Reign 1.11 “Inquisition” Recap

Bash and Mary head down to the wine cellar to meet with wet nurse Jean and Isobel’s baby, where they learn that the pagan symbol has yet to completely fade. If those who wish to do Bash harm find out about the pagan child being in the castle, a greater target would go on his back, so Jean is going to send the baby to a convent through her mother Agnes. Their time frame considerably narrows when Henry returns from Rome with the Francesca and Pietro de Medici; the two visit Catherine in her chambers and reveal that they used their political clout to block the legitimization of Bash, as the Pope wouldn’t even meet with Henry. While that might look like a win for Catherine, the wind gets taken out of her sails when she learns that his next plan is to accuse her of having an adulterous relationship with Nostradamus and execute her. Citing multiple wives of Henry VIII practicing how they would hold their head on the block before execution, Francesca and Pietro bring a block of wood to Catherine’s chambers for her to practice on herself.

In the throne room, Henry and his friend Richard Delacroix help prep Kenna on what her testimony at Catherine’s hearing will be, as the former knows that he has the reach to get his wife convicted and executed no matter if she did it or not. Catherine then comes into the room with the two guards that have been by her side since she was locked away and when she warns Henry that he’s going to have to keep a distance in order to preserve the illusion of fairness to the trial, he acknowledges that Richard, who was exiled from court years ago after insulting her, will be the one in charge of evidence. Determined not to give up, Catherine announces to the artists in the castle that money will continue to flow their way, an uncertainty with rumors floating around about mass cancellations, and she finds Charlotte, one of the girls she has spying on Bash. Charlotte tells her that Bash and Mary have been spending an inordinate amount of time in the wine cellar with a wet nurse who has been seen around the stables; Catherine makes it to the stables just as the baby was leaving with Agnes and she sees the pagan symbol on its foot. Dismissing Jean, Catherine warns Mary that if Henry can get her killed based on rumors, Bash would be done for if people found out about his pagan history and there’s no guarantees that she wouldn’t end up on a stake right beside him. However, Mary is not one to be threatened by the queen and she promises to be by Bash’s side when Catherine is executed.

Catherine pays a visit to Nostradamus in the dungeon and brings him water before asking whether Bash had ever seemed too in the know about the pagans in the blood woods. Nostradamus admits that Bash’s hunting in the woods could lead to him seeing things and as Catherine apologizes to him for getting him caught up in this, Henry comes into the dungeon to offer a deal. If Nostradamus testifies that the affair actually happened, he would simply be exiled from France rather than executed, but Nostradamus remains loyal to Catherine and rejects the chance to save his own life. Catherine then takes Jean down by the water near the castle and informs her that the baby is not at the St. Clair convent that was mentioned. When the wet nurse won’t divulge the location of her mother’s cottage, Catherine brings out Francesca and Pietro and threatens to have them harm the young girl if she doesn’t reveal where Agnes lives; after some time being stretched out on the rack, Jean confesses where her mother lives, but Bash and Mary get a break when the Medicis are forced to use a map to find the home.

After the two have their conversation about whether a real romantic relationship is possible between them and whether Mary wants to fully commit to the life the two are building, Bash and Mary take a short cut over the hills to Agnes’ cottage, just as Catherine has a close encounter with Clarissa that sees the queen grab the arm of the would-be castle ghost before the latter escapes back into the shadows. She heads over to the dungeon and confronts Nostradamus about who this creature is and he explains that Clarissa is someone who sees herself as Mary’s defender and that he feels responsible for protecting her. He goes on to tell Catherine about the day that his father found newborn Clarissa during a storm and how she had a large birthmark on her lower cheek that her family wished to be corrected. However, when his father tried to remove it surgically and use various potions to separate it from her body, her wounds ended up putrefying; rather than returning her family following the attempts at salvaging her face, Nostradamus’ father opted to tell them that she died during the procedures and pay off a couple in the area to take the girl on as their own daughter. Due to the condition of her face, Clarissa was tormented while a young girl and one day, she snapped, beating one of her tormentors to within an inch of his life. As such, Nostradamus brought her to the castle where she would be safe and where he could begin atoning for what his family put her through.

