The Serpent Queen Season 1 Episode 5 Review: The First Regency
The Serpent Queen Season 1 Episode 5, “The First Regency,” delivers the goods, giving us a generous dose of blistering royal politics, relationship drama, and powerhouse performances.
“The First Regency” is a considerable improvement from last week’s fare as we settle in with the present-day version of Catherine. Liv Hill’s irrepressible, vibrant energy is still sorely missed, but Samantha Morton and the show’s overall tone recapture some of that whimsical essence from the first three episodes.
CATHERINE DE MEDICI: He was right. He could trust me to be regent. Even if he couldn’t love me as a wife.
In addition, the show employs more fourth-wall breaks in this outing, albeit they take on a more somber tone. It does make sense for the series to mature with its lead character, and Morton seamlessly weaves between addressing the audience and staying present in the scene.
“The First Regency” finds Catherine ruling in Henri’s stead while the latter goes off to war. She struggles to gather her constituents for a privy council meeting, wherein she hopes to secure more funds and supplies to assist Henri on the front lines. However, the Guises and Bourbons, perpetually enmeshed in bitter conflict, refuse to work together and give Catherine the time of day.
Catherine encounters a barrage of misogyny and sexism ostensibly from all sides while Henri’s away. Thankfully, once she gains her bearings, she navigates a political minefield and scathing dialogue with hidden meaning like a pro. The writing shines here, and we see what makes The Serpent Queen stand out from all the rest — its sharp wit, layered language, and nuanced performances.
CATHERINE DE MEDICI: Trading on your inherited status at every turn seems a more accurate description of your agenda to me.
Antoinette De Guise rises to the fore as a formidable player at court, with Beth Goddard infusing the incendiary-tongued noblewoman with unwavering drive and a penchant for deceit. Goddard joins Morton and Ludivine Sagnier as a trio of titan performers who command every scene.
The Serpent Queen‘s latest episode illustrates how constrained these women are by the patriarchy. Their futures and very lives hinge on the whims of men. Diane’s status is always precarious, as Henri could decide to discard her at any moment. Antoinette’s position at court hitches on the success of her sons. Meanwhile, Catherine’s longevity at court wholly depended on her ability to produce an heir. The show plays with this and explores the myriad ways women could claim power in that era.
Ostensibly, the present-day scenes with Rahima are pointless, but in “The First Regency,” we see the fruits of Catherine’s labor. Rahima, played beautifully by Sennia Nanua, rummages through Mary Queen of Scots’ chambers at Catherine’s behest. Unfortunately, Rahima’s caught by one of Mary’s maids since Catherine ordered said maid to fetch Mary a shawl.
ANTOINETTE DE GUISE: There are two schools of thought when it comes to parenting. One is to love your child unconditionally, so they suffer the delusion the world will do the same. The other is to break them before the world does it more cruelly.
Was this part of Catherine’s plan? Did she hope to prime Rahima to do her dirty work in a smear campaign against Mary Queen of Scots? Or did Catherine genuinely wish to help Rahima succeed in life? We’d like to believe it’s the latter, but Catherine tends not to trust people.
Rahima has proven herself concerning her ability to think on her feet, so hopefully, next week’s episode won’t yield too harsh of a punishment.
On another note, The Serpent Queen brings some LGBTQ representation to the narrative with Aabis (Amrita Acharia) and Angelica (Ruby Bentall). It started with last week’s outing as we saw Aabis and Angelica in bed together. However, “The First Regency” solidifies their bond even though we see them pull apart.
Considering the time and the dangerous environment, it’s hard not to imagine a “Bury Your Gays” moment isn’t lingering on the horizon. One can only hope The Serpent Queen won’t take us in that direction.
“The First Regency” is a thrilling hour of scintillating period piece television, retaining The Serpent Queen‘s biting humor and juicy, high-stakes drama. It’ll be interesting to see where these last three episodes lead us.
Stray Observations:
- Nobody should ever want a mother like Antoinette. Growing up, Charles and François most likely never received an ounce of affection from her. She’s probably allergic to hugs.
- What’s Aabis and Angelica’s couple name? Aalica? Angebis? We’ll think of something.
- Consuming all that gold must affect Diane’s health in some way. We need to see her knocked down a few pegs, and we needed it yesterday.
- Did Catherine set Rahima up to fail? It appears our serpent queen threw the young girl under the bus … as a lesson? Regardless, Catherine’s methods are as mysterious as they are mad.
- Love that the women make all the power moves while the men are essentially useless. It’s pretty interesting to watch in a heavily patriarchal, antiquated setting.
What did you think of this episode of The Serpent Queen? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Serpent Queen streams new episodes every Sunday on Starz.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.
One thought on “The Serpent Queen Season 1 Episode 5 Review: The First Regency”
I think Catherine thinks Rahima really can read (we know she can, she told Catherine she couldn’t ) and is testing her.
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