The Serpent Queen

Episode Reviews

Sept. 10, 2022 – S1, E1: “Medici B–ch”

After a tragic upbringing, Catherine gets her first taste of power when her uncle, Pope Clement VII, marries her off to Prince Henri of France.

A cook tells someone not to look in a mirror since it can “suck the soul out of you.” A young woman says she prays for her enemies. Catherine and other orphans are raised by nuns, and they say their prayers before bed. People cross themselves and kneel to the Pope. Although Catherine is Catholic, many statements about her faith suggest a disbelief in God.

We learn the Pope is corrupt. In addition to using Catherine’s marriage for political gain, he mistreats soldiers who fought for him, telling them that they’ll burn in hell if they refuse to obey. He forces Catherine to kiss his Papal ring as a show of deference. He’s rather un-Christlike in his speech and manners. It’s suggested that he had sexual relations with a young woman. And worst of all, he orders cardinals and priests to raise money for Catherine’s dowry by allowing their “wealthy friends” to sexually abuse children.

We see religion otherwise manipulated for reputations and political gain. The Pope performs Catherine and Henri’s marriage ceremony. Song lyrics in background music talk poorly of Jesus.

Catherine claims to be able to sometimes see things before they happen. And she supposedly kills a dog after merely hoping for it to die. A fortune teller reads her palm, and she hires him as her court magician.

People have sex in a few scenes. We see some nudity from the waist up in a few of these. On their wedding night, teenagers Catherine and Henri wear voluminous white gowns as they consummate their marriage, which is witnessed by the Pope, Henri’s father (who makes inappropriate remarks), his brother and several other nobles and servants. Henri angrily orders Catherine to leave once the deed is done. And later, she finds Henri naked with a much older woman, his mistress.

We hear about other marital infidelities. Footmen harass a maid, telling her to remove her clothes (which she ignores). We see a man’s exposed leg up to his rear as a doctor lances an abscess on his “exit.” Women wear cleavage-baring gowns. The Pope tells Catherine that her wifely duty is to get pregnant and obey her husband, even if he wants to be “sodomized.”

We learn Catherine’s father cheated on his wife frequently and contracted syphilis, eventually passing it to his wife as well. The disease causes both to go insane within a year of Catherine’s birth. Her father bangs his head repeatedly against a wall, killing himself. And her mother, covered in sores from the disease, jumps off a building. Catherine’s grandmother (who cares for her in their stead) allegedly dies in her sleep. But we see her drop a wine glass at the moment of her demise, suggesting either an alcohol-related death or a poisoning.

The mother of the convent where Catherine is raised slaps Catherine to the ground and beats her with a switch for stealing and lying. Catherine later learns the nuns were taking a big risk by keeping her there. Soldiers ransack the place, pushing nuns around as they search for Catherine. The mother protects Catherine, but another nun betrays the girl’s location.

Catherine is punched in the face, tied up and dragged off. But she’s protected from further harm when her uncle, the Pope, arrives and pays a ransom. He plans to marry her off to secure a political alliance, but a doctor first ensures her virginity by forcefully examining her in a room full of priests. An uncomfortable Catherine notes that this isn’t much different from what the soldiers were planning to do to her.

A young woman claims her bruised face was the result of walking into a door. However, it’s clear her father had hit her. And it’s also clear that she poisoned him in response. A man is knocked off his horse while jousting. Someone says the Privy council would each stab the king in the back for his crown. A woman tells Catherine that becoming a widow is the only way to gain freedom as a woman.

Many people tell a young Catherine that she’s unattractive. To make up for this, Catherine believes she must cover her gowns in jewels and her face in makeup to distract from her lack of beauty. It fails, and she’s cruelly mocked.

Rahima, a servant, is cruelly called “it.” The young woman quotes Scripture, saying she should turn the other cheek, but an older Catherine tells her to get even instead. Rahima later steals an orange, something Catherine herself did as a young girl to the people who were cruel to her.

A woman affected by dwarfism is cruelly mocked. Many people are terrified of the older Catherine, particularly because they’ve heard rumors she’s involved in the occult. We learn Catherine’s family was despised in Europe because they were wealthy but not noble. Catherine spits in her uncle’s wine after he insults her. People lie. Wine is served at meals.

There are four uses of the f-word and two of the s-word. “B–ch” is used twice, once by a nun. God’s name is abused once or twice.

July 11, 2024 – S2, E1: “Grand Tour”

After serving as regent, Catherine cedes the throne to her son, Charles IX, escorting him and her other adult children on a tour of France to garner favor with the people.

A female preacher reads the Sermon on the Mount from the Bible. She provides free food to her local community, too. A woman says her son has no interests aside from Scripture.

Someone has desecrated a statue of Mary and Jesus, knocking the heads off the effigies. We see instances of a Cardinal abusing his power, forcing nuns to give him a foot massage and using his position for political gain. (People who know he’s phony taunt him with religious platitudes.) Catholics and Protestants argue over religion, with the former thinking the latter should be outlawed. Members of both religions attempt to manipulate the faith of others. But Catherine (who is Catholic herself) argues for tolerance, announcing that she plans to make France a secular state. When a woman says her correspondence on faith with a male friend “sustains” her, someone suggests the relationship may be sexual.

Catherine somehow shows her prophetic dream to a magician. In it, 10 bird eggs are cracked open, but nine are filled with blood. The magician interprets it, telling her that the 10 eggs represent her 10 children, and that only one will survive her. He then crassly suggests the process should get easier since she’s buried four already.

A woman threatens to reveal her gay son’s sexual preferences (which could get him killed). Then she does an about face and states she envies him and doesn’t judge how God made him. It’s implied that one of Catherine’s sons is gay, too, surrounding himself with several “loyal” men who are physically affectionate. We see a man’s bare rear as he sleeps post-coital. Another unwed couple kisses and begins to remove clothing before they’re interrupted. Women wear cleavage-baring gowns.

Soldiers lock a Protestant congregation inside a church and burn it to the ground. It appears a woman has poisoned a table full of people. Charles’ brother, Anjou, threatens him, later claiming it was a joke. Charles slaps a cup out of his brother’s hand and the two begin fighting, wrestling on the ground and punching one another. (One gets a bloody nose.)

We hear a man drank to make himself feel better over being constantly manipulated by the women he loved. A man’s father and uncle endeavor to get him drunk after learning he’s never had a drink (because his mother doesn’t drink). Folks drink wine.

Commoners swarm the king and his siblings, frightening the royal family and even knocking over a few of their armed escorts. (It appears they were just overenthusiastic, as they back off and kneel in fealty.)

A man scratches his groin. Another man is mocked for wetting the bed as a child. When a princess suggests that commonfolk should be treated better, her siblings mock her, reveling in their royal status. Nobles speak poorly of peasants. A man who doesn’t like his family says he thinks his son is a “medical moron.”

Catherine manipulates Charles, using trusted advisors to convince him that he should continue to follow her lead instead of taking control himself. We see her manipulating folks in other scenes, too. A woman bribes a man to let her read letters to the royal family before they’re delivered. She also commands a cohort of courtiers, ordering them to report everything the family says to her.

There are 10 uses of the f-word, three of the s-word and one of the c-word. God’s name is misused a handful of times and Christ’s name is abused once. We also hear uses of “p-ss,” “b–lock” and “wanker.”