Sometimes, you watch the first episode of a show and immediately know you're in it for the long haul. As soon as I finished the pilot episode of "Reign," my binge-watching session and obsession began. I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly what it is about this show that I love so much. I've always been a fan of historical drama, but I especially love this one because it is a lot more fun. Not to say that it doesn't have serious moments, but it's more playful and over-the-top than anything. So, when Reign started to derail it especially hurt, but the program's jumping the shark wasn't the product of running out of ideas so much as it was abandoning good plot threads. Most would pinpoint Mary's sexual assault as the moment where "Reign" went off the deep end, but it's actually the death of Pascal and Yvette.
If you don't remember those characters, I don't blame you. Pascal was around for the last few episodes and Yvette appeared in the season one finale. While Bash was the one who found Pascal in the woods, it was Kenna who took him under her wing. Eventually, we find out that Pascal is the son of the pagan priest Bash killed in the woods and that he was also supposed to become The Darkness.
In the season finale, Leith, after being rejected by Greer, meets Yvette who, unbeknownst to him, is Castleroy's daughter. Needless to say, the situations with Pascal and Yvette caused a whole lot of tension. Unfortunately, to say the least, they were then both killed off in the first episode of Season Two.
In the second season, "Reign" had a lot of potential to evolve a more mature story line, develop its characters and offer some serious drama, which could have started with Pascal and Yvette. Towards the end of season one, Kenna told Pascal that she doesn't care if he's pagan, but she might care if she found out her husband was pagan-born and hid that fact from her. Early in season two, Kenna mentions that she found out off-screen about Bash's origins, but it's never addressed again.
Also, the knowledge that Bash is pagan-born also comes with the fact that Diane, Kenna's former rival/nemesis and now mother-in-law, is pagan. Right before Pascal dies in season two, he tells Kenna that he thinks of her as a mother. If he were allowed to live, and Kenna did take on the role of a mother figure, perhaps Kenna might also begrudgingly seek Diane's advice on how to mother a pagan boy -- what lullabies to sing to him, what his beliefs are and how to better understand him. And if Kenna is playing mommy, where does that leave Bash? How do you become the father figure to a boy who witnessed you murder his father? How would Kenna and Bash react once they actually found out? Instead of this, Pascal was killed and my favorite ship on the show mercilessly sank.
Yvette and Leith starting a relationship just as Greer and Castleroy started their marriage would've definitely been interesting to watch. How would Greer deal with the love of her life being in love with her step-daughter? How would Yvette react once she heard the rumors that her new step-mommy is her new beau's old flame? How would Castleroy feel? Would Leith truly love Yvette or would he just use her to get back at Greer? The family drama would rival that of the Valois.
While all this is happening, Queen Catherine actually tries to make good on her promise to befriend Diane (or at least tries in her own special way), which she made to Henry on his deathbed, and tries to deal with the knowledge that her son murdered her husband (because she's Queen Catherine and, one way or another, she'll find out). Nostradamus, haunted by the knowledge that Clarissa is out there, goes out to hunt for her. Or, Nostradamus becomes an ally for Narcisse, who is either a villain or not (personally, I like him better as a villain). Mary and Francis still have conception issues as well as baby mama drama with Lola. These are the things that should've happened in "Reign."
