Long May She Reign

[netgirl_y2k]

I have spent the weekend watching all the episodes of Reign thus far, for reasons that are yet to become apparent to me. Reign is a mad show, it is like someone was watching HBO while eating some exciting cheese and thought, you know what would be cool, if someone were to re-imagine Game of Thrones as a teen soap opera. It's notionally set during Mary, Queen of Scots' time at French court, but frankly it could be set at Winterfell or Camelot for all the difference it would make. It's cheesy as hell, but ridiculously pretty and epic looking, like nobody told it that it was a show about Mary, Queen of Scots' boy drama. I'm finding it charming and somewhat addictive. It has some really good lady friendships between Mary and her ladies-in-waiting, and Megan Follows doing a delightful turn as the evil queen with layers, Catherine de Medici (oh, that's why I'm watching it, yes). I'm less interested in the love triangle than the show wants me to be, mostly because due to his inability to grow a proper beard I can't take Francis seriously as a love interest, and Bash is just sort of there. Anyway, in my head it's a fantasy show about Mary and Catherine and what it means to be a queen.

And speaking of Game of Thrones... I know we weren't, but go with the link anyway. I've been watching the trailers and behind the scenes stuff for season four, and getting quite excited. But I did notice that this year Dany's plot seems to be her ADwD stuff; the fuck-up foreign queen with the feral dragons, and I think that's a good choice, to be honest, because she was set up as this white saviour trope at the end of S3, and I'm hoping that they're going for a deconstruction of that straight away, rather than another season of Dany traipsing round Slaver's Bay "liberating" cities, which is what I was expecting.

I've actually always liked, or more accurately, I want to like Dany as a queen in the East. I like that she's having to learn to be a ruler the hard way (another reason why if Aegon isn't a fake I will eat my own hair), I like that she's turned this noble idea, that as a queen she must protect people, into this massive messiah complex, and even more I like how very much it doesn't work. It's in theory an interesting storyline, but blimey did it make for painful reading, not to mention making fandom kind of a minefield for a while if you liked Dany at all. Anyway, I'm sort of hoping the whole thing will work better on screen than it did on the page, the trailer looked promising and if nothing else it will have Emilia Clarke's face in it.

But I was thinking - what with The Winds of Winter still nowhere in sight - they're getting to the end of the existing canon for Dany. Sansa too, because I heard that the moon door scene was shot for S4. But it's mainly Dany, if it were most other characters I would expect the show just to just back-burner their plot, but especially when it comes to advertising HBO seems to be pushing Dany, along with Jon and Tyrion as the three big draws, so.

I'm not actually averse to the show overtaking the books in terms of plot; I would like to know how this story ends before old age comes for us all...

Comments

[saturnofthemoon]

I nearly stopped watching Reign because of the ridiculous love triangle, but, as of last episode, Catherine de Medici has me hooked. I do appreciate that the show gives Mary and Catherine more agency than history itself did. (Catherine was actually powerless during Henry's reign.)

Oh dear, if S4 is covering A Dance With Dragons than I'm screwed until I read the next two books. I guess it will have to gather dust on my shelf until I finish the series.

[netgirl_y2k]

Yes, it's actually a period of history I know very little about. I feel this is feature of my enjoyment, rather than an obstacle to it. And I'm happy to forget what little I do know for Megan Follows Catherine.

I may be wrong, I'm just going from the promos. And it seems to be only Dany who's storyline has been borrowed from A Dance With Dragons, everyone else seems to still be on the latter half of A Storm of Swords. How they're going to make this all marry up in the end I do not know, then again, I could say the same for the books.

[littlerhymes]

Everything I hear/read about Reign makes it sound so terrimazing...

Yeah, I have a feeling the imperatives of budget, time, commerce, scheduling, etc, will drive GoT to conclude in a more timely way than GRRM. And I'm MORE than okay with that! Let's get Dany and those dragons across the sea so we can burn down some cities and wrap this up, please.

[netgirl_y2k]

Terrimazing... yeah, that's pretty accurate.

Yes. let's get this plot - especially the Dany stuff - moving, good grief! Then again, I don't share that book-purist viewpoint that the show is a terrible abomination and the reason we can't have nice things.

[mfirefly10]

Ugh, I adore Reign. I blame the actresses playing Mary and Catherine and how amazing they are in scenes together. I just...I wish the whole show was the two of them trying to out-maneuver each other, with side-plots involving Mary's ladies.

The show has already been renewed for season 2 so I hope they do something to develop Mary's love interests. I don't care for Francis at all yet and Bash is just okay, from what very little we know about him.

[netgirl_y2k]

YES. Mary and Catherine trying to outmanoeuver each other while having lots of loaded conversations about the nature of queenship, yes please!

Francis I don't think was helped by how rushed his and Mary's story was, they were completely in love by the end of, like, episode two. And Bash is fine, but a bit too caught up in the "there are evil human sacrificing pagan heretics, who for some reason live in the woods right next to the palace" plotline for my preferences.

[mfirefly10]

Agreed, re: Francis. Their love story was really rushed and I also don't think it helped his cause that he seems so much younger than Mary. Now, maybe this was intentional since Francis actually WAS younger than Mary but I suspect it was more accidental because Mary is rather mature and everyone in her peer group seems younger than her. But his immaturity is one of the things that makes it hard for me to care about him.

[hibernate]

I have seen two episodes of Reign and while most of it is not quiiiite my thing (Gossip Girl in 16th century France? What?), I have fallen madly in love with Catherine. The LAYERS and also HER FACE. Swoon.

[netgirl_y2k]

Have you seen the episode where the palace is taken over by an Italian duke and Catherine saves the day with her knowledge of poisons, and her powers of evil queen-ness, while monologuing about her backstory? That is what I want the entire show to be, or another show, any show, really.