Reign, S2 E13- Sins of the Past

In the latest episode of Reign, 2.13: Sins of the Past, the first bloom of spring is found on the castle grounds. Do you know what that means? Time for another celebration! The Winter’s Ease ball. It basically means that winter is coming eventually and we should all party inside away from the cold while we can.

Taking a step back from recapping each episode, I felt that this time around I would give a more opinionated stand point of the episode, since it’s too perfect not to.

First off, the title for this episode, “Sins of the Past” can clearly be seen throughout, if not in each scene. Every character (heck every person on Earth, let’s be honest) has something that they either regret or just can’t seem to let go (the latter is more evident to be honest).

Tale as old as ‘Frary” <3

Look at poor Mary for instance. She still can not think of nearly anything but the night of her assault. When compromising with Francis and allowing him to sleep beside her in bed, the mere feel of his breath on her neck causes her to lurch to the other side of the room in a flashback fright. Knowing that what Mary is going through is a very touchy subject that needs to be handled with care, so I will speak rather minimally about it. But I do appreciate that the writers haven’t resolved Mary’s assault with a few episodes and called it a day. We see Mary certainly try to give her heart to Francis. They dance at the Winter’s Ease ball, and the two team up to investigate the “Antoine and the English” situation (in a nutshell: Condé’s older brother visits asking for funds for his kingdom and they’re weary about his true intentions). However in the end, Mary still feels that she just keeps on dragging Francis down and that he deserves a much happier life with someone else. Okay, I lied. I’m going to mention Mary’s current struggles again. I’ve noticed that in each episode Mary keeps suggesting that Francis and Mary have to live separate lives due to Mary’s inability to be close to anyone right now. I understand there is nothing she can do about this predicament, I guess I just feel for the girl. She clearly thinks she’ll never be close to anyone ever again.

Uh, Kenna…that’s not Bash. What you doin’ girl?

Meanwhile, another favorite couple of mine, Kenna and Bash (Kennash for you wondering what their “couple name” was), is more on the “it’s complicated” relationship status throughout this episode. Bash is either too busy trying to solve this crime of this dead guy that’s come back to life (it’s a long story) or doesn’t want to deal with Kenna because he’s not over Kenna’s past mistakes. Newsflash Bash: Everyone has a past, don’t let Kenna’s former relationship with Henry get to you nor should it affect you. Do you see her holding a grudge cause you were stupid and thought having a relationship with your half-sister was okay? No, which is why Kenna will always be one of my favorite characters on this show. (That and Caitlin Stasey is a goddess and a force to be reckoned with) Kenna doesn’t let her current disagreements with Bash get the best of her. She helps with the decorations of the Winter’s Ease Ball and is even super friendly to Antoine and acts as his tour guide around the castle. I would have hoped that Kenna would have realized that Antoine was totally using her to gain more information on Bash (Antoine thinks that Bash stabbed his older brother, which I believe he did), but I guess when you’re the outstanding Baroness Kenna you’re oblivious to that sort of thing. And don’t worry fellow Kennash fans, in the end Bash and Kenna make up and Bash realizes how idiotic he was and all is well. He loses brownie points though for not showing up at the Winter’s Ease ball. You had one job, Bash! (Okay so technically you weren’t at the ball because you had to actually do your job. Excuses excuses.)

“Sins of the Past” isn’t all serious though. Catherine’s story-line has several humorous undertones within it, even though overall it’s quite dark/upsetting for her. Early on in the episode, Catherine is bedridden because of sores on her hands and mouth. The doctors diagnose her with syphilis that 1) Catherine immediately blames Ghost!Henry for (uh, does that mean he was physically there? Way to confuse me even more Reign!)  and 2) Claude couldn’t be happier about. She’s smiling seeing her mother in annoyed pain; how not evil of you Claude (yet I still adore the little girl. More on her below). Unfortunately, Catherine does not attend the ball. Sorry, no fairy godmother for you, Cat. Instead, Claude has sent a specialist to help her cure her case of syphilis. The cures Catherine has to undergo are so harsh and makes me thankful I live in the age of modern medicine. First, Catherine is to place her feet inside a birdcage where the birds peck at her feet causing those sores to somehow simmer down her sickness. The next cure isn’t completely terrible, it’s basically this giant barrel in which heats her body in hopes to get rid of the sores. Heck, I’d probably be game to try it. Narcisse walk in on her and after she explains she has syphilis hence why she’s doing this, Narcisse explains that her symptoms couldn’t be that. What it’s really from: a poisoned bible! Henry’s to be exact! Now the question is: Whodunit? My votes on Claude as payback for her entire life being thought as a murderer. Why else would she be giddy at the sight of seeing her ill? What do you guys think?