This is why Reign really, really annoyed me when I saw episode stills.
They did not have 21st Century designers in 16th Century France, they did not have silly little wire crowns and other headpieces, in fact they were still covering their hair! So many things about the costumes in this drama annoyed me and that was before I began to watch it. I was aware before I started that not only were the costumes inaccurate, but the plot was too; no surprise there then, there hasn't been a truly accurate historical drama in decades, perhaps ever, because history is relatively slow and sometimes uneventful and doesn't make for good watching material. That being said, once I began to watch it I started feeling that self-loathing that many people do when they watch a drama like this.
First of all let's start with plot so I don't seem like a crazy, ignorant judgmental person. It has your typical twists and turns, court intrigues, assassination plots and of course the poor sod who has visions of a dark and gloomy future. I know Nostradamus was never associated with France in this way, nor did he play as big a part at court, but I love him, or rather the way the actor played him. I won't put any spoilers in this review because that would be bad for anyone who hasn't watched it. The drama is good, typical teen-angst filled drama with too much kissing and too-perfect men. I didn't really like Mary's relationship with either Francis or Bash, there just didn't seem any spark in either of them. I loved Catherine de Medici and I have a grudging respect for Mary. I liked that Mary wasn't a naive sap that things just kept happening to; there are bad things happening to her because there has to be for character growth but I liked how she dished some back. I would recommend this if you've ran out of dramas to watch.
Now, my biggest pet peeve. Fashion! The picture on the right, folks, was as close to historically accurate the show ever got. Her hair isn't covered but at least she has the semblance of a French Hood on and slightly period correct clothing.I think a part of the reason people watch historical dramas is because of the costumes. The costume department of Reign really let the audience down. It felt to me as though they just bought loads of dresses from designers as a form of product placement rather than designing anything themselves, which is a shame because there is so much opportunity in situations like these.
The men's costumes looked pretty accurate most of the time but I to admit to having a huge gap in my knowledge about men's fashion at any time in history. It was weird that the men looked as though they were from the 16th Century but the women's clothing definitely wasn't; the whole thing seemed disjointed and really weird.
Another thing that irked me was that Mary, Queen of Scots, did not look even the slightest bit like the real Queen.
I am not the Queen's biggest fan, in fact I think she was incompetent and aimed her ambition in the wrong direction rather than actually successfully ruling Scotland. Her marriage choices were never popular and she was so disliked by the nobility she fled to England. I don't know if beheading her was a wise decision, whoever's decision it really was, but she hadn't done any good for Scotland and was forced to abdicate! I hate how Elizabeth I is so maligned in popular history because she beheaded Mary, Elizabeth was badass, she was competent and launched England into an era of stabiliy and plenty. What did Mary Stuart do? She married the wrong people, plunged Scotland into chaos and when things got tough she fled the country. If the real Mary was as smart and as quick to adapt as her fictional counterpart, Scotland wouldn't have had a problem and she probably would have been famous for the right reason.
Rant over, I promise. Back to the show; I will admit the costumes were nice, I was just disappointed they weren't accurate.
Mary's headpieces were lovely and I even thought about making my own version of one of them just for fun. But again, they were no French Hoods. I am aware that historical dramas these days don't have women covering their hair; The Tudors and The White Queen failed to give the females the correct period headdress, but I will give a nod to the costume designer of the movie "The Other Boleyn girl," for having not only French Hoods, but Gable Hoods as well!
One of the most irritating costumes that I could not forgive was Mary's riding dress, which I can't find a picture of. It's when the Portuguese villain proposes to her. What really irritated me was that it wasn't even of full length! At least all of the dresses were floor length (well the ones they wore outside of their chambers anyway).
I loved Catherine de Medici, she was just so awesome. I liked the fact she wasn't a Disney villain type character and although her reasons for doing harm were kind of pathetic I liked that she had heart as well. She wasn't completely void of compassion or kindness but her protective mother streak was a bit extreme, as they always have to be with plots like this. Although her costumes weren't historically accurate as well I found I was much more forgiving with her because she was so awesome.
So onto the other ladies of the show. I think my favourite was Lola because her teen drama thing was over relatively quickly (*ahem* Colin), and she was by far the smartest and most down to earth. My second was Greer who I respected throughout and genuinely felt for. Poor Kenna, I just didn't warm to her, I didn't really understand why her character acted the way she did but I do firmly love the person she ended up with.The men of the show. King Henry II of France was.....alluring. He had such charisma that it was fascinating to watch until they ruined it. Bash is by far the finest one on the show, unfortunately his character was a bit bland for me, but at least he's pretty. And Francis, poor, poor Francis. I don't know why but I'm kind of sick of this "perfect king" thing that shows about royalty have. I say that but the only other show I can think of with an arthurian type king is, ironically, Camelot. I find I'm fed up of 100% honourable characters, I like them to have flaws, to not be so moral all the time. Francis always put France first, and I suppose you could say that was a flaw, but it was a very short lived only in about two episodes. Still, Francis always did the right thing, was always opposed to the shady plan concocted by everyone around him; the shadiest thing he did wasn't even that bad (he got someone pregnant but only when he was technically single so not adultery).
The last thing I will say is an honourable mention to Marie de Guise. I don't know much about her but from what I do know she held Scotland up after the death of her husband and the departure of her daughter to France, yet the woman has been maligned twice in dramas about this period (The Tudors and Reign). I've never heard horrible stories about her but no doubt there are some, but I think I'm joining the club "let's be fair to Marie de Guise".
Overall it is a good show, definitely a guilty pleasure like the Vampire Diaries was for me, but I had no problem getting through all 22 episodes which I count as a good drama. Season 2 is currently airing but I wait until all of the episodes are aired before watching any drama because I lose track of what episode and what drama I'm on; easier to just marathon them in the summer when I have nothing better to do.
Currently I am watching New Girl with Zooey Deschanel and crew. This is an amazing drama and I regret never watching it before!! I think I have a girl crush on Jess, she's so awesome and I wish I could be more outwardly like her rather than trying to contain the quirkiness.
Any other opinions on Reign? Am I being too obsessed with the costumes? If you think I'm bad you should see the post that zoomed in on a zip on one of the costumes from the White Queen. It's just a costume, why can't it be made with the ease of the 21st Century, just so long as it looks authentic?
Wren's recommendation: Worth a watch.
