Reviewer Rating: 4.5/5.0
4.5
There are period projects, and there are shows like The Snake Queen that stage drama with a silver platter in one hand and a dagger in the other.
After a nearly two-year hiatus, the series returns at a ten-year pace after Catherine obtained the regency of France through rather treacherous means.
As with many longer-running episodes, time jumps are an excellent way to advance well-worn storylines and introduce new life and characters to the show.
However, in the case of The Snake Queen, the writers may have seen an opportunity to provide a fresh start for returning viewers while providing a simple introduction to the series for new viewers.
The Snake Queen is serving scandal, irony and satire
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Ever since Sofia Coppola’s 2006 classic historical drama Marie Antionette (starring Kirsten Dunst), historical dramas and modern satire have Similar fusions of dramas continue to emerge.
“Snake Queen” doesn’t try to be subtle, and as such, it reaps the rewards of a show with clear themes and impact.
It caught the attention of critics everywhere, as the series is one of the few shows on Rotten Tomatoes that can claim to be absolutely fresh.
Like the original series The Great, there were subtle reimaginings following another historical figure, Katharine, that appealed to a wider mainstream audience.
However, in the Hulu show’s favored camp, The Snake Queen maintains secondary control throughout.
If you’re not sure if you’re watching a remake, check out the male characters’ hair and styling.
I don’t care what animal by-products they were using at the time.
It’s impossible to get the kind of hold these men get without studio-grade mousse and hairspray.
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Still, the wildest, craziest parts of period dramas are usually the historically recorded events, because sometimes you can’t make this stuff up.
Catherine is a bad mother, but she has a good partner
Of course, our show wouldn’t exist without the titular Snake Queen working in front of and behind the scenes and her ever-increasing agenda.
From the first line in the first episode of Season 2 of Snake Queen, Katherine establishes herself as the bad mom she’s always been.
By the end of The Serpent Queen’s first season, she seemed to have gotten everything she wanted, and the writers wasted no time in showing viewers what she did with it all.
Drawing on her years of royal experience, she appears calm and collected in the first episode, titled “The Great Journey,” while her spoiled and pampered children cower in front of the peasants.
She’s been on a long journey since the first episode of The Viper Season 1, “Medici Bitch,” trying to live the life she believes she deserves.
She knew what the job was and how to do it well, as women of higher status in that era played roles like any chess game.
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The king may be the most critical piece, but the queen has the most power, and she can deliver the killing blow against any pawn, image, or rook.
Women have always played a key role in the rise and fall of any empire, dynasty, and kingdom, which is why it’s no surprise that the women in the series are the most terrifying.
Among these extravagant ladies, Françoise de Guise’s mother Antoinette held great influence, and she did not hesitate to blackmail her son as a means to an end.
And Antoine de Bourbon, who said he was afraid of his wife, and with good reason, because her gaze was nothing if not full of daggers.
So wherever the road leads, it is paved with women who use words as weapons like soldiers use swords.
You can’t stop a good court, or even a bad court
One of the most exciting yet anticipated aspects of a time jump (especially a decade-long time jump) is how characters change.
Children become adults overnight, adult characters often have completely different lives, and the world as the audience knows it may undergo a series of upheavals.
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If there’s one thing Starz isn’t afraid of doing, it’s restructuring its series in any way possible to keep up with other pay TV services and streaming.
The first thing we see is Catherine’s children all grown up, living as dotingly as possible in their lofty perch.
Apart from one or two relatively kind-hearted individuals, the children were clearly not doing as well as the Queen had hoped.
Then there’s her son Charles, who is finally old enough to rule but doesn’t seem to know how to begin his royal reign.
As his siblings said, Catherine maintained a firm grip on power over the kingdom while maintaining an arm’s length distance from Charles.
Of course, there’s the classic younger brother trope who feels like he’s destined to rule and if it weren’t for that damn birth order, the kingdom would be in his rightful hands.
In any case, neither Charles nor Anjou were fit to rule.
Catherine most likely knew this, but in all her time running the country, I guess she couldn’t find the time to show her children the ropes.
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Regardless, the embittered prince trying to be his brother’s king is a cliche that can be seen everywhere from The Lion King to House of the Dragon.
Truly ungodly people rule God’s country
The presence of the church is an inevitable trope in period pieces, whether dramatic or comic satire.
Although the church is a clichéd, overused storytelling device, its popularity in the series is also historically accurate.
Religion has guided monarchs for centuries, and although many countries have loosened the relationship between church and state, this union will never truly end.
That said, The Snake Queen leans heavily into a plot centered around the divide between Catholics and Protestants.
No offense intended, but it should be noted that this is not a fight between different religions.
It’s more like a fight between two styles of the same religion, but in the 1500s, religion was all most people had.
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Hope is in short supply and the church knows how to fund its operations, as in the play, with lines like “Farmers are like livestock.”
While Catholicism is nowhere near as extreme as they did on Game of Thrones, the Snake Queen is gearing up for some religious fanfare.
I mean, they burned that church and razed all the people in it to the ground.
Do you see how that fiery roof finally collapses?
It would be a shock if anyone came out alive.
Either way, we can’t wait to see what the historical drama with the most extra characters has in store for viewers after a two-year hiatus.
We have a feeling that Catherine isn’t ready to turn evil just yet.
What do you think of the time jump and the new cast?
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Now that Charles is old enough to rule, will he have to fight his mother to get the throne?
Let us know in the comments below and join us again as we review the next episode of Snake Queen!
