SERIES REVIEW-"REIGN"

REIGN

The CW

4 Seasons

(Netflix Binge)

Summary:

Queen of Scotland Mary Stuart travels to France with four ladies-in-waiting to secure her politically strategic engagement to the king's son, Prince Francis. Mary and Francis share a mutual attraction, even though he has reservations about the wisdom of an alliance with Scotland. Complicating issues is Bash, Francis' illegitimate half-brother whom Mary finds herself drawn to in spite of herself. The French Court is also full of less romantic challenges for Mary, who finds her engagement -- and life -- threatened until she finds an ally in a mysterious shrouded guide. With all that she faces, Mary rallies, readying herself to rule and trying to find a balance between the demands of her country and those of her heart.
My Thoughts:
A friend of mine recommended this series to me knowing that I am a history buff. I was easily sucked in from the first episode. First and foremost you have to go into this series knowing that there are a lot of historical inaccuracies. Reign is pure entertainment. There are characters in the show that don't actually exist in the history of Mary-Queen of Scots. The costumes are incredibly beautiful but don't actually exist for that time period and modern instrumental music is played throughout the series(I actually loved that). The three characters that stood out to me and quickly became my favorites were Mary(of course) who is played by Adelaide Kane, Queen Elizabeth played by Rachel Skarsten, and Catherine de' Medici played by Megan Follows. The series is put out to the CW which caters to a younger crowd(Riverdale, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, etc.) which is why I believe the first couple of seasons center around romance, love triangles, and teen drama(Mary and King Francis are wed at a young age-in the series sixteen and seventeen. The third and fourth season start to include the political mess that Mary is drug into regarding the return to her country, acquiring another husband and producing an heir to the throne. The last season unfortunately is rushed and cut short because it had a drop in ratings. I'm guessing that the younger demographic lost interest as Mary gets older, returns to Scotland, and her life becomes more complicated. The series lasts four seasons and comes to a very abrupt ending. I purposely resisted the urge as I watched this series to look into actual history facts and accepted the fact that it's pure brain candy with some really great acting. I was sad that the fourth season was rushed and the later part of Mary's life is glossed over-there is so much more to the story! But all in all I highly recommend this Netflix series if you go into it not wanting a real life history lesson on Mary Queen of Scots. Make a cup of tea, sit back, and enjoy the episodes.


First Season

Second Season:

Third Season:

Fourth Season: