Why, Reign, What Historically Accurate Pyjamas You've Got

Just started #Reign + 7 mins in I have had to stop to google essentially "WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE PLEASE HELP ME I DON'T KNOW HISTORY"
— Meg (@heymdia) August 3, 2014

I had been wanting to watch Reign for a while and then I stumbled across a Buzzfeed article entitled 21 Actors Offer Their TV Characters One Piece of Advice, in which there was this shining gem:

As I am at all times here for vaguely handwave historical melodrama starring Ladies being Friends with Ladies, and as ladies with thigh daggers are ALSO high on my list of interests, Reign seemed like a good fit! I was thinking of Reign as The Tudors, but, like, the Gossip Girl remix and LO I was SO MUCH MORE ACCURATE THAN I COULD HAVE HOPED. 

Here's the initial trailer from the CW. MARVEL AT ITS BEAUTY:

So, Reign basically follows Mary, Queen of Scots, as a teenager living in the French court. She is there with her four friends/ladies-in-waiting and is engaged to marry Francis, the French prince.  Francis and I are not simpatico in basically any way. REGARD HIS FACE:

Okay, admittedly he looks a lot like Enjolras from the Les Mis movie, who ticks all the boxes re: my male aesthetic type. Angry, blond, curly-haired... actually, wait, let's pause for a gif.

YOU'RE WELCOME, GENTLE READER.

But UNLIKE Enjolras, Francis seems to spend most of his time irritating me and/or pouting. The two don't seem to be mutually exclusive. Mary is understandably a little downtrodden about how marrying him would save her country but he doesn't want to marry her despite their engagement for.... reasons I might not have been listening to that closely BUT IT'S ALL OKAY! And why is that? WHY, BECAUSE OF HER FOUR LADIES-IN-WAITING OF COURSE.

BEHOLD THEIR AWESOME LIPSTICK COORDINATING POWERS:

I still haven't caught all of their names so I am referring to them as (l-r), Kenna (ACTUAL NAME!), Anna Popplewell, Not Hayley Atwell, and The Other Blonde One. Admittedly I've only seen the pilot but this has caused me no trouble so far. Neither has the fact that I know next to nothing about this bit of history but what HAS caused me problems is the fact that the French king and queen are called Henry and Catherine. THAT JUST SEEMS UNNECESSARILY CRUEL, HISTORY. GIVE ME A CHANCE AT LEAST. 

(My kings and queens knowledge is limited to English kings and queens, and even then it's only as solid as it is because of the Horrible Histories Kings and Queens song, which I learnt by heart as a distraction technique during one essay deadline period. I can still do the whole thing and REMAIN V PROUD ABOUT IT.)

Mary's girl band seem to spend most of their time with Mary in various forms of hilarious/brilliant clothes and they all hug a lot and it's the best:

Exhibit A

Ordinarily, I would be reviewing something on a Wednesday but I've just started a new job and I'm still getting used to the new routine. HOWEVER, something I do feel I can offer a solid review of is THIS SPECTACULAR PIECE OF NIGHTWEAR COSTUMING:

In this BRILLIANT scene, Lola/Anna Popplewell is asleep in Mary's bed one morning when all the rest of the girl band tumble into Mary's room in THESE FABTASTIC NIGHT OUTFITS. Are those.... NIGHT LACE THIGH HIGHS that Kenna is wearing?

WHY, YES, YES THEY ARE.

Reign is full of ladies, who speak to and care about each other. The costumes are SO GREAT (I care less for ~~historical accuracy~~ than I care about, let's say, hypothetically, ladies wandering around palaces in lace thigh highs <.< I mean what). The modern soundtrack works so well and really lends the Gossip Girl meets The Tudors description an extra punch of accuracy. AND there's a scheming older lady! Queen Catherine! She schemeth! WITH NOSTRADAMUS.

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I SAID NOSTRADAMUS.

\o/ so many things to love about this show and I'm only on episode 2.