This week on Reign, Mary learns the hard way that politics is a dirty game. She has been betrayed by everyone. It’s time for her to step up as queen of Scotland. We finally get to see the queen of Reign.
The Mad King is Still Mad
Henry the Mad King is still ill or crazy or whatever he is. Francis thinks he needs time to recover. Katherine, meanwhile, has been trying to take over some of his duties because he’s been too distracted by Penelope. And he’s only getting worse.
An Unspoken Obligation
One of Katherine’s ladies from “the flying squad,”(I think that’s the name I heard. If it is, it’s a ridiculous name) a group of women who report to Katherine and sleep with important men, has some secrets to share with Mary. Katherine has asked her to sleep with the king to get him away from Penelope. Instead of saying no, she wants to run away. She wants Mary to send her to Scotland in exchange for information.
On her way out, Katherine’s lady tells Mary that France gets Scotland if she doesn’t produce an heir before she dies. She’s better off dead than alive to them without an heir. Mary didn’t know about this clause when she signed the contract. She was deceived!
Mary tells Francis about the secret clause. And Francis is pissed. The Mad King might try to kill Mary. They need the contract. But they can’t get into Henry’s room. Mary knows who to go to: Kenna.
Kenna has promised Bash she’d stay away from Henry, plus Henry’s a crazy psycho murderer now, but she goes to help Mary anyway.
Henry comes in to find Kenna in his room. He thinks she’s there to have sex with him. Poor Kenna is always getting herself into trouble.
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It May not be a Match Made in Heaven, but it is North of Paris
Things are going well with Lola and Lord Julian, but things aren’t moving quickly enough and Lola is about to start showing. So, she takes charge.
Lord Julian says he’s not the man most women would want as a husband. He’s been married twice before. And both wives died in childbirth. So he doesn’t want any children. He proposes and she says yes. That’s a pretty dumb move. Lola’s going to have a tough time explaining herself when she starts giving birth. Immaculate Conception, clearly!
So it’s a surprise when Lola tells Julian the truth. But she won’t tell him who the father is. He’s super understanding about it. But he cryptically says they’ve both made messes of their lives; however, they won’t talk about his past. He still wants to marry her. He doesn’t need a match made in heaven, just made north of Paris. Could this be Lola’s happily ever after?
An Unhappy Marriage
Kenna is still not happy about her marriage to Bash. He doesn’t even have a real title! Bash is just as displeased about marrying a woman who’s been sleeping with his father, though. I can’t really blame him for that one. They really seem to dislike each other, though. The crux of their problem: all she cares about is herself and all he cares about is Mary. Bash says they don’t have to pretend to love each other, but they should try to like each other.
They don’t trust each other and things don’t get easier when Mary takes Bash out of the room, much to Kenna’s chagrin. Henry also goes to Bash and brags about how he slept with Kenna again and how Bash could have a king’s son as his first-born. Both of their suspicions about the other are confirmed.
Bash confronts Kenna about Henry. She says they didn’t have sex, but he doesn’t care. Kenna tells him the truth of why she was there. He thinks she’s vain, but she cares about her country. She didn’t like what happened. The Mad King terrifies her. She cries that Bash will never be to her what he was to Mary.
Later, Henry starts hallucinating a boy with a racket and he turns to Kenna for comfort. He tells her he gets headaches and lies on her lap and complains about Penelope just as Bash comes in. He knows that Kenna’s uncomfortable and tells his Henry that Penelope, who Katherine says has a big head, is jealous. He offers Kenna his hand. He tells her that he’ll always defend her. She’s his wife, after all.
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A Mother’s Betrayal
Francis tells Mary that it’s not just Henry who betrayed her. Her mother did too. Her mother knew about the contract. And signed it for money.
Mary and Francis scheme. They’ll tell the Scottish people who don’t like Mary’s mother about the contract. In order to prevent war, her mother will have to deny knowing about the contract. And Henry wouldn’t want a war with Scotland right now. Mary has no qualms about causing problems for her mother. Naturally, Mary says, “The next step is to have a party.”
At the party, Katherine complains about having so many drunken Scotts around. She also questions Mary about the lady she was seen talking to. That lady is missing now. Katherine’s getting a little suspicious.
Mary wants to talk to Lord Mackenzie. That’s why she invited everyone. Francis isn’t sure he’s as loyal as he used to be. He fought with Mary’s father, but he’s gotten rich and comfortable since then.
Mackenzie goes to talk with Mary, but demands he bring his men with him and wait outside. Francis and Mary don’t like it, not knowing if he can be trusted, but she invites them all in. Mackenzie is angry that Mary’s been safely away in France while people are suffering in Scotland. She’s not worthy in his eyes. She tells him about the secret clause and gives an epic queenly and roaring speech. “I would defy the devil himself if he tried to buy and sell my country,” she says. She asks Mackenzie to give up everything to tell the world of the betrayal. He and his men kneel down and he says, “You’re majesty, we have waited a long, long time for you to rise.”
Francis realizes that the queen is usually a king’s wife, but not Mary. She has power.
Katherine’s Boy Toy
A Scottish man tries to flirt with Katherine. He thinks Penelope is the queen and she’s a lady-in-waiting. The Scottish man and Katherine make out and eventually have sex.
The Scottish man realizes that Katherine’s the queen a little too late. But he’s super into it. He lets it slips that Mackenzie had a secret meeting with Mary and now they’re going straight to Scotland instead of Paris. Mackenzie was really smug about it and he was really jealous, but not anymore. He slept with the Queen! Katherine is not too happy anymore, though. She realizes that Mary knows.
The Red Trip to the Brothel
Mackenizie tells the guy that slept with Katherine that he and his men are going to town to a brothel. He doesn’t want to go there; he’s had better. He sits with a grin on his face and is promptly strangled to death. At the brothel, the woman Mackenzie is with keeps looking at the door. There’s a knock and Mackenzie and his men and some of the women are slaughtered. A man comes to Katherine to tell her the deed is done.
Mary Shows her True Allegiance
Mary comes in to see Katherine, and she’s pissed. She slaps Katherine in the face. Katherine tells Mary that this isn’t going to be the last time men will die for Mary. She goes to cry on Francis’ shoulder.
Mary wants the contract. She threatens Katherine that she’ll tell France that the king is mad. She says she’ll take Francis with her to Scotland. And Francis is right on board. Katherine gets the contract and Mary tells her to burn it.
In private, Francis laughs about how awesome it was that Mary lied to his mother. But Mary didn’t lie. She’ll always choose Scotland over France. She’s the queen.
Will Francis be able to deal with the fact that his wife rules her own country? We’ll just have to find out next week on Reign.
Reign airs Thursdays at 9pm on the CW.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
