SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
Darnley isn’t as much of a snake as I thought he was. In fact, he isn’t a snake at all. After his conversation with Lady Lennox at the pub, I don’t see him as the nefarious person I did before. All he wants is the love of the Scottish people (perhaps to replace the love of Keira). He’s just wasn’t willing to do so honourably. With Mary’s guiding influence however, it looks like he may change his ways somewhat. After all, he did agree not to cheat during the boxing match and held to that – Mary breaking that agreement herself notwithstanding.
I never believed that he had tried to poison Lord Taylor for the simple fact that he’s so upfront and honest. He admitted to setting the fire in the village without hesitation. If he had indeed poisoned Lord Taylor, he’d have owned up to it when Mary accused him. I believed in his innocence before she asked, in fact. Another thing about him that is very obvious is his desire to win Mary’s approval. That being the case, he would not have broken his promise to her.
And win her approval he did. I thought they were a good match when they first met; they had amazing chemistry and she did greatly enjoy his company and like him. It seems that they will get to the easy camaraderie they had before. Even if she doesn’t come to love him as much as or in the same way that she did Francis, I think she’ll be able to at least appreciate him and love him in some way.
Another relationship that’s going well is the one between Emily Knox and James. I was so relieved when Mary told him that he no longer needed to seduce Emily. As I said before, I didn’t feel comfortable with them using her when she’s so innocent and vulnerable. But just as James quit her she came running back into his arms. I didn’t think James would sleep with her and expected him to turn her away. I guess he figured that since she gave herself willingly, he might as well get some information out of her? Either that or he’s developing genuine feelings for her as I suspected he would, but something about his demeanour when she came to him makes me think otherwise.
Things weren’t going quite so well for Greer. She found out that the reason Castleroy has been so distant is because he fell in love with someone else. I was hoping that the two of them would be a thing again because I always loved their relationship. Greer, being the very generous and kind woman that she is, didn’t even hesitate to free him of their marriage so that he could be with the one he loves. I admired her so much in that moment and I know that she’ll be fine. Poor Greer is always getting the short end of the stick in her love life and she can’t even be with the love of her life; Leith.
He himself is having some relationship troubles now that Claude is married and her plans to have an annulment won’t come to fruition. I never expected that they would, to be honest. Predictably, Narcisse was never going to allow Luc to leave such an advantageous union. I was a little surprised at his confession that he did all of this to afford his son and his descendants security through power. I forgot that sometimes Narcisse can and does act in the interest of someone other than himself, although, he does ensure he gets a little something out of it as well.
I love Luc. I feel so sorry for him; being used by Narcisse (even though it’s for his own benefit) and being stuck in a marriage with someone who loves another. He’s so considerate of Claude and what she wants and actively tries to give her that. I knew that Leith was never going to go for the open marriage. He’s back in a similar situation to what happened with him and Greer, except that Claude is here being made available to him despite her marriage when that was never an option with Greer. He too seems to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to his love life. If only Greer were still in France, free and available. Maybe we’d have a chance at that particular ship again.
Charles is neither sick nor going mad, he’s just traumatised. Arguably he’s gone a little mad, but we know the cause of said “madness.” Catherine had said in a previous episode that his experience with the Red Knights and watching his friend be burned alive was the cause for his behaviour, but for some reason I didn’t buy that. She’s trying so hard to be there for him and help him, but I don’t think that she can.
Her plan to turn public opinion about him was a bust and with Leeza hovering around (I’m so thankful that she wasn’t in this episode), it’s only a matter of time before she takes over leadership of France. I don’t know how Catherine can help him as her King or as his mother at this point. I fear that may be too far gone.
Random thoughts:
- Really Narcisse? Have you heard of knocking?
- Well, that engagement announcement didn’t go well.
- Darnley: “More importantly I know how to put on a show and win people to my side.” That we know.
- That servant ain’t buying it Greer.
- Darnley is just itching to hit James.
- Greer the Wise.
- Remember when Castleroy was so taken with Greer? I member.
Reign airs Fridays at 9 PM on The CW.
There were several moments in the first half of the episode in which the dialogue, Danny’s especially, felt a little unnatural and his personality took a while to get used to. He didn’t feel like a real person; he was just a little too upbeat and came of like he didn’t take his return seriously. Like just strolling into Rand Enterprises and expecting the receptionist to take him at his word that he was Danny Rand. He was gone for fifteen years, yes, but it didn’t seem like his psychological growth was stunted and he thought like a ten year old.
