Reign is the CW’s weak attempt to siphon off the success of The Tudors. Reign bears little to no resemblance to the historical Mary, Queen of Scots. Even though it is set in France and half the characters are supposed to be Scottish, there is not one French or Scottish accent.
Reign has anachronistic positive themes such as religious tolerance, women gaining independence and being supportive in the face of sexual violence, but it is set in such a weak overall narrative plagued with multiple love triangles that the praise is faint. The majority of every episode is a recap of the prior episode or what happened in the last five minutes-a soap opera throwback from the 60s. The royals and aristocrats delegate very little, are always running around doing things and have pretty lax security instead of being constantly surrounded by attendants and having little to no privacy.
No offense to the actor, but Francis as king is so ridiculous that I can’t suspend disbelief for a second when he prances around with that hair in his wee leather and fur outfits. I know that I sound like Sue Sylvester from Glee, but it is just the truth.
Initially it was a guilty pleasure because Reign’s cast includes Megan Follows, and I enjoy seeing Anne of Green Gables as a ruthless royal, but the romantic intrigue is tiresome, the plot is absurd, and the dialogue is banal. At this point, I’m only here for Megan Follows, Lord Narcisse and Nostradamus because the latter two have great voices.
Reign is perfect background tv, but don’t start watching it if you haven’t seen an episode. I’ll stick around because I’m a completist, but unfortunately I’m losing brain cells with each episode.