Written by John Edward Betancourt
Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 204 of ‘The Serpent Queen’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
The true mark of good storytelling… is maintaining focus on the core of the story at hand. For each and every story out there has a goal in mind, something that it wants to accomplish. It could be to thrill us with action sequences about, or to scare us deeply via ghostly and ghoulish things. But one way or another… it has something in mind and maintaining that something while growing the characters and exploring other aspects of the story really is quite the accomplishment. Because it is easy to lose sight, easy to slip toward another topic, and it takes real writing skill to maintain and that is why the STARZ series, The Serpent Queen deserves a round of applause. For its central focus has always been about… what made Catherine de Medici… the Serpent Queen. That stunning ruler of France that remains in our minds long after she departed this Earth, and well… her amazing story and the great detail that writer/showrunner/creator Justin Haythe has put into bringing to life… harbored the risk we mentioned before. But Mister Haythe has never let the story lose sight of that core question, he merely understood when it was best to explore other corners of her life to truly understand her upbringing and truly understand how it wasn’t an easy choice to lean into the dark. That Catherine did want peace and did want to see a France that was equal and beautiful. But that the pesky wants of others and the scheming present in this world for power and glory… forced her hand. Making her a tragic character, really, and all of this is top of mind today… simply because after learning how she defied the odds to survive, and how she ascended to the throne and maintained a decade of rule… the story refocused upon her journey toward that moniker during last night’s episode. For ‘Judas’ saw the Queen return home… to bury a son. For Hercule succumbed to his injuries in this story and left the family in a dark and stunned place. One where no one knew immediately what to do other than fight and Catherine did not want that. She still wanted to hold to higher standards and that let… more issues brew in the background. For Louis de Bourbon soon found himself to be under the charm of Queen Elizabeth I and did whatever she asked in the name of the glory he sought and of course, Edith gained power as well.
Which prompted Catherine to think deeply upon what to do next to maintain her vision and allow for her son to maintain agency and well… she deemed it best to continue to try and maintain a wily status quo. Where pressing the right buttons and inserting the right influence would do the trick. Which was how she was able to punish Anjou for his actions since she used Margot and her feelings for the Duke to wonderfully manipulate the King and bring forth Catherine’s agenda and for a time… it appeared she had figured out a way to satisfy the Holy Roman Emperor as well. Who wanted pure vengeance for any act against the church, but Catherine knew that would be the spark Edith’s followers needed to enact war against the Catholic Church. So, she instead played a delicate game to solve her Edith problem. One that truly reflected the problem at hand.
Because Angelica’s desperate need to be seen and in the heart of court, prompted her to discuss her fragile trust with Aabis with Catherine, which revealed Aabis’ access to Edith. Something that Catherine knew would pay off in spades, but she had to play it cool. Which meant paying no mind or credence to Angelica’s information, while working behind the scenes to use it to the court’s advantage. Since it would allow for an internal matter to quell the rise of rebellion. Which brought about the problem in question. Because while Aabis was indeed influenced to kill Edith through Catherine’s machinations… Angelica’s nonsense and a chance to be a hero, allowed for Edith to live and be further entrenched as a vessel of the protestant God, since she survived death. Setting the stage for that holy war and putting Catherine one step closer to truly becoming the Serpent Queen. Because bit by bit, control is slipping, and egos and agendas are breaking down all that Catherine has worked to amass. Ergo, in order to maintain order and power, she will have to crack down. She will have to make people suffer and impart harm to maintain control and that is indeed a tragic future, one that has been in motion for weeks now and has returned to the forefront of the story. Reminding us of how masterful a series this is because now we are invested and both terrified and eager to see Catherine, whom we know to be good… break bad and immerse herself in ugly in the name of the greater good, and truly it will be fascinating to see that play out. Now that this series is locked on loaded on Catherine’s villain era and the history and sorrow, it will create. Until next time. Watch ‘The Serpent Queen’
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