Which looks to be the case considering the fact that Harold – who is supposed to be dead – called it his company and that Joy drugged Danny in a joint plot with her brother and, it looks like, had him committed to a mental hospital. I was so disappointed when she drugged him because I thought that she was the nice one between her and Ward. It may just turn out that Ward is the better of the two since he, at least, doesn’t hide his dickishness behind a facade of niceties.
Big Al was another character that didn’t feel like a real person to me. He was too nice and too helpful. It wasn’t that, per se, that didn’t make him feel real, it was the way in which that was presented. I didn’t mind him by the second time he appeared in the episode and I didn’t care when he died. In all fairness I don’t care about any of the characters yet – if I ever will. None of them are particularly interesting to me. They’re all of them just bland and that is the perfect word to describe this episode.
We finally learned the circumstances leading up to and surrounding Frankie Vargas’ assassination and that it was Eli who had killed him. Not just laid out the scheme; he was the one who shot him. At the end of the last episode, I thought that Eli simply knew who had done it but wasn’t actively involved. Turns out that the people behind the assassination blackmailed Eli into killing Frankie by threatening his new girlfriend, Sandra.
I was very impressed by her refusal to flee the country; to let these people rule her life and force her to live it in fear. That was admirable. I could see why Eli loved her; she was a very strong woman. Then he killed her. Which I knew he was going to do because she would continually be used as a tool to manipulate him, but I was still taken aback when he did it. There was no hesitation at all. As we knew, though, they still had Liv to use against him so killing Sandra was ultimately useless.
What I’m confused about is whether he was supposed to go down with Cryus or if he was a false flag. If he was supposed to go down with Cyrus, then why did they pay Tom to come forward and lie about being the real shooter?
Darnley’s new found ambition to be king was so blatant when he first met Mary in the field that I was wary of him from then. I didn’t trust him at all because his demeanour and attitude seemed quite different from what we’d seem of him before; he wasn’t that ambitious. All he wanted was to be able to marry Lady Keira. I guess now that his heart is broken and he’s lost her he’s figured why not get the most out of his marriage with Mary.
I’m pretty sure that Mary’s “Loyal Watchman” is actually James. The only problem with that is that it doesn’t make sense that he would inform her of his suspicions in such a manner; he would come to her and tell her himself. I see no reason why he could not. She trusts him now.
Catherine as well and I’m glad she gave Claude that little pre-wedding talk about not trusting him too completely or hastily. She definitely needs to get Claude out of the marriage now that Leith has returned. Just as I was coming to accept that the Leith and Claude ship had sailed and was getting ready to embrace Luc and Claude. I so wanted him to run to Claude’s room and interrupt her first night with her new husband. Catherine needs to get the two of them back together.
One of Elizabeth’s plans this season has actually worked and she successfully won Lord Maxford to her side. I despised him from the first, though, because he totally ignored her in their first being just because she was a woman. It was that attitude precisely that made me think that her plan didn’t work; she made the kill that he had failed to do, and in a far flashier manner, when they went hunting. I assumed he would resent her because she, a woman, did something that he could not. Instead, it won her his respect.
It was nice to have an episode in which Mary and James got along and she was not berating him. I was pleasantly surprised that she actually sought advice from him concerning whether or not to accept Gideon’s marriage proposal and abdicate her throne or marry Darnley. And that she actually listened to him and did what he suggested by publicly displaying her and Gideon’s affections for one another. She kind of had to include him in the decision since he would have ruled as her regent if she married Gideon, but I still liked seeing her behave that way toward him.
I’m a little surprised that Greer isn’t in on the plot to seduce Emily Knox. She wouldn’t have approached James about his attention toward her if she was. I’m with James on feeling a ways about taking advantage of someone so innocent and keen on keeping her marriage vows. I’m expecting that James’ flirtations will go from just being part of a ploy to use her to becoming genuine.
Is Charles sick and also going mad? Or is his madness making him sick or vice versa? I thought he was just being moody because he was sick, but it seems like he’s going mad. Either that or he just said and did the things he did to Bianca to scare her off. The fact that she’s missing greatly concerns me, though. I knew something bad was going to happen to her when Narcisse told her “If it pleases the King, don’t stop.” Those were very ominous words. And leave it to Narcisse to try to motivate a king with sex.
