I Could Swear That There's Someone Somewhere Watching Me
I'm going to be a little bit lazy in my Reign reaction and just follow along with the discussion questions from the mary_bash community...
So, even though last night's episode wasn't my favorite of this season (I'm thinking that still has to be Left Behind), this is still far and away my favorite show of this season. I loved seeing Leith last night (it had been like eight episodes) and a surprising new favorite of mine was Nostradamus and Olivia.
I thought the whole First Light ritual on the heels of Mary lighting her candle for Bash last ep really says something. Honestly, sorry if you are an F/M shipper, but I think it's impossible to *not* see how much of this show is framed around Bash and Mary's unrequited love.
I said it the other day, I think that back with Francis, Mary is very...subdued. Francis has always been Mary's duty, above all else, and these past few episodes we've seen her really falling in line, a good soldier, doing what everyone expected of her. Obviously I loved her the most with Bash, running around and being wild and making her own decisions as a ruler, but something struck me in her scene with Lola, how she went from pressuring her to just marry Nadeen (?) and get it over with, but then flipped back to begging to just come clean to Francis and that way Lola could stay at the castle and they could repair their friendship...It struck me that she lost Aylee, who appeared to be her most trusted confidante, and abjured her mother, as far as she knows Bash is long gone, and now she is just terrified of losing the people she's close to, no matter the circumstances.
I feel like the 'duty' part was reinforced in the 'love scene' with Mary and Francis, even though she seemed to...enjoy herself, I think it really is the forefront on her mind, that her job (for lack of a better word) is to get pregnant, as quick and often as she can.
And I continue to see so many parallels between Francis and Henry. While Francis is nowhere near as batshit crazy as Henry is turning out to be (I feel like they were alluding to him having cirrhosis), I just see this possessiveness in him, that anything he has ever laid eye upon belongs to him. Henry is king of a great nation, Francis has always known that he will be some day, and that they are more or less gods, or as close as a man can get, and can do no wrong.
Okay, I'm going to talk a little bit about the clips shown in the promo for next week, which I don't consider a spoiler, but if you do, skip to the next paragraph. I've definitely commented on the fast pace of this series, but if Henry has cirrhosis (what I gather from his 'black water'...i.e. severe dehydration, insomnia, and dabbling in extreme BDSM), is that going to kill him before his historical death of a jousting accident? So, even though Mary and Francis were married for a year before ascending the throne, that cuts out all that time. And Francis stuck in the ice next week...is that the beginning of the Ear Infection of Doom?
Anyway...
The next question was whether or not Francis 'deserves' to know about Lola's pregnancy. Well, in my opinion, the black and white of it...yes, he deserves to know about his child. But the way he would *act* about it, I can only imagine that it would irk the shit out of me. And as far as if Lola and Mary would be friends afterwards, well they're already friends now, so Mary has forgiven Lola her worst, but if Mary somehow 'let it slip' to Francis, I could see Lola holding it over her head (I don't really know why Mary stands for that, but it's Lola, so she does).
Now, as far as Bash and Rowan (so I guess I'll stop calling her Ygritte), I think he *likes* her and is attracted to her, but it's nothing serious for him. I don't see him making any plans to spend his life with her or anything like that. And when she seems to know about his past...even though there were no OK magazines or anything, I'm sure that people still reveled in 'celebrity gossip' in those days so I'm not all that surprised that servants will run home to their villages and tell their friends all about the goings on at the castle.
Now...the Darkness. What the hell is that? I'm not sure how I feel about this show really taking on a supernatural slant, so I'm expecting some sort of 'logical' explanation. Because really, White Walkers have no place here.
Back to Olivia...So she sort of handwaved away Francis never checking on her, which I think is a little too generous on her part. Though from a story-telling point of view, I'm sure that Clarissa will be back to storm the castle at some point, and there's only room enough for so many crazy teenage girls. I'm still in shock that nobody at the castle is acknowledging her, that nobody ever went to check on her. I'm very intrigued by the relationship between her and Nostradamus! It's not quite the way I imagined him with Aylee, but it's definitely something else! I see her smiling at him and looking at him like her savior, and I kind of feel like she's fallen in love with him? Him, I'm not sure if he feels any attraction or if he's looking at her like a replacement for Clarissa. (Who, let's not forget, he was not *always* so kind to.)
I haven't been lately, but I am *really* feeling for Kenna and the mess she's gotten herself into. I see that she has separated herself a bit from the girls, or maybe them from her, because while they are all still friends, I wonder if there is some judgment (not sure from which side) over what Kenna has done/is doing, and she feels as though she can't just flop on Mary's bed with the rest of them, the way they used to.
I'm going to optimistically say that this is *not* the end of Greer and Leith. I saw an interview with Jonathan Keltz and he was very brightly talking about how excited he was for season 2, and I get the feeling that it's not just as a viewer, and really, he's been such a minor character that I doubt anyone would bother interviewing him if he was only going to be around for four episodes. I totally loved them in this episode, how comfortable they seem to be, in their sweet cocoon of making out, and how Greer confirmed that they have only kissed. It makes me wonder if they ever did get to visit those hot springs that they missed out on in Left Behind.
