Reign Season 2 had too much that felt off
Let me start by saying that I loved seeing Francis and Mary ruling France together. I also loved the introduction of Narcisse, although it seemed a little too cartoonish and soap opera-ish to really sell the idea that he was a villain to watch out for. I’m also not the biggest fan of the overuse of villains who become allies. We already had that in Reign with Catherine in the first season.
This season also struggled with the love storyline. I would have preferred to see Mary and Francis on the same page together. Give us more time to believe their story. Instead, we ended up with Mary and Louis, the Prince of Conde, having an affair. We’d already had a love triangle in the first season, so we didn’t need another one.
Then there’s the rape of Mary halfway through the season. This was clearly used for a dramatic storyline and shock value. Nothing about it was historically accurate, and it wasn’t handled that well in long-term aftermath of the series.