Reign - Season 2 Premiere - Recap: Responsible Adults

But is that really such a problem for a show that never really purported to be a straightforward history lesson in the first place?

Well, no.

Credit: The CW

Strange as it might sound, I think the show is actually stronger for its departures from history. Other shows might play coy about what's real and what's fake, but Reign doesn't really bother, mixing fact and fiction into a glorious stew of soap opera excess. There's just something so strangely alluring about a highly-stylized historical drama that doesn't take fact as seriously as its own narrative ambitions. Let's have the climax of the episode focus on the prophetic hallucinations of a character who never historically existed! Then, let's have over a third of the episode focus on the young King's dilemma over his illegitimate child, which he never had in real life! To top it all off, let's then have the new Queen poison the former Queen to keep her from killing a whole bunch of people! It's all richly absurd, and it's absolutely glorious, as Reign has a perfect understanding of what kind of show it is. It takes the bare skeleton of history, and stretches a soap opera's skin over top of it. I take no shame in declaring that Reign is one of my favorite shows on TV, and while "The Plague" wasn't the most exciting premiere the show could have offered, it suggests a season ahead that will be as crazy and over-the-top as the first.

Credit: The CW

The main thrust of the episode focuses on how Francis (Toby Regbo) and Mary (Adelaide Kane) handle their new responsibilities. For Francis, it's confronting his conflicting feelings over his illegitimate newborn son, as he's able to track down Lola (Anna Popplewell) and spirit her away from the plague-ravaged village in which she gave birth. While en route back to the palace, he encounters his cousin, Conde, Prince of the Blood (Sean Teale), and learns of a nobleman with dark ambitions. Meanwhile, Mary must balance the demands of leadership with the demands of her conscience, as she finds it's difficult to be Queen without getting her hands dirty. Not only are her subjects in a panic over the return of the plague, a nobleman named Edward Narcisse is attempting to blackmail her by withholding the meat and grains he provides for the region unless she orders the death of a nobleman with whom he has a quarrel. Mary doesn't want to compromise her morals, explaining to Catherine (Megan Follows) that everybody seems to be making demands that take her farther and farther away from the kind of ruler she wants to be. However, Catherine astutely notes that when you're a ruler, you don't get to have your cake and eat it too. You have to make sacrifices, and occasionally that means giving up on the ideal of the person you wish to be, and accepting the person you are -- or rather, the person you have to be. Mary is Queen, so she doesn't have the luxury of ignoring Edward's demand, nor does she have the option of seizing his lands without inspiring a revolt from the other nobles. As Catherine explains, while a ruler's title may come to them through birth, their actual power is granted them by the nobles of the kingdom. Without the support of the nobles, no ruler can hold the throne. The intrigue of the episode, then, comes from the seemingly impossible dilemma between Mary's need to maintain the stability of her kingdom, and her desire to keep her hands clean while doing so.

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What adds potency and immediacy to this dilemma is the illustration of how the plague spreads throughout the castle, which is in quarantine. We see one nobleman acquiring the illness from his mistress, before spreading it to a soldier whose cup he shares. He also spreads it to his entourage, which includes a little girl who drops her doll -- a doll which is then picked up and returned to her by Bash (Torrance Coombs), who is teased as being infected. While Bash isn't actually infected, his feverish hallucinations take Reign back into the realm of the supernatural, as the ghost of the dead little girl (killed not by the plague, but by collateral damage from Edward's attempt to kill his rival) not only informs Bash that he's not infected, but also warns that a "reckoning" is coming. There's an urgency to everything that happens here, as the spread of the plague is shown to be virulent and relentless, affecting those born high or low. We even lose two characters this episode, one to the plague and the other to devious actions: Pascal (Lucius Hoyos), the little boy whom Kenna (Caitlin Stasey) and Bash rescued from The Darkness last season, succumbs to the illness after making contact with the infected nobleman; meanwhile, Lord Castleroy's daughter, Yvette (Sarah Winter), is collateral damage as a result of Edward's mass poisoning of his rival's entourage. Both deaths are tragic, as Pascal only agreed to help the infected nobleman in order to keep Kenna from getting into a quarrel with the man, while Yvette was only with the entourage of Edward's rival because she was waiting for Leith (Jonathan Keltz), who promised to meet her in the private quarters. However, Leith was talked out of the relationship with Yvette by Greer (Celina Sinden), who begged him not to test her heart. All of these conflicts are interrelated, and it gives the episode a sense of greater dramatic weight.

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Ultimately, the episode finds its resolution by prompting Francis and Mary to confront their responsibilities head-on, and accept the demands of those responsibilities, even if they conflict with their morals at a personal level. After considering the possibility of allowing Lola to leave with his son on Conde's boat to the Netherlands, away from the plague, he reconsiders after holding his son for the first time. It may be selfish to keep them in a plague-infested France, and it might have horrible repercussions, but Francis declares he simply cannot allow Lola to take his son away. It's a surprisingly poignant moment, especially if you recall the troubles he and Mary had conceiving an heir last season. For all Francis knows, this might be his only child, and even if it was the product of a one night stand, he cannot toss the child away. Similarly, Mary recognizes that she might have been able to spare the lives of the innocent people Edward slaughtered if she had simply agreed to his demands earlier. As if angered with herself over her refusal to sacrifice one life to save many, Mary decides to go back on her principles by delivering justice to Edward, throwing him in the dungeon with the other plague-ridden subjects -- the very same punishment he "suggested" Mary inflict on his rival. She recognizes now that maintaining one's principles while attempting to maintain stability in one's kingdom is a tall order. Inevitably, you're going to get blood in your hands. For Mary, it's better that the blood on her hands is that of the guilty. However, it's unlikely to remain this cut-and-dry forever.

Credit: The CW

"The Plague" is a solid premiere for Reign, as the show enters Season 2 with a clear purpose in mind, illustrating the new difficulties and hardships of rule while showing how those demands change and shape a person. Francis and Mary are being changed by the actuality of their new responsibilities, far more so than they were by the threat of having to one day assume those responsibilities. You can be groomed for leadership all your life, but there's no way to know what being King or Queen is like until you're sitting on the throne. It should be interesting to see how Francis and Mary are shaped by their responsibilities this season.