Later, Catherine goes to Henry’s chambers and the two argue about their marriage, with him accusing her of being incapable of love. of pushing him away, and of treating him like a stud horse rather than tenderly like a husband. In turn, Catherine brings up how he flaunted Diane to the entire world and how she was terrified after going 10 years without having a child; he assures her that he would not have killed her for being infertile and wonders why she wouldn’t simply trust him. She never had the ability to trust anyone due to the way she was raised and she declares the young, naïve children they were when they were first wed dead. Henry then orders her to let down her hair and the two make love, just as Mary and Bash make it to Agnes’ place and find that the baby is still there. They warn her that she needs to take her family and leave for a while to avoid being asked questions, but soon enough, six men on horseback arrive at the house. They come inside and begin poking and prodding around, looking for either the baby or Bash and Mary due to there being two horses outside; although they find the baby and take it with them, they don’t stumble upon Bash and Mary. Bash does, however, get nicked when one of the men shoves his sword into the closet he was hiding in.

The following day, Richard informs Catherine that Henry has cancelled the witnesses due to needing time to think. The two then embrace and talk about how he got himself exiled from court due to their romantic relationship and out of fear for both himself and Catherine. He tries to get her to say that she loves him best, which she acknowledges, and she makes note of the fact that he’s the only man she’s ever met that she hasn’t lied to. Once the men leave, Agnes tells Bash and Mary the story of the queen’s past secrecy, how her ladies knew that there was something going on between Catherine and another man due to the flurry of secret notes and how frightened Catherine was of not having Henry’s child. She also reveals that Catherine’s first born was a child with said lover, which causes Bash and Mary to escort her back to the castle so she can tell Henry and Richard something that could seal Catherine’s fate. Agnes doesn’t remember much about the baby except a port wine stain birthmark above its lip. While Lord Hugo takes the baby to Catherine, who sees that the pagan symbol is gone, Richard gets brought before Henry in the throne room, as Henry knows that a birthmark in that particular shape runs in Richard’s family.

Richard immediately gets sentenced to death and rushed out of the room, while Catherine learns that Henry has enough for a guilty verdict. She then brings up Bash either being a pagan sympathizer or a pagan himself, citing a sculpture she found in Henry’s room that she claims is the pagan symbol of a lover’s soul – in this case, Diane’s soul, which she breaks on the castle floor. Rumors of the next king of France being a pagan could splinter Henry’s realm and when Catherine mentions that the guards could vouch for the validity of her find, Henry asks one whether he saw Catherine find it in a chest and whether he would be willing to vouch for her. The guard agrees to speak on Catherine’s behalf and Henry kills him, telling Catherine that Diane shared her secret with him and acknowledged that she wanted to put her past behind her. Catherine, he argued, was never going to leave the Medici in her behind; on her way out, he tells Bash that whenever he sees a threat, no matter how small, he has to cut it down.

