Reign

It's 1557 France. Mary (Adelaide Kane), Queen of Scots, has been hidden away at a convent for her safety since age 9. She is engaged to childhood friend Prince Francis, the future King of France. After a failed assassination attempt, she is sent to the French court. King Henry II is tyrannical. Queen Catherine de' Medici (Megan Follows) is a scheming survivor. Nostradamus is her adviser. Sebastian 'Bash' de Poitiers is the King's bastard son. Mary is joined by her friends from Scotland; Aylee, Greer Norwood, Kenna, and Lola. Mary has to navigate the royal court intrigue and the bubbling conflict between Protestants and Catholics. There is the scheming Lord Narcisse, the self-obsessed Princess Claude, and finally Queen Elizabeth of England.

The initial complaint is the myriad of historical inaccuracies. At some point, accuracy be damn. It's a YA romantic drama dressed up in historical costumes. Along with the beautiful and capable younger cast, the show is anchored by veterans Megan Follows and Alan van Sprang. After the departure of van Sprang, others are able to fill the vacuum. Adelaide Kane proves to be a very engaging lead. Eventually, the show does run out of steam and quite frankly history. While it lasted, it has 4 full years of great romantic melodrama.

For all of the people complaining about the historical accuracy please stop. You want exact history go watch a documentary or a read history book. This show is awesome has a little bit of everything. At first i wasn't into it until a few episodes went by and then i got hooked on it. Great characters and good story line. I like it just as much as the Tudors series. Romance, politics, drama, betrayal, and great characters. Hate to see it ending at season 4.

Some parts of this are way too painful to watch. I began watching it because I love Mary, Queen of Scots, but soon found that the historical accuracy of this was blown way out of proportion. Clothing (especially the dresses) - WRONG. Food - WRONG. Dance style - WRONG. Names of Mary's friends - WRONG. It seemed like I had a permanent grimace on my face for the beginning of it.

But then there's my affection for the characters. I love Francis and Mary's relationship (and Toby is such an adorable actor :), I love Bash, I love Catherine (though seeing Anne Shirley on screen put me into shock for a while...had to pause it for a moment...), and I love that strangely mysterious person that keeps giving people hints. I FEEL SO HORRIBLE FOR LETTING SUCH A HISTORICALLY INEPT SHOW SUCK ME IN, BUT I LOVE IT AT THE SAME TIME!

tl;dr: Let's just say it's a fantasy show that just so happens to have the same names as historical figures.

I hoped this show to be the unofficial sequel to The Tudors, since Tudors still were the ruling dynasty when Mary of Scots lived and was queen. But in fact it is a cheap soap for teens with at least no reference to what really happened and who Mary of Scots really was. And it doesn't show history, reality and good actor-ship at all. Not to mention the absolutely ridiculous costumes which don't display the clothes worn in this period of time. I know that not everything displayed at The Tudors was real and some things were fictional since not every piece or word of that period has been written down. But Reign is really a piece of crap with much less substance.

The history buff within me reviles this show. The female costumes are so off from what was worn in 16th century Europe; they look more like a 21st century dream of the Renaissance. The melodrama is over-the-top and sometimes silly. The characters are all,of course, much more attractive than they were in real life.

But in the end, I don't care. This show is fun. The costumes, while inaccurate to the point of hilarity, are gorgeous. The music is ethereal and contemporary, somehow integrating well with the faux-history of this story. The atmosphere is perfect. And the actors do a fantastic job, even with all of the hokum they play with.

All in all, a great guilty pleasure of mine. Long may it reign.