ParkDundee

I think that Catherine is presented as being evil at the beginning of the show. At least evil by today's standards. Perhaps not so much for a Queen in her time. But keep watching.

My feelings about Cat Grant changed also during S1; I always thought her relationship to Kara had a lot of similarities to Catherine and Mary. I miss Cat Grant! A few appearances a season is just not enough.

DigificWriter

I've now finished the first half (Episodes 1-11) of Season 1, and whileI don't completely understand the logic behind a coupleof the narrative decisions (Mary and Francis sleeping together between Left Behind and Fated, and temporarily removing Francis from the line of successuon) made by the writers during that stretch, I have really enjoyed the series on the whole, and can't wait to finish the rest of the season.

My favorite episodes thus far have been Sacrifice and Inquisition, although it bugs me that the writers didn't bother to explain Lola's absence during the latter episode, especially since I know that her not being at Court plays a pretty large role in Episode12 (Royal Blood).

I digress, though. The reason those two episodes made such a favorable impression on me is that, although I don't totally get the reasoning behind positioning Bash as the next King of France, I did enjoy seeing him and Mary work together and face down their enemies; I also liked getting Clarissa's backstory.

kerbear28

That's so interesting that those are your favorite episodes so far, because when they first aired they were the least memorable of Season 1 for me. I don't know... they were difficult for me to watch with no Frary and no Francis. Rewatching those episodes, though, I've come really appreciate them. It was entertaining to see Mary, Bash (and even her ladies) go toe to toe with Catherine. I enjoyed learning Clarissa's backstory as well.

DigificWriter

I've got 4 episodes left in the season now, and have a bit more context for why the writers made some of the decisions that they did in the first half of the season. I've also really enjoyed that pretty much every one of the main characters finally has their own stories, even if it took a bit longer than it really ought to for some of said stories to coalesce.

I still can't stand Catherine (and probably never will, to be honest), but I do have to acknowledge that she's become slightly less one-dimensionally cliched in the second half of the season.

BTW, my favorite episodes of the second half of the season thus far have been Dirty Laundry, The Darkness, and Monsters, largely because of what they do for the characterizations of Mary, Francis, Bash, Lola, and Henry, who are my favorite characters.

kerbear28

I'm glad some of the writing choices make a little more sense now. I loved that all of the main characters got their own stories in the first season, too. Every fan could find their favorite and be happy that he or she was getting screen time.

Even in the beginning, I would never have described Catherine as one-dimensional or cliché. She was never a straight villain. For me, she was always more complicated than that. I hope eventually you can learn to appreciate her.

Enjoy the end of Season 1.

DigificWriter

Season 12 is now in the books for me, so here are some "favorite" things of mine from it.
Favorite Character(s)
Mary
Francis
Bash
Lola
King Henry

Favorite Episode(s)
Sacrifice
Inquisition
Dirty Laundry
The Darkness
Monsters
Slaughter of Innocence

Favorite Relationship(s)
Mary and Francis
Greer and Lord Castleroy
Bash and Kenna

Favorite "twist"
* King Henry forcing Bash and Kenna to marry
* Clarissa's backstory
* Francis killing King Henry via joust

kerbear28

for finishing Season 1! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your favorites along the way. Are you going to start Season 2 soon?

DigificWriter

Not 'til Wednesday. My pattern is to watch a few episodes a day before I go to work (I work in the afternoon) and then listen to the accompanying Afterbuzz TV aftershow podcast discussions for those episodes while I'm working... and because of the holiday and some extracurricular activities I'm involved with, I have Monday and Tuesday off.

kerbear28

Sounds like a great plan. Enjoy the time off.

Finnegan

The arrival of Mary and her girls at the French court (the Château de Blois?) at the start of the first episode of Reign's first season struck me as delightfully artful.

The undisguisedly 21st-century Yank speech and manners of the girls accompanying Mary, as well as their surprise and wonder, seems designed to evoke a gaggle of 21st-century teenage American girls finding themselves transported back to France in 1560 -- to portray Mary's attendants as experiencing what the show hopes its viewers will experience.

That is fleeting; Mary's attendants never again behave quite so much like 21st-century Yank teens. Its brevity indicates that it was done for deliberate effect.

kerbear28

Aww I love the arrival of Mary and her ladies in the pilot. Such a sweet reunion of friends. I had never really thought of it that way, but I guess you're right... They are acting a lot like modern teenagers in that scene. Very interesting. I'm sure it was done on purpose. It made them all very relatable from the start.

"gaggle of 21st-centu"ry teenage American girls"