STARZ "The Serpent Queen" is back promising more drama for Season 2

The Real Perspectives
Jul 21, 2024
4 min read

July 20, 2024

Courtesy: STARZ

The Serpent Queen is back for season 2, and this time, Catherine de' Medici is as shrewd as ever. The Serpent Queen is a STARZ original, highly acclaimed period drama series that premiered on September 11, 2022. It follows the life of Catherine de' Medici, the 16th-century Queen of France who became one of the most powerful and longest-serving rulers in French history. Samantha Morton stars as the titular character. The second season premiered on July 12, 2024.

Created by Justin Haythe, the series is based on the 2004 book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda. In the first season, consisting of 8 episodes, we were introduced to how Catherine became "The Serpent Queen." A young Catherine from humble beginnings was raised in a convent and married into the French court, expected to bring in a fortune in dowry and produce heirs. She tells her story to a servant girl, Rahima (Sennia Nanua). Catherine has one motto that has carried her through her political ambitions to secure her rise to the top: "Never trust anyone." With her political machinations, that motto has allowed her to rule France for 30 years.

Courtesy: STARZ

The talented cast includes Amrita Acharia, Barry Atsma, Enzo Cilenti, Sennia Nanua, and Kiruna Stamell.

With modernized dialogue and beautiful cinematography, The Serpent Queen is exceptionally written, and Sarah Morton's portrayal of Catherine is incredibly nuanced. Catherine is not a good person. She is shrewd and calculated and does not even stop at murder to get what she wants. While she has the black heart that she effortlessly portrays, underline is a woman filled with intelligence, insecurities, disappointment, and loneliness as her ambition takes precedence to mask and bury those feelings that no one ever sees. The evolution of her character from an innocent girl to an ambitious Queen is nothing short of fascinating.

Everything Catherine does is strategic. Her relationship with her servant, Rahima (Sennia Nanua), to whom she chooses to retell her life story from the beginning, is questionable. When her master plan is finally revealed at the end of season 1, in which she uses Rahima to trick Mary, Queen of Scots (Antonia Clarke), into thinking her cousin Queen Elizabeth is coming to help her dethrone Catherine, it's nothing short of brilliant. Rahima has now become her protege and sets her own terms for continuing to help her - a title and property. The relationship with Rahima reveals small glimpses of Catherine's vulnerability.

Courtesy: STARZ

We see her as a little girl (played by Liv Hill) at 14 when her uncle, Pope Clement (Charles Dance), marries her off to Prince Henry (Lee Ingleby), second in line to the throne of France. She takes an entourage of characters she can trust and finds herself in a household full of treachery and political backstabbing. Even when Henry returns from war with his new mistress, Filippa, and her baby, Catherine becomes even more determined and resorts to extreme measures to produce an heir elsewhere. This was just the start, as Catherine survived and outplayed every one of her adversaries. One has to admire the brilliance, patience, and tenacity that shaped her into being "The Serpent Queen" as she deliberately places the crown on Charles, her son's head, at the end of season 1.

STARZ promises the second season of Catherine's rule faces power struggles, conflicts, and betrayals as she seeks unity in France and her grip on power is tested. The first episode of season 2, "Grand Tour," picks up with the people she betrayed along the way, vowing to destroy her in season 1. She's head of a table with dead guests, and judging by that visual, she is forced to continue to use ruthless tactics to remain two steps ahead of her enemies.

Courtesy: STARZ

Ten years later, Charles IX, now a man, keeps deferring to Catherine, much to the annoyance of his brother Anjou. Religion and violence are the themes as the Catholics and Protestants continue to be enemies, and Catherine's grown children, with very distinct personalities, have no desire to engage with peasants. Charles wants independence with his own vision of ruling, but of course, Catherine will not rescind her power of regency. Rahima, now played by Emma McDonald, is as ambitious as ever with a position of power. Catherine begins an affair with Montmorency (Barry Atsmaand) and is awakened by Rahima in the dead of night to alert her that Charles is gone.

To secure her own future, which involves destroying Catherine, Antoniette (Beth Goddard) Cardinal Charles and Francois' mother want to reignite the fight between the Catholics and Protestants. She blackmails Francois into burning Sister Edith's church, or she will expose his homosexuality. Francois does it, and it's a shame because Francois is actually likable.

Catherine will definitely be tested as she navigates to stay two steps ahead of her enemies in season 2.

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Watch the trailer for season 2 below: