Reign - Recap: I Can't Get No Satisfaction
Recap and review of Reign - Episode 7 - Left Behind:
Reign has gotten a bit procedural in the approach to its storytelling, of late. Yet while that's often used as a pejorative term among TV critics, I don't mean it in a negative sense for Reign. "Left Behind" is yet another "Problem of the Week" episode, but it's one that has considerably large stakes. And that's the key to making these sorts of one-off stories work: big stakes that yield bigger rewards in character development. The castle being taken hostage is surprising enough in itself, but the incident brings a lot out of these characters that we've only seen in bits and pieces throughout the season so far. Francis (Toby Regbo) has always had an endearing nobility to him, but here he gets to show actual nobility, choosing to sacrifice himself for the good of the innocents held hostage in his castle. Mary (Adelaide Kane), meanwhile, has shown ingenuity before, but here she gets to show more of her personal mettle. Even Queen Catherine (Megan Follows) gets to display her resiliency and quick-thinking in more dramatic fashion than usual, as well as her love for her son. In short, "Left Behind" is my favorite episode of the season so far.
So a bitter Italian takes over the castle: Count Vincent (Michael Aronov), whose only son was a prisoner of the French. However, despite being released from his imprisonment, Count Vincent's son died of dysentery on his way back to Italy, and the Count believes it was due to the shabby standards of French imprisonment. And so he and his men take the castle by disarming and imprisoning the guards, turning it over to the control of Count Vincent, who demands "satisfaction". Yet he doesn't really specify what "satisfaction" entails. An eye for an eye? A new wife to replace the dead one, to give him a new son to replace the similarly dead one? It's unclear exactly what he wants other than the opportunity to luxuriate in saying the word "satisfaction" as much as possible. King Henry (Alan Van Sprang) is off with his best men on an errand, so it's pretty much up to Francis to save the day, especially since Bash (Torrance Coombs) has been taken prisoner and confined to the dungeons. So he makes a proposal to Count Vincent, offering himself as a prisoner to Italy, which would give him considerable power as the man who captured the heir to the French throne. Catherine is mortified and offers a counter-proposal to save her son's life, saying that if he takes Mary, he'll not only have a new wife but also a fertile myrtle for bearing new heirs.
Credit: The CW
The hour moves with more urgency than any episode of the series so far, and that immediacy helps the narrative a lot. The taking of the castle has the side effect of bringing all the characters -- and their respective, disconnected storylines -- into the same orbit. The dalliance between Greer (Celina Sinden) and the Baker suddenly becomes a bit more important when Greer, disguised as a peasant, is mistaken for a kitchen worker by Count Vincent's guards, and is confined to the kitchens. It's there that a tangle between a guard and the Baker forces Greer to action, as she grabs a pan and bonks him over the head, apparently killing him. The story flirts with addressing Greer's guilt over having just killed a man, but there are bigger fish to fry, such as Catherine teaming up with Mary to organize an escape from the castle. The two make a pretty effective pairing, plotting out a scheme Francis and Olivia (Yael Grobglas) that utilizes the network of dilapidated tunnels running under the castle. For the plot to work, they need to distract the Count from noticing that people at his feast (because he's deciding to hold a feast for some idiotic reason) are missing. To this end, Catherine elects to stay behind as a valuable bargaining chip, desperate as she is to keep Francis from harm. However, Mary's ladies-in-waiting don't trust Catherine, which brings us to the best scene in the episode, as Catherine details her tumultuous past. She tells a harrowing story of survival, as she was once nearly raped by an entire encampment of soldiers, until she was rescued at the last possible moment. I'm not really doing it justice here, but I'm not sure I could if I tried. Megan Follows is just terrific here, adding depth and nuance to what had been a fairly theatrical villainess (albeit one whose motivations are somewhat understandable, even if her methods are a bit rough).
Credit: The CW
And so we end up with a madcap sequence of events that lead to the conclusion, as Mary and the girls attempt to escape, but Olivia misses her cue (having apparently been taken by "Clarissa") to let them down into the catacombs, and so they're brought before Count Vincent. However, it becomes quickly apparent that Catherine has an ace up her sleeve, as all of Count Vincent's men keel over, dead. Catherine has poisoned them using the gold to pay her ransom, and this sets the Count off. Slowly losing patience, with his mind quickly unraveling, he decides he's going to rape Mary. But this hits a nerve with Catherine, and she demands that Count Vincent unhand her. The Count gets lippy and moves towards Catherine, but Mary acts quickly and stabs him with a dagger. And as Count Vincent keels over, in comes Francis to lop off the Italian's hand, in a random bit of CG gore. The threat has been neutralized, and everyone is safe. Except Mary has put together why Catherine worked so hard to prevent Mary from being raped: the truth of the story she told is that her rescuer arrived too late. Catherine confirms the story and uses it as a teaching moment for Mary, saying that she quickly learned never to wait for a man's rescue. I expect this to become foreboding statement in retrospect, before this season is through.
Credit: The CW
Of course, there were other noteworthy plots this week: Bash (Torrance Coombs) learns that his mother, Diane de Poitiers (Anna Walton), is planning on having him legitimized. Bash rightly notes that the only reason they've enjoyed the kindness and hospitality of King Henry and his family is because they haven't asked him for anything. But Diane is insistent that Bash be the next heir to the throne, a prospect that terrifies him. Not only is he perfectly happy as he is, his mother is also endangering them both by talking treason by changing the order of succession. This ropes back into the main plot when we eventually discover that the entire castle invasion was made possible by Diane's treason, as she leaked information to Count Vincent about when Henry would be away from the castle. Bash was supposed to be with Henry, so he would have safely missed the entire incident. Bash is understandably furious, although he appears to become at least open to the idea of being legitimized, especially since it appears the Pope is on board with making it happen. But it'll only work if Henry and co. don't discover Diane's role in the invasion, as this was a particularly nasty bit of business.
Credit: The CW
But at least Mary and Francis are over it. Well, mostly. She's furious that he came back for her, instead of escaping to safety through the catacombs. In justifying why he came back, Francis confesses, "Because I love you." He says it's pretty obvious that the only way either of them will be able to remain sane is if they're together, and so the engagement is back on. And that's not all that's on, as Francis and Mary quickly hop into bed, where things get hot and heavy. "Tell me when you want me to stop," Francis says. "Never," Mary replies, and it looks like the Queen of Scots isn't going to be a maiden anymore, come next week.
Credit: The CW
"Left Behind" is the best episode of Reign so far, strictly for how it makes use of nearly every piece of its ensemble. The story is taut, featuring urgency in its pacing, and major stakes to keep it all feeling substantial. I'm totally onboard with wherever the show is headed, even if it continues to use a more procedural approach in its storytelling, since I have no trouble with a "Problem/Threat of the Week" if it produces episodes this compelling.