Francesca and Pietro leave Catherine with the knowledge that she’s disgraced the Medicis by losing and give her poison to take rather than subject herself to the brutality of a public execution. Meanwhile, Bash tells Mary that none of this means anything to him except her, that he would cut down anyone who threatened her. The subject of whether she would have given him a chance if he was in Francis’ position when she first arrived in France gets broached and Mary makes her intentions clear by kissing Bash. Her heart is open and she assures him that he doesn’t have to be Francis to win her love. Later, Catherine crushes up the poison and sneaks into Mary’s chambers to drop it into the tub she’s bathing in. With a knife to the girl’s throat, Catherine says that the least she can do for her children is take Mary out and restore their inheritance, with Mary slipping under the water due to the effect of the poison. However, Clarissa saves them both and draws attention from the guards, who apprehend Catherine and drag her away. But before they do, Catherine tells Mary that she made a choice that will bring her to ruin and Mary counters with the fact that she and Bash just killed the Queen of France.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-“You’ve killed me enough for one day.”
-“Now let’s not make that a lie.”
-“Yes, I’m a good abject lesson, aren’t I?”
-“Too bad you didn’t see this one coming.”
-“So, we’re lovers now, are we?”
-“The shadows are the only life she has.”
-“Diane’s soul – lovely, if a bit lightweight.”
-Hoooooooly crap, this episode. Holy crap.
-You know how I know I’m old? I’d rather a CW show focus on the adults than on the sexy love triangle. I actually think that Bash-Mary-Francis is one of the better love triangles on the network and that the show has been pretty smart on how and when to turn up the romantic angst, but seeing an episode that primarily follows Catherine and Henry shows just how strong the adult material on Reign is and how much every element of the show gets elevated due to more Megan Follows and Alan Van Sprang.
-Still no name for Baby Pagan. Should we start a pool for when the name will be revealed?
-So, Clarissa is Catherine’s child. Amazing. I feel like I should have guessed that, but I had absolutely no idea and my notes became a series of expletives when Agnes mentioned the birth mark on the cheek of the baby. I love that the show is making this ghostly presence more of a tangible, sympathetic character rather than relying on her evasiveness and sense of justice and I think that having her talk to Catherine without the burlap sack on her head will really throw the queen off balance from here on out. Something tells me that Catherine will be spending much of her time in captivity mulling over her past mistakes and that we haven’t seen the last of the interactions between mother and daughter. Perhaps they’ll come to enough of an understanding to where Clarissa sets her free, unable to enjoy her revenge while watching her mother suffer?
-Also, Clarissa’s face!
-I would like to see more of Catherine’s family because Francesca and Pietro said a lot about who the queen was without having that much dialogue and the deeper the show delves into Catherine’s backstory, the more interesting she becomes. Plus, they make for intimidating figures to have around the castle (see: the pan to them when Catherine threatened Jean, the fact that they brought their own block of wood to Catherine’s chambers, the poison) and at this moment, Catherine needs as many allies as she can get.
-Favorite Dress: It was less a dress and more an entire ensemble, but Catherine’s all-black outfit while outside with Jean was stunning.
-Sexy Nostradamus Watch: He’s a loyal friend who has a good memory and a surprising sensitive streak. Also, he took Catherine’s “Too bad you didn’t see this coming.” in stride, so he has a sense of humor. Always important in your 16th century prophets.
-Another episode without Francis, which felt a little more unusual than last week’s absence. However, it feels like they’re going to set up a telling reveal of where Francis has been and what he’s been up to in the next episode now that Bash and Mary are together romantically as well as politically. Speaking of, I was leaning toward Bash/Mary at the beginning of the season, despite the fact that I rarely root for TV “bad boys,” but I’m very much on board the Bash/Mary train right now. He brings out the side of her that Francis would allow to lie dormant, while she gives him the type of happiness and fulfillment that he wouldn’t have had otherwise.
-The outdoor scenes with Catherine were especially gorgeous. There was something about the way they were filmed and the color palette used, especially compared to the rest of the episode, that made this look and feel like the type of expensive, mature historical drama that you would see on something like Showtime rather than The CW.
-Henry telling Kenna that no one cares about the attempted poisoning was a delight. And I like Kenna.
-Really nice fake out near the end of the episode when it looked like Catherine was going to take the poison and kill herself rather than let Henry be the one to drop the ax. You knew that she wouldn’t actually do it, but the fake toward actually going through with it made her attempt to kill Mary all the more fun and effective.
-Though Henry killing the guard wasn’t really in line with the rest of the episode, at least visually, it was such an insanely over-the-top moment that I can’t help but love it. It gave weight to the talk of Henry’s ruthlessness and what he’s capable of, necessary since he’s been absent for a decent amount of the season thus far, and it was worth it for the sight of a bloody-face Catherine.
-I love how relentless Catherine is and how she keeps coming back after running into dead ends. Just this episode, she could have easily laid down and quiet at least 3-4 times, but it’s exciting to watch a character who’s always thinking and who has had to be self-reliant for so long that they always have a Plan B, C, D, E, and F.
-Do you think that Catherine meant what she said to Henry before she ended up in his bed? I know she told Richard that she loves her husband, but we’ve seen that she’s willing to do anything and everything she can to save herself and I don’t buy that she didn’t go into his chambers without the ulterior motive of sleeping her way to freedom. I think she was probably honest about the insecurities she faced when she was unable to conceive for a decade; I just don’t think that all of that came out simply because she was concerned about her marriage. Which, I don’t blame her for whatsoever, since she’s been backed into a corner for much of the season and she has to do what she can to get herself out of the situation she’s in.
-The shot of Clarissa lurking in the shadows and speaking to Catherine was especially spooky because I couldn’t tell where she was standing in the shot, almost as if the show was framing her as an actual ghost before having Catherine yanking her back into the physical realm.
–Reign is off until February 27th due to the Winter Olympics. Hopefully that’s enough time to recover.