Reign - Recap: The Road to Hell

There needs to be compromise, but Francis being blackmailed by Narcisse (Craig Parker) means there can be no compromise. It's no longer a partnership between Francis and Mary. Thus, the business of ruling is complicated further. The presumption, at least from King Henry's reign, is that a king should want to have all the power to himself, to be the sole authority in the kingdom. But for Francis, who is still learning the ropes of ruling, he needs Mary by his side to keep from being crushed by the weight of his conflicting responsibilities. By shutting Mary out, Francis makes things harder on himself. Worse, he's making it hard on his marriage, as Mary no longer recognizes the man Francis has become, nor does she understand why he's become this way. It's a compelling conflict that anchors "Prince of the Blood", although it's a conflict that's not without some pretty significant issues.

Credit: The CW

For one, now that the nanny who pretended to be Henry's ghost is dead, there's little reason for Francis not to discreetly have Narcisse killed. I suppose there are moral reasons, and Narcisse does have Montgomery in hiding willing to testify that it wasn't him on the horse that day. And Narcisse also made it clear that he didn't need to prove Francis killed Henry, he only needs to plant the idea in the minds of the populace to incite revolution. Of course, Francis and Bash actually do discuss killing Narcisse, but as Francis states later to Mary, "there are limits to what I can do." It's clear he's talking about the unpleasantness with Narcisse, but Mary simply hears a man who's still keeping her in the dark for no apparent reason. So Francis comes up with a plan to discredit Narcisse by framing him as an English spy. Unfortunately, the plan depends on Lola (Anna Popplewell), who isn't exactly the model of consistency. Francis tasks her with planting an envelope containing a cipher that English spies use to communicate, believing she'll be able to discreetly hide it in Narcisse's quarters. However, Lola ultimately tells Francis she didn't plant the incriminating envelope, but only because Narcisse tells her that Francis killed Henry. Never mind that Narcisse is a creepy sociopath who watches her bathe and then tries to forcefully kiss her, Lola is all too ready to believe this walking billboard for supervillainy. Okay, yeah, Narcisse is technically right about Francis, but the narrative never really establishes why Lola should take Narcisse at his word at all.

Credit: The CW

Similarly, the episode runs into a bit of a snag with the entire Conde (Sean Teale) business. Narcisse is blackmailing Francis into forcing all lords to declare their religious faith to the King. This will expose all Protestants in the kingdom, and potentially create a religious war among the populace. Hell, even Greer (Celina Sinden) gets caught up in all this, as she and Castleroy (Michael Therriault) are attacked on the road over Castleroy's Protestant leanings. Mary doesn't understand why Francis is passing this law, and works with Conde to try and prevent this from happening. In the process, Mary learns that Conde is a "Prince of the Blood," someone who could have taken the throne had Francis died as a child. This deepens the implied love triangle brewing between Francis, Mary and Conde, as the episode suggests Francis' cousin is carrying a torch for our Queen. I think it's a perfectly fine story for the show to tell, and could propel intrigue as the season moves forward, but I had a bit of an issue with it tonight since so much of that drama is predicated on Francis lying to Mary for no real reason.

Credit: The CW

Francis operating under the belief that he's protecting Mary by keeping her in the dark, but as they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Narcisse is already threatening to reveal that Mary had a hand in attempting to poison Henry before his death, adding that once Mary, Catherine, and Francis are all beheaded, the baby is next. So if Mary is in danger anyway, how does keeping her in the dark protect her? All it does is put his marriage in jeopardy, with Mary demanding to know the truth, and Francis pushing her farther away by brazenly suggesting she just go back to Scotland. Is there really no other way for the show to push Mary towards Conde without making Francis look shortsighted? It just seems like such a strange approach for the show to take. Of course, I'm kind of exaggerating how much this bugs me. In reality, I still find Mary and Francis to be the anchor of the show, even when their marriage is going through weird hardships like this. Regbo and Kane are great in their roles, and their natural chemistry with one another makes the issues they're facing in their marriage all the more compelling.

Credit: The CW

Speaking of compelling, there were plenty of other things to like about "Prince of the Blood": Princess Claude (Rose Williams), the daughter Catherine (Megan Follows) has mentioned in the past but whom we've never seen, makes her first appearance. And she's a hot mess! From banging priests to flashing dudes for alcohol, Claude isn't terribly interested in playing the part of royalty. And she apparently has some history with Bash (Torrance Coombs) that could end up complicating things with Kenna (Caitlin Stasey). However, Claude doesn't stick around very long, as Catherine sends her away after she's threatened by the ghosts of her two daughters who died in infancy. It feels like a fairly random development, but it works because there's a certain moodiness that permeates the episode whenever the ghosts are around. And it adds a creepy aura to the episode that's unlike anything else in the narrative. The show doesn't always do supernatural stuff all that convincingly, but I really enjoyed this, mostly because Catherine isn't always put on edge like this. Stories like this allow Megan Follows to show a broader range for Catherine. She's my favorite performer on the show, and she did fine work here.

While "Prince of the Blood" isn't an ideal episode of Reign, I still find an underwhelming Reign to be better than a lot of the shows I'm actually tasked with watching. Reign is a lively, compelling drama that is regularly engrossing, despite whatever shortcomings a given episode might have. This season is still largely on point, in my opinion, and I'm anxious to see more.