Elizabeth was so close to getting rid of John Knox. So close! But he just had to go snooping around English court asking about Renee. I can’t blame Baby John’s new nurse for giving him the information that she did; she didn’t know who he was and she was just correcting him on some misinformation. Still, I really wish she’d just shut up about it and not clued him into Elizabeth, Gideon and Narcisse’s plan.
Narcisse has turned his attentions elsewhere, for now at least, toward plotting against Elizabeth since she didn’t grant him his opportunity to kill Knox. He remains brilliant in his maneuvering by intercepting the payment that was to be made to Lady Keira’s fiance, Lord White. It was very stupid of Elizabeth to have Gideon speak openly of their plans for Darnley in front of Narcisse. He had all of the ammunition he needed to move against her. And the fact that Narcisse tattled on Darnley to his mother is kind of funny.
She was being way too hard on James. I do think she shouldn’t put her complete trust in him just yet and he does need to prove to her that he is loyal, but she needed to let up a little. She was too harsh. It’s a good thing that the two of them made up before she pushed him away. She was the one making him hating her. It wasn’t fair of her to say that he didn’t know what it was like to hold the lives of a village in his hands, when he was the one who was her regent and in charge of the lives of all of the people of Scotland. That was arrogant of her and downplayed the significant contributions he made to her rule while she was in France.
Catherine seems to be on her way to losing another child. Even before we saw Charles’ hands I knew he was sick; he was sweaty and look extremely tired. Catherine knows something is up but I don’t think she suspects illness. Obviously it can’t get out that the King is gravely ill, not with Leeza hovering around trying to seize French court for herself. I wish he would just talk to her and let her know what’s going and let her help him; she would excel and keeping things in order and hiding this.
In March 2017, XHOSA CARES, extends its outreach, to engage the community in a fun Team Challenge. Gearing up for the summer season, Xhosa Barbados capitalizing on the Carnival excitement just ending, introduce the XHOSA CREWS TREASURE HUNT, a new XHOSA CARES Initiative.
We spent the entirety of this week’s episode in the version of Clockworks that I thought was David’s creation in an attempt to save Syd from being attacked by the Devil With The Yellow Eyes in the White Room, but was actually created by the Devil With The Yellow Eyes itself. The reason it sent everyone there was to keep David “comfortable” so that it could have free reign over his body.
It made it sound like it could sense David’s power even in utero and the potential that he possessed and that’s what attracted it to him. It’s also the reason why Charles gave him up for adoption in the first place; to get David away from it. I don’t see how that would have worked though – and we know that it didn’t – since it has been a part of David since before he was born.
In the end it just lured her away and locked her in the room behind the door in the hallway, which I’m not quite sure what it is. The Devil With The Yellow Eyes’ trippy little traipse through the places we’ve seen David in thus far didn’t help in determining what the room is either, but it did show that the room can be changed to anything. In any case, as it said, keeping David comfortable was a lot of work and Syd presented a major problem. Lulling her to sleep and locking her up was a good means of keeping her out of the way.
Between last season and this one I’d actually forgotten that Lola was beheaded. All of Mary’s ladies-in-waiting are gone now and that idea kind of makes me nostalgic for when the series first began and they were all together. I don’t expect to see much of Greer this season since she’s in France and not part of French court anymore and Mary is in Scotland. It would have been nice to get more of a scene for Lola’s funeral instead of a few shots. And poor Narcisse, scoundrel that he is, was unable to attend.
Her other daughter, Queen Leeza, I totally forgot existed and needed to refer to one of the 
He may believe himself to be a man of God, but John Knox is the devil in my eyes and I can’t wait until he’s killed off. It’s a shame that his plan to pit Mary and Elizabeth against each other succeeded flawlessly.
Lord Darnley made his grand entrance at the end of the episode and it looks like Mary and Elizabeth may well be fighting over his loyalties for at least a small part of the season. Given that this series is filled with strong female characters, I was a little peeved that two of it’s three most powerful women seem to be set up to fight over a man. The saving grace here, though, is that the fight is political and not romantic so it’s not at all bothersome.