ScarletCourt

That bit baffles me, too. Why add him on the payroll and then not use him at all really??

Regbo Girl

And where are Greer and Castleroy? Since they started giving Condé so much screentime, they seem to have forgotten about the rest of their cast

ScarletCourt

I would have preferred if the protestant cause was seen through the eyes of Greer and Castleroy. Right now people aren't emotionally engage to the SL because the story is being told with not the loved characters from S1, but with new people all together.

Regbo Girl

I agree Like, we have just met Condé, are we supposed to care that much about him and his problems already? I'm sorry but I can't. And even more knowing who he was in real life.

ScarletCourt

^^^Same. Can you imagine if the story was told via Greer and Castleroy, with Leith on the sidelines and the other LIW talking about it amongst themselves. Lola could still have some of her scenes with Narcisse and so could Mary with Conde just in a lesser number. Mary could talk to her LIW together about it. It would be so much more interesting and it would involve all our beloved characters from S1.

firewall

That sounds so much better than what we're getting. We already care about Greer and Castleroy. We spent most of last season getting to know them. I'm worried about them and they're not even on the screen half the time!

Both Craig and Sean are good actors and i don't dislike them, but introducing both of them at the same time and then giving them each a majority share of the screen time is an injustice to the existing cast. Particularly Torrance and Jonathan.

ScarletCourt

We need a balance and it's like this is currently the Francis, Mary, Narcisse, Lola and Conde show, not Reign.

Tappintoes

On a lighter note, in the first few episodes of S2, I appreciated the outdoor scenes shot with Francis and Mary. Those were places, courtyards, or gardens of the castle we'd never seen before. I liked how they gave our new king and queen their own "room to roam" that set them apart from S1 and some of its settings.

ETA ...
I may be a few years older than some here, so I don't recall really watching a series on the CW before. Unless this was the channel that aired "Felicity" back in the late 90's. =D
But is this show really considered a teen soap? There's way too much sex and sexual references in this show for it to be a teen soap, no? or am I showing my age here?

Maud&Danny

Should we talk about season 1? because from where I'm standing this balance problem always existed.

You're just complaining now because your favorites are more in the background right now. I understand. I did exactly the same last year with Lola. The first half of S1 was draining for me because she was practically non existent and when they did decided to give her a storyline, it was to sleep with Francis which resulted on lots of people hating her. Lucky me right?

As for Jonathan , I can't say I'm unhappy because he's just not that good of an actor. Sorry for who likes him.

ScarletCourt

It was nice that they went to Ireland for a few weeks to shoot some scenes.

I'm definitely a few years older than some here and I've never watched a CW series on the CW before, but my understanding is that this is considered a teen soap due to the age of the characters.

The thing is that in S1 at least we had the Mary and the LIW scenes and at least Lola were in those. This year those scenes haven't happened with Mary at all. I know that she's married but so are more than half the LIW. In S1 she used to use the LIW to her advantage, so far this year all she's done is remind Lola that she is her Queen. There's been bare mention of Scotland. Her mother dies during this period and there's been no mention of her either.

itsmemandy

They're showing too much of Conde and Narcisse, and frankly no one cares that much about their storyline. They're new characters and like you said we're not emotionally connected to them. And they show too much Lola, I don't mind if she gets one or two scenes per episode, but 6 is just too much, and most people don't really like her anyway.
Not to mention they dragged the frary angst for too long, it's tiring to be frank, and the religious violence is boring.

firewall

I'm older than most as well. I watched the WB a lot and have followed some shows on the CW (although it was never as good as its predecessor). Most of the shows on the network land within the teen soap spectrum, although in recent years it's gravitated more toward the superhero/comic book genre which are less soapy. Reign is a hybrid historical genre and teen soap, IMO.

As for the rest of the discussion here... I think they did an injustice to Lola during s1 by making her so unlikable in the pilot and then sidelining her until the middle of the season, where her only purpose was to cause another Frary obstacle. Unless you are a huge fan of Anna's (which I am not), how are you supposed to overlook all that and suddenly root for her? To now devote episode upon episode focused on her and a brand new character who is making everyone miserable, well, I just don't feel any emotional investment whatsoever. And considering how things have ended up, maybe that is purposeful. I think the Narcisse/Lola relationship was built in order to give Narcisse a little humanity, but also to give him an achilles heel that could lead to his undoing.

Of the LIW, I was always most invested in Greer, since she has pretty consistently had a storyline, even if it wasn't always in the forefront. I feel her absence the most when she's not around.

Kenna has had her ups and downs, but I've always found her enjoyable to watch, and I do think it's unfair that she no longer has any storyline of her own. She and Bash are both thrown into the miscellaneous pot, being stuck into scenes that could belong to almost any other character. I actually welcome Claude causing some problems between them, because at least we'd get to see more of them and they'd have their own story going on.

Regbo Girl

Was this the first episode where Greer didn't appear at all? I don't remember this happening in s1 even if she only appeared for a few seconds.

itsmemandy

To be frank I never noticed it when Greer was missing because I was never really invested in her storyline, but I think this is the first episode she's completely missing.
In S1 they usually showed every character for at least a few seconds

ScarletCourt

This is the biggest problem with this season. There's 2 or 3 people scenes mostly. Occasionally there are more, but all the action is usually contained with Francis, Mary, Narcisse, Conde and Lola. Catherine has her own story usually, but that's about it. The rest have been peripheral characters that may not get a scene or just a couple of seconds. This is not the ensemble that we used to see in S1.

Greer has been mostly missing since her wedding in Blood for Blood (2x05). She showed up in 2x07, so she's been missing for an entire two episodes 2x06 and 2x08.