Reign 1x15 "The Darkness"

Maybe it's because we've had four or so episodes in a row with lots of plot development, but tonight's episode of Reign felt a little slow. I think it served as a bit of a set up for the rest of the season though. Let's briefly talk about each of the storylines from "The Darkness" and where they could go from here on out.

Clock's ticking, Lola!

Mary, Francis, and Lola
Things were still a little off in Fraryland for the first half of the episode as Mary was focused on finding a husband for Lola. She tries to set Lola up with Phillipe at First Light and Francis seems opposed to it. At first we think it's because he's jealous but it turns out Phillipe prefers the company of men, so he's just looking out for Lola.
Mary is also real stressed out because two countries are anxiously waiting for Francis to knock her up, but he (very sweetly) assures her "I don't make love to you because I want a baby, I want a baby because I love you." Aww. But Mary is obviously very threatened by the fact that Lola got pregnant with Francis after one try and they've been working at it for months with no success. We'll see soon enough how these insecurities will affect their marriage. And we'll also see Lola's "fate" soon enough--in an interview with TVLine, Anna Popplewell mentioned that Lola marries by the end of the season.

Bash, Rowan, and co.
Bash is still chillin at the wooded love nest at the start of the episode, when we learn Rowan's house has been marked by the Darkness. Bash wants to fight it, so they tie him up for his safety and Rowan gets taken because she accidentally looked the Darkness in the eye. So Bash and her brother go to look for her and Bash decides to head back to the castle for help. I assume that next episode, he will enlist Francis, or maybe Nostradamus, and probably go flirt with Mary a little bit too. I don't know...maybe because it's still shaping up, but this Darkness storyline just feels silly (as did most of the Pagan stuff)...there are enough real issues in the castle without making up some supernatural crap. I still love me some Bash though...so any storyline of his is appreciated.

Greer and Leith

Poor, poor servant boy.

I love Greer and Leith, together and separately. How kind of her to ask Peppercorn (I will pretend this
is his name) to give him an Apprenticeship! As much as I liked the two of them, their relationship couldn't really progress, so I'm okay with him leaving. I just wonder who her new fiance will be... I hope he's nice and cute--Greer deserves the best! And I hope we start getting more screen time with her! (do you see how many exclamation points I used in this paragraph? I told you I like Greer)

Nostradamus and Olivia
It's kinda weird...the writers seem to be setting them up. And as much as Nostradamus has tried, once you are "touched" by the Darkness, I don't know if you can just choose to abandon it. I'm sure we are gonna be getting some more crazy from Olivia in the future, even if she says she's cured. And if Bash comes back to the castle and tries to combat it from within, I'm betting she might go after him.

King Henry, Kenna, and Queen Katherine
So Henry is dealing with the stresses of being king in a totally normal and healthy way--by killing young women while he's having sex with them. Ew. Why you ask? Duh, to assert his power! He is the king after all. Kenna, scared for her life because she is pretty much Henry's play thing, enlists Catherine's help in dealing with Henry. Turns out he's been having "headaches" ,and Catherine senses his obvious decline in mental stability. I'm sure as the season progresses he will spiral further and further out of control. I love seeing Catherine boss people around (out of the goodness of her heart).