I'll be back with the meme that won't die.
This is totally my new B/M song.
<<<333
So, even though last night's episode wasn't my favorite of this season (I'm thinking that still has to be Left Behind), this is still far and away my favorite show of this season. I loved seeing Leith last night (it had been like eight episodes) and a surprising new favorite of mine was Nostradamus and Olivia.
I thought the whole First Light ritual on the heels of Mary lighting her candle for Bash last ep really says something. Honestly, sorry if you are an F/M shipper, but I think it's impossible to *not* see how much of this show is framed around Bash and Mary's unrequited love.
I said it the other day, I think that back with Francis, Mary is very...subdued. Francis has always been Mary's duty, above all else, and these past few episodes we've seen her really falling in line, a good soldier, doing what everyone expected of her. Obviously I loved her the most with Bash, running around and being wild and making her own decisions as a ruler, but something struck me in her scene with Lola, how she went from pressuring her to just marry Nadeen (?) and get it over with, but then flipped back to begging to just come clean to Francis and that way Lola could stay at the castle and they could repair their friendship...It struck me that she lost Aylee, who appeared to be her most trusted confidante, and abjured her mother, as far as she knows Bash is long gone, and now she is just terrified of losing the people she's close to, no matter the circumstances.
I feel like the 'duty' part was reinforced in the 'love scene' with Mary and Francis, even though she seemed to...enjoy herself, I think it really is the forefront on her mind, that her job (for lack of a better word) is to get pregnant, as quick and often as she can.
And I continue to see so many parallels between Francis and Henry. While Francis is nowhere near as batshit crazy as Henry is turning out to be (I feel like they were alluding to him having cirrhosis), I just see this possessiveness in him, that anything he has ever laid eye upon belongs to him. Henry is king of a great nation, Francis has always known that he will be some day, and that they are more or less gods, or as close as a man can get, and can do no wrong.
Okay, I'm going to talk a little bit about the clips shown in the promo for next week, which I don't consider a spoiler, but if you do, skip to the next paragraph. I've definitely commented on the fast pace of this series, but if Henry has cirrhosis (what I gather from his 'black water'...i.e. severe dehydration, insomnia, and dabbling in extreme BDSM), is that going to kill him before his historical death of a jousting accident? So, even though Mary and Francis were married for a year before ascending the throne, that cuts out all that time. And Francis stuck in the ice next week...is that the beginning of the Ear Infection of Doom?
Anyway...
The next question was whether or not Francis 'deserves' to know about Lola's pregnancy. Well, in my opinion, the black and white of it...yes, he deserves to know about his child. But the way he would *act* about it, I can only imagine that it would irk the shit out of me. And as far as if Lola and Mary would be friends afterwards, well they're already friends now, so Mary has forgiven Lola her worst, but if Mary somehow 'let it slip' to Francis, I could see Lola holding it over her head (I don't really know why Mary stands for that, but it's Lola, so she does).
Now, as far as Bash and Rowan (so I guess I'll stop calling her Ygritte), I think he *likes* her and is attracted to her, but it's nothing serious for him. I don't see him making any plans to spend his life with her or anything like that. And when she seems to know about his past...even though there were no OK magazines or anything, I'm sure that people still reveled in 'celebrity gossip' in those days so I'm not all that surprised that servants will run home to their villages and tell their friends all about the goings on at the castle.
Now...the Darkness. What the hell is that? I'm not sure how I feel about this show really taking on a supernatural slant, so I'm expecting some sort of 'logical' explanation. Because really, White Walkers have no place here.
Back to Olivia...So she sort of handwaved away Francis never checking on her, which I think is a little too generous on her part. Though from a story-telling point of view, I'm sure that Clarissa will be back to storm the castle at some point, and there's only room enough for so many crazy teenage girls. I'm still in shock that nobody at the castle is acknowledging her, that nobody ever went to check on her. I'm very intrigued by the relationship between her and Nostradamus! It's not quite the way I imagined him with Aylee, but it's definitely something else! I see her smiling at him and looking at him like her savior, and I kind of feel like she's fallen in love with him? Him, I'm not sure if he feels any attraction or if he's looking at her like a replacement for Clarissa. (Who, let's not forget, he was not *always* so kind to.)
I haven't been lately, but I am *really* feeling for Kenna and the mess she's gotten herself into. I see that she has separated herself a bit from the girls, or maybe them from her, because while they are all still friends, I wonder if there is some judgment (not sure from which side) over what Kenna has done/is doing, and she feels as though she can't just flop on Mary's bed with the rest of them, the way they used to.
I'm going to optimistically say that this is *not* the end of Greer and Leith. I saw an interview with Jonathan Keltz and he was very brightly talking about how excited he was for season 2, and I get the feeling that it's not just as a viewer, and really, he's been such a minor character that I doubt anyone would bother interviewing him if he was only going to be around for four episodes. I totally loved them in this episode, how comfortable they seem to be, in their sweet cocoon of making out, and how Greer confirmed that they have only kissed. It makes me wonder if they ever did get to visit those hot springs that they missed out on in Left Behind.
I'll be back with the meme that won't die.
This is totally my new B/M song.
Click to view<<<333