contempt alone is not enough. But treason just might be…

Speaking of that, Elizabeth's envoy just so happens to still be at French court and offers Condé one last chance to be the king consort of England. But because he is a prince of blood this would be an act of treason if he does so without the permission of his king. The envoy tells him, he is damned if he does and he damned if he does not, so why not choose the path that will make you powerful. Condé says what the hell and off they ride.

While all of this is going on Kenna and Lola decide that it would be nice to get Greer that damask that she couldn't get. Lola is uncomfortable and wants to leave. Kenna is giddy and curious and has spied Renaude. Outside, Lola runs into Narcisse who offers some friendly advice and a tender touch. Unfortunately, for the both of them one of Catherine's spies see them. Inside, Greer and Kenna talk about great equalizers in life, death and perversions. Greer tries to satiate Kenna's curiosity about Renaude but it only piques it even more.

Somewhere off in the distance, Condé is marrying queen Elizabeth - by proxy as Mary sends word for Condé that he has the protection of Francis. Condé and the proxy sleep on a bed to represent consummating the marriage. He recognizes her surname as a prominent French family and wonders how she came to be a proxy for an English queen. The proxy wonders if he'll be a good king. He assures he will.

The next morning Condé and the envoy head off to the port but they see a fire in the village where the marriage was performed.

Renaude returns to the castle to schmooze and curry favor with the nobles. He asks about her night at the brothel and she asks if it was worth it trying to come off all high and mighty only he burst her bubble. But she actually is turned on by his pragmatism. He leaves her with confirmation of Bash's infidelities and tells her she doesn't belong to anyone and wants to change all that.

The envoy returns with bad news for Condé. His wedding has been undone. Condé is left alone and in even more danger than ever before.

Cut to Catherine and Narcisse gossiping about Condé and how to get rid of him. Catherine learned that Condé had married Elizabeth but the wedding was undone. They gleefully rejoice in the new news that Condé will be done away with.

You remember that spy, well yeah, he now delivers the news about the exchange between Lola and Narcisse. Catherine is none too pleased.

Finally, Francis breaks the news to Mary about the wedding. Mary confesses everything she knew about Condé and his doings. Mary tries to come off all high and mighty but Francis calls her out on doing the right thing, politically. Francis fears that this might be the beginning of the end of their Reign and that's where the story leaves us until next week.

The best part about this episode was that all the main players each had their moment in the sun and they actually gave us some Bash and Francis time as well as a swashbuckling, heroic Bash. Not to mention it feels like they realized it was time to give Megan Follows' Catherine something to do. She even has a duplicitous love interest that can handle her (but not really). Yep, the end of the season is shaping up to be pretty awesome and with season 3 having been already guaranteed a while ago that means that better planning is assured (hopefully). Neither the character of Claude or Leith were missed by me but I did miss the actors themselves.

The show runners and writers' room now have two season of sampling to figure out what the fans like and what the fans don't. The only thing that really worries me is that we are running out actual historical stuff (well the exciting stuff anyway). I'm curious how the show will continue. I'm all for completely deviating from the history books and making it an alternative timeline. I mean so many liberties have been taken already, what's a few more? I'm eager to see what is in store for us Royals.

Grade: B-

Episode Awards


Character of the Night
• Narcisse

Best Character Interactions
• Kenna and Lola

Scene of the Night
• Bash pulling Francis aside discuss his discover of Condé's men at the monastery.

Line of the Night
• Kenna: Does this ‘friend’ have a name? Breasts? A vagina?

Most Memorable Moment
• The fallen ladies-in-waiting raise a toast to themselves.
• Bash pulling Francis aside discuss his discover of Condé's men at the monastery.

Best Dressed
• Mary (but Toby Regbo's butt in those black leather pants was definitely in the running).

Favorite Lady-In-Waiting
• Greer

That awkward moment when…
• That awkward moment when someone gives a backhanded compliment. General Renaude not only confirmed for Kenna that Bash had indeed moved on but that she didn't belong to anyone.

Miscellaneous
The 'Go Put a Dollar in the Douche Jar' Award
Narcisse: Won’t be long until I am slipping into your warm…royal…bed.

The 'What a Historical Cowinkydink' Award
• The most famous historical marriage by proxy of royalty is Mary, Queen of Hungary to Louis I, Duke of Orléans in 1385.

Burning Questions
• Who undid the wedding?
• Why did the Frary and Benna relationships both have to go up in flames this season?
• Why can't the writers let us have nice thing? Do they enjoy bathing in our tears or something?

What did you think of this week's episode of Reign? Who was your favorite character? Are you ready to see Condé hang? Are you still hopeful for a Frary reconciliation? Feel free to answer these questions or any other comments below.

