Reign 1.13 “The Consummation” Recap

With Mary’s marriage to Bash seemingly more inevitable by the day, Catherine has sped up the wedding planning, since she knows that the nuptials will spell her doom and she wants to go out with a bang if she’s forced off this mortal coil. Among her demands are full vases of flowers, cascading bouquets, and 100 casks of wine for the nobles, as well as the executioner to not break the clasp on a necklace she promised to one of her ladies. Lola and Francis get ready to leave a cabin they stopped at on their ride back from Burgundy House, with the former feeling guilty that her lack of stamina when it comes to horseback riding prevented him from reaching his mother sooner. He assures her that everything is okay and that soon enough, he’ll be setting Catherine and his baby brothers up somewhere before he heads off to Morocco. Lola then tells him that she hopes she never sees him again after her leaves the castle due to his being safe and settled with a family of his own before briefing him on what they’re going to tell Mary.

Nostradamus finishes having sex with a redheaded woman and tries to get her to leave so that he can return to the giver of his gift and ensure the fact that both he and his power are okay. It turns out that the giver of his gift was death and Nostradamus quickly gets on a nearby stool, slips a noose around his neck, and kicks it away in hopes of having a near-death experience and a subsequent vision. The woman unties him and he acknowledges that the vision he just had will lead to his doom, as the queen will kill him when she finds out what he saw. Meanwhile, Bash and Mary look on as Catherine and an exasperated Henry discuss plans for her burial, which he deems too extravagant and guilty of dragging out the process rather than simply letting go and letting God. The argument is interrupted by a visit from Mary’s mother Marie de Guise, in town from Scotland for the wedding. She takes Mary to another room and questions her about backing away from the plan to marry the future King of France, instead throwing away all their work for a bastard and the ramblings of a magician. After telling Marie that she missed her, since the last time they saw one another was at least half a decade ago, Mary mentions that she’s beginning to fall in love with Bash, causing Marie to inform her daughter about Scotland being dangerously close to falling into Protestantism. Mary needs to marry a Catholic in order to get the Protestants to back down, yet Marie concedes to be patient when it comes to her daughter’s complicated love life.

Except Mary sees right through her mother’s obvious disdain for the idea of marrying Bash and she suggests that they elope, an idea that he takes to immediately. He goes off to procure a church, just as Catherine and Marie catch up in the throne room. Marie laments trusting Catherine to raise Mary into Francis’ wife and the next Queen of France, while Catherine reminds Marie that they were never going to put the needs of a child ahead of the needs of the country and that Marie was the one who traded a child for power and protection. Marie chides Catherine for trusting the word of one charlatan, allowing his visions to change the course of nations after having sold her soul to keep herself in power. However, the people of Scotland no longer want Marie as their queen – they want Mary. Meanwhile, Greer brings out a veil for Mary’s elopement and the two spot Lola and Francis returning from their time away from the castle. Lola mentions that they met up at a chateau and rode back together due to her carriage getting washed away in the floods and when the girls go off to get Lola settled, Francis and Mary have their first conversation since he left the castle. He tells her that he’s only here to get the matter of his mother’s fate settled and that when that happens, he’s going to leave and they’re never going to see one another again.

Catherine brings Clarissa’s mask to Nostradamus, seeing as how he was more of a parent to her than anybody, and tells him of the unmarked grave that she was supposed to be buried in. The queen wonders aloud about what would become of her first born’s soul and whether she knew any type of happiness during her short time on this Earth. Nostradamus assures her that Clarissa had kind villagers to look after her when she was a child and mentions that the girl’s death took away the violent images of his vision about Francis’ death. Since his vision was about Catherine’s first born dying at the hands of Mary and he didn’t know that Clarissa was the first born, he now sees Francis and Mary being happy together, married for years with a whole litter of children. Nostradamus urges her to save herself now that Francis is back at court and she hisses out that if she can’t convince Francis to wed Mary, she will be watching him burn to death at the stake.

Catherine reunites with Francis and begs him to go to Mary, citing that the prophecy had changed and that what matters is his love for her. If he gets back with her, he would save his mother’s life and put himself in position to take the crown, so he rides out to the church Bash is at and makes the first move to reconnect with Mary.  Francis tells his brother that there need not be an elopement with Mary anymore and when Bash mentions that neither he nor Mary would trust the word of Catherine, Francis accuses him of playing on Mary’s fears and the two begin tussling. Soon, Mary arrives and breaks them up, only to learn about the prophecy and how her fate is now her own. When Mary gets back to the castle, she confronts Catherine about the prophecy change and how she doesn’t believe a word the queen says, only for Catherine to use a piece of jagged glass to cut her wrists. Terrified by the gesture, Mary heeds her warning to talk to Nostradamus about the prophecy alterations, except that she doesn’t get a chance due to having to clean Catherine’s wounds and Henry summoning them to the throne room. The reason for the latter? A messenger just came with the news that the English queen is dead. Mary has to put in her claim to the throne immediately and wed the next King of France that very night.

Kenna pays a visit to Henry’s chambers wearing nothing but a robe and she successfully manipulates him into finding her a rich, noble husband who will treat her right. In turn, she will stay at the castle and continue to have an affair with him. Meanwhile, Mary frets about having to make the choice between Bash and Francis, only to have Catherine arrive with what she claims is the letter from the Vatican about Bash’s legitimization. Mary takes a look at the letter and goes to Bash, where she informs him that while she may love him, she loves Francis more and that is who she will marry. She then finds Francis in the hallway and the two embrace before she shows him that Catherine gave her a blank paper, allowing her the decision on who to marry rather than letting Henry force her into one option or the other. Mary tells him that it’s always been him and he agrees to marry her and protect Bash from the impending danger that will surround him now that he has made a play for the crown. Except he goes back on his word by trying to convince his brother to leave the castle for good; Bash thinks that since he’s merely a bastard, Francis showing the nobles that his brother is not a threat to the throne would allow him the chance to stay at the castle, but Francis won’t agree to it.

