Lest you think the fall premieres are through, The CW debuted "Reign" on Thursday night. The new series is a period drama telling the tale of a teenage Mary, Queen of Scots -- with a very liberal take on the real history.
At this point, Mary is still a princess, betrothed to Prince Francis, the future king of France. She made her way to France to get reacquainted with her fiance, and the castle she spent many of her younger years in. Things weren't perfect -- Francis had another lover -- but then life as a royal can be complicated. There were rape and murder attempts to contend with as well.
Nostradamus had a vision that Mary would bring about the death of Francis, so his mother was determined that the two should never marry. She had one of Mary's own people attempt to rape her in her sleep, but he was surprised to find Mary awake and resistant. She was supposed to have been knocked out by something slipped in her wine, but Mary heeded an anonymous warning to not drink the wine. So someone is on her side, but it's also someone -- or some thing -- who knows in detail the plots against her. A supernatural entity perhaps?
Buddy TV's Morgan Glennon was sold right away on the new show. "'Reign' is undoubtedly insane and it's definitely the most ambitious thing The CW has ever tried," she noted. "It's like someone wrote out a list of all the shows The CW has ever aired (sexy supernatural dramas! sexy social hierarchy dramas! sexy teens!) threw them all in a blender with a history book and out popped 'Reign.'”
Over at USA Today, though, Robert Bianco couldn't get past all of the anachronisms. "[Mary, Queen of Scots’] life has fascinated people — including many in CW's target age range — for generations," he wrote. "Why substitute some risible, derivative, soap-opera drivel of your own limited invention?”
he soapy teen drama "Reign" will surely continue to butcher history while bringing plenty of entertainment to Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
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