Thanks for stopping by, you know I love you guys for reading.
About the Author - Lilith Hellfire
Lilith Hellfire is your every day run of the mill blogger, DJ, fangirl, podcaster, TV critic and YouTuber. She enjoys serialized dramas over procedurals. She also loves comic books, shoes and Tumblr. She writes about Beauty and the Beast and Reign for Spoiler TV. To check out all the other cool stuff she writes about be sure to check out her blog.
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12 comments:

  1. What Lola said is exactly what I've been telling some people in one of Reign's recent Youtube videos about Conde taking advantage of Mary's vulnerability after her attack. Her emotions throughout the whole Monde ordeal have been clouding her judgement which only make matters worse for her and Francis as well as the whole Scotland-France alliance in general.

    Poor Louis though. He got faked out by the proxy of Queen Elizabeth aka Birds of Prey's Black Canary as well as getting burned by the same guy who got him to agree to marry her in the first place after someone undid the union.


    Oh and Narcisse is still holding out hope over Lola? Awwww....

    With that said, Team Frary will triumph over Monde. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't think he was taking advantage of Mary. That would mean he would have a sense of malice and hatred against Mary. There is no evidence to suggest he had any discord against Mary or even wanted to ruin her. If anything, he loved her. Past actions and words, wayyyy before the rape, prove that (him claiming himself as protestant for France and her, him killing the men who attacked her, him helping her to stop protestant and catholic uprising etc).

    While i do beleive the timing is slightly off for him to be with her, i think he just simply couldn't help himslef. He loved Mary and he wanted to heal the hurt she went through by loving her. As said in the previews for next week "the only treason he had was loving her", he never meant to hurt her or had any intention of doing so during his entire stay in France.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In this case I do believe Mary was being truthful. She made the decision to have the affair, she is the one who decided to betray Francis. Conde was just in love with her. He was following his heart, and Mary did kinda take advantage of that.


    Mary is the one most at fault here. Being a rape victim does not justify the scorched earth she left behind while trying to find herself again. I mean, begging Francis to protect the man she had an affair with was pretty low of her.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If Conde will die I won't be watching anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the character of Conde, just not with Mary. Also Sean Teale is the bae but every season old characters die or leave and new ones come into replace them. I don't think season 3 will have a place for this character. But that's just speculation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Um, he arrived at French court as a spy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. But he knew Mary was suffering from rape trauma though and that she would not have been willing to enter into such a destructive relationship if not for the fact that she was going through PTSD. A bigger man would have said no to the affair, but conde is out for himself, and he's been trying to sleep with her since before the rape. I'm not saying Mary should be excused for all of her actions, but it is clear she is still really messed up emotionally. she sees conde as some sort of savior who could help her get her life back. She's still suffering through pretty hardcore ptsd.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I didn't mean to say that he's been antagonistic by deliberately taking advantage of the situation. We know he has feelings for her and even opened up about it through the letter he sent before the attack. The moment Mary read it after the attack was when the ball started rolling where I believe Conde really found an opening to woo her as she felt betrayed by her spouse.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, I didn't know you watched Reign.

    ReplyDelete
  10. please pretty please kill conde !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't give a crap about monde fans they can all go die in a hole mr conde is the devil and monde is the devils love conde was sent from hell and let frary thrive in triumph i hate conde's guts to death if i could i'd cut his head off myself wouldn't mind getting a little blood on my hands go frary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bam

    ReplyDelete
  11. Why Would I Tell?25 April 2015 at 23:48

    I have been annoyed and frustrated with Mary throughout her entire affair with Conde, how did she think it would end?

    With her and Conde allowed to skip merrily off to Scotland and still have the power and trust of France?

    When
    the entire time, if anyone were to find out about her affair, it would
    not only cost her own life AND Conde's but Francis' life and position of
    power as well, putting two countries in jeopardy, endangering hundreds
    of lives and also Catherine's life and her youngest son Charles.

    She
    used Conde to get over an extremely traumatic event, he also courted
    her at her weakest point, they used each other, both equally as guilty as each other - both knowing full well
    how the affair would likely end.

    I had been hoping that after had
    been away so long, that Conde, at least, would come to his senses,
    notice his increasing difficult and dangerous position, break things
    with Mary and leave.



    Or that Mary, might have grown closer with Francis
    during his recovery, and that she would finally realize everything was
    falling apart, break things with Conde and send him away to safety.

    Now
    with what Conde has done, there is absolutely nothing that Mary can do
    or say to save him from the charge of treason. He has sealed his own
    doom.


    ---------------


    On another note:



    Narcisse has once again lost my affection, he had it for a brief time when he appeared to be courting Lola but I am disappointed that he is going after both Catherine and Lola now, playing both sides of the royal line, setting himself up for which line can get him furthest.



    If he would simply drop the strategy games and go after Lola, allow her to "make an honest man out of him" I'm sure that he could win her easily, but if Lola finds out about him bedding Catherine, he will lose Lola forever for sure.

    ReplyDelete

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