The day of the wedding, Marie gives Mary a pair of earrings and advises her to pop out heirs quickly to secure her position at French court. While Kenna quietly calls Lola out on the fact that the chateau she claims to have ran into Francis at burned down a year ago, Nostradamus hears a blonde woman singing a song during the wait for the wedding. The reason for the song? Clarissa paid her to sing it near him. He goes out to where her body was supposed to be buried and he sees a trail of footprints and spots of blood, signs that she’s still alive. The wedding reception goes well, all flowers and dancing, but things take a turn when Mary learns from Marie that the message about the English queen’s death was a lie. Marie bribed the messenger to give that message and speed along the wedding; Mary kicks her mother out of both the castle and her life, while Nostradamus has a vision that shows Francis and Mary married a year, the former succumbing to an illness that causes him to bleed from the ears. However, he doesn’t inform Catherine of the latest alteration to his visions.

Following the reception is the consummation, where several key figures around the castle watch as Mary and Francis make love. Also in attendance is Bash, who was stopped from leaving the castle by Henry and made to watch so that he knows what isn’t his. When he is allowed to leave, Bash stops in the middle of the woods with his two guards, both of whom try to kill him under the orders of one of Bash’s family members. Having dispatched them both, he rides away.

Additional thoughts and observations:
-“Shall I catch my head in my own hands, too?”
-“You’re a treasonous adulterer.” “Then I’ll continue with the seating chart.”
-“French court has gone to hell.”
-“Has Scotland noticed its king has rather overexposed breasts?”
-Favorite dress: Oh, that wedding dress was something, wasn’t it? Even on an episode that really brought the fashion, particularly Marie’s purple dress when she arrived at the castle and the blue dress she wore at the reception, that wedding dress stood head and shoulders above everything else, possibly above every outfit of the season thus far. Adelaide Kane was absolutely radiant in it.
-I was a tiny bit disappointed that they didn’t give Marie more to do. Amy Brenneman was a fabulous addition to the cast, her performance hitting the exact tone that it should have and her presence a deliciously soapy mixture of pompous mastermind and world-weary survivor, and aside from the show putting Marie in a box with Catherine and shaking it, she didn’t get as much of a showcase as I expected.
-I might have laughed when shirtless Sexy Nostradamus climaxed and went over to hang himself, but it was 98% from shock at what I was seeing and confusion about what the heck was going on. I actually enjoyed the material they gave the character this episode and how he’s now in on the secrecy that has been bogging down life at the castle, as he can sometimes feel removed from the action, but the fact that we were rather close to the great prophet Nostradamus enjoying autoerotic asphyxiation was surreal and yet very, very Reign.
-So, Clarissa’s still alive. I kind of wondered about that after I submitted my recap for the last episode, as Reign has shown to be willing to do some wacky stuff, but ultimately, I figured the final shot of her half-covered face was supposed to be a haunting reminder of the collateral damage that Mary’s journey to becoming the Queen of France had wrought, a sad death that wouldn’t take too much away from the main action. Welp, I was wrong, everybody. Reign is crazypants and we’re all the better for it. Now we wait until Clarissa pops up again, likely turning from Mary’s defender into someone looking to make life for the future queen a living hell.
-Oh, Lola. Why do you pick a chateau in an area that Kenna knows? Shouldn’t she know about stuff like that? By the end of the season, Mary might be down another lady, should she find out about what happened in Paris.
-Speaking of Mary’s ladies, let’s talk about how Greer has faded into the background over the last several episodes. I know the focus of the show has become Mary and Catherine, but Greer has been invisible recently and that makes me sad because I enjoy her. And all Kenna seems to get is her affair with the king, which is disappointing; I liked the scene tonight a lot, since it showed what she’s learned since she came to the castle and she took her life into her own hands rather than let other people decide her fate, but it’d be nice to have her do some other stuff in addition to banging the king, Reign.
-Here’s my weekly shout out to the utter greatness of Megan Follows, who shone in her scene with Marie as the two pit bulls circled one another and when she warned Nostradamus about what would happen if she couldn’t get Francis to marry Mary. Again, I think she’s the best actor on any CW show right now and I would love to watch a show centered on this character.
-The consummation scene was weird because of the proximity of the audience. I don’t know what’s historically accurate, but on The Borgias, those in attendance watched from much farther away and gave the couple the illusion of privacy, at least. How could you get your groove on if you could reach out your arm and touch your best friend or your in-law?
-The snowy church where Francis and Bash fought was a beautiful set piece. Though I enjoy the castle, I like seeing what the show can throw together when it hits other areas in the village and beyond.
-Still #TeamBash over here. I think the show had to get Francis and Mary together, which is fine, but I just don’t think Francis is a good person (e.g. forcing his brother out of the castle, sleeping with Lola) and Bash has been the much more interesting character of the two thus far. Also, Bash having to watch the consummation, almost like a dog having its nose rubbed in an accident it had on the carpet, was devastating.
-Who do you think paid the two guards to take Bash out? Henry? Catherine? Francis? Or, more interestingly, someone not in the French royal family?
-Since Reign has already been renewed, can we look forward to the show counting down to Nostradamus’ new vision next season? Would future seasons be centered around additional visions? How will Reign address time in this universe – will it stay pretty linear or could we have a jump in the near future? Would that I were Nostradamus and I could answer these questions (and many more!) for us all.
-Next week on Reign: Mary returns from her honeymoon to find Lola exhibiting strange behavior, while Henry seeks help from Catherine.