Reign
“Love is the most dangerous subject.”
Mary, Queen of Scots, faces political and sexual intrigue in the treacherous world of the French court.
Details
First Aired: 10/17/2013
Languages: English
Created by: Laurie McCarthy, Stephanie Sengupta
Type: Scripted
Production
The CWCompanies: Warner Bros. Television, World 2000 Entertainment, CBS Studios
Countries: United States of America
Where to watch · US
Videos
Seasons
Season 1
Hidden between the lines of the history books is the story of Mary Stuart, the young woman the world would come to know as Mary, Queen of Scots. The teenage Mary is already a headstrong monarch - beautiful, passionate and poised at the very beginning of her tumultuous rise to power. Arriving in France with four close friends as her ladies-in-waiting, Mary has been sent to secure Scotland's strategic alliance by formalizing her arranged engagement to the French king's dashing son, Prince Francis. But the match isn't signed and sealed, it depends more on politics, religion and secret agendas than affairs of the heart. Prince Francis is intrigued by the fiery Scot, but like most young men, he resists the idea of settling down into marriage, especially when he has a history with a lady of the court and his own point of view on the wisdom of an alliance with Scotland. Still, an attraction between Mary and Francis is ignited.
Season 2
The second season of Reign begins with Mary and Francis on the throne of a nation burning. France is rocked by the aftereffects of the plague, a disease that creeps inside the castle walls, taking thousands upon thousands of lives across the land, and ravages the stability of a nation. From the ashes, powerful lords will rise, carrying out personal, religious and political vendettas, taking lives, and tearing at Mary and Francis's commitment to each other, and their people. Friendships will be tested, loved ones murdered and betrayed. Meanwhile, a mysterious and deadly threat snatches victims from village streets and castle corridors; leaving evidence of savagery that looks like the work of monsters; mythical creatures who are the subject of nightmares, but who walk among us, doing the Devil's bidding.
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Reviews
CinemaSerf
This is a terribly sterile, unsexy and over-scripted series rescued - at times - by Megan Follows as the manipulative Catherine de Medici but otherwise having little to recommend it to anyone. Based, very loosely, on the early life of Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) at the court of King Henry II, where she has been betrothed since an infant to the Dauphin (Toby Regbo). The series uses a considerable degree of cinematic licence as we follow her well documented trials and tribulations as she navigates the conspiracies of the French court; but it does it without any soul - or passion. It needn't have been an HBO romp-along; but there are just way too many 'pretty' actors delivering pedestrian scripts; set-piece plots and mysteries. Even when things do get a touch romantic (they never get raunchy) we take comfort in a folk-style soundtrack and some lovely shots of what are, admittedly, some fine locations. Follows makes sure that there are plenty of conspiracies to keep up her end of the bargain, but Regbo and the gorgeous, but totally pointless character of "Bash" (Torrance Coombs) seem there to add looks but little else to this really mediocre telling of what must have been an extremely eventful few years in peril and love for such an enigmatic Queen.
