Reign - "Kissed" - Review

SPOILER WARNING

The following review is for Reign, Season 1, Episode 3: "Kissed." If you haven't seen the episode, I suggest doing so before reading this review. There will be spoilers.

Reign - "Kissed" - Review

Characters:

• Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland - Played by Adelaide Kane.
• Sebastian "Bas" - Played by Torrance Coombs. Son of Diane and Henry.
• Prince Francis II of France - Played by Toby Regbo. Eldest son of Catherine and Henry.
• Queen Catherine de' Medici of France - Played by Megan Follows. Henry's wife and mother of Francis.
• Nostradamus - Played by Rossif Sutherland.
• King Henry II of France - Played by Alan Van Sprang. Father of Henry, Charles, and Bas.
• Prince Charles of France - Played by Peter DaCunha. Third son of Henry and Catherine. Betrothed to Madeleine. 
• Claude de Guise - Played by Shawn Doyle. Mary's uncle. 
• Kenna - Played by Caitlin Stasey. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Greer of Kinross - Played by Celina Sinden. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Lola - Played by Anna Popplewell. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Aylee - Played by Jenessa Grant. Mary's Lady in Waiting.
• Prince Tomas of Portugal - Played by Manolo Cardona.
• Leith - Played by Jonathan Keltz. Kitchen Boy.

Review:

Here's where that thing I said in my last Reign review about Historical Drama comes into play. Mary is being politically forced to accept Tomas' marriage proposal. However, if you know anything about history, Mary Stuart marries Prince Francis, not a Portuguese prince. So... however much we, as viewers, might be vying for Mary to marry Tomas for whatever reason, it's not going to happen. It's also the CW's custom to draw out this relationship drama for as long as possible so there will probably be more of this nonsense to come.

I found Greer's dilemma to be much more interesting than Mary's. Greer is in a tough position, politically speaking. Her family isn't even a little bit royal and she's mostly on her own as far as finding someone to marry goes. Not only that, but because she basically has to marry into a higher standing, she can't afford to follow her heart if it happens to lead to a certain kitchen boy.

Francis learned a hard lesson during this episode, though it's one that doesn't really make sense to me in the execution of it. How do the English have enough people on the ground in France to kill six companies of men? Francis' plan should have worked. It sucks that Bash almost died getting away from the English, or whatever he was doing that go him horribly wounded. It sucks that Francis had to figure out that he can't just lead with his heart. I did, however, enjoy Francis attempting to blackmail his father. It was slightly amusing.

There was a lot of political maneuvering in this episode. There was also a lot of explanation of the political maneuvering. I think that might be because of the usual audience of the CW. Most are probably tuning in for the drama and need the historical political stuff explained to them. I don't know. Maybe I'm underestimating the general CW viewership.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• I'm seriously starting to have issues with the music.
• During the dancing scene, Mary, Tomas, and Francis were dressed in similar fabrics, or at least similar-looking fabrics. They might be connected or something, she says knowing full well that was the point.
• The symbolism of Nostradamus' predictions is coming to bite everyone.

Housekeeping

I think that's going to be it from me today. I hurt my thumb yesterday and all these spaces are painful.

Love ya, Jessie