The story of Catherine de Medici’s ascent to power at the French court is told in “The Serpent Queen,” which airs on Starz. The show begins with the catastrophic downfall of her family and continues on to chronicle her tale up until the point where she is wed to the youngest son of the King of France. Catherine has a lot of factors working against her, yet despite all of these obstacles, she manages to improve her standing to the point where she is the most powerful person in France. What happened to transform a young girl into a queen who is both crafty and terrifying? The show continues to reveal new details about Catherine’s past and moves us closer to figuring out the answer with each new episode. The occurrences that take place in the second episode go a little bit farther in presenting her as a power that must be taken seriously. The implication for Catherine is as follows. SPOILERS AHEAD
A Recap of the Second Episode of “The Serpent Queen”
After Catherine learned that Henry was having an affair with Diane, she made it her mission to convince Henry to pay her a visit and spend more time with her. Catherine has to become pregnant as soon as possible because her uncle, Pope Clement VII, has passed away, and there is no one who can pay her dowry at this time. Catherine’s chances of becoming pregnant decrease in proportion to the amount of time he spends apart from her. At the same time that the King is beginning to think about finding Henry a new bride, Diane is working to sway the King’s opinion in her favour. She makes several attempts to get Henry to wed her, but Catherine’s fast thinking thwarts all of those schemes. Still, Catherine’s most significant challenge is dealing with Diane.
Catherine is experiencing constant resistance from Diane, who has now also obtained a spy in her inner circle. This is happening while Henry is warming up to Catherine. Because she is familiar with every aspect of Catherine, she makes it more challenging for the young Medici to win over the affection of her husband. Catherine and Diane are both concerned about the upcoming arrival of the Prussian princesses because they are seen as potential suitors for Henry and his older brother. Catherine comes to the realisation that Diaane has a significant amount of influence over Henry when a pleasant picnic with the princesses unexpectedly turns into a bloody affair. In the end, she devises her own plan to improve her position in the circumstance so that it is more advantageous to her.
The conclusion of The Serpent Queen episode 2 asks: What does it mean for Catherine that Henry is going to war?
Catherine’s uncle had negotiated a deal for her to come to France as part of a trade-off before she arrived there. Since her dowry was the only thing that was keeping her in France, Catherine is going to have to come up with a wide variety of strategies if she wants to sustain her position in the French court after it was lost. She faces the enormous challenge of persuading everyone, most importantly the King, as to why someone person who is a more appealing option for Henry should not simply take her place. She has the upper hand in this circumstance due to the fact that the King already shows signs of having a soft spot for her, and by the time the episode comes to a close, she has made it abundantly apparent that no one should underestimate her abilities.
Catherine’s issues can be resolved in the most efficient and risk-free manner if she just becomes pregnant. Despite Diane’s persistent efforts to keep the two of them apart, she was successful in persuading Henry to carry out the responsibilities that come with being a husband. Even still, the prospect of Henry marrying another woman hangs over her head until she actually gives birth to one of his children. While this plan is being put into action, Catherine is looking into additional strategies to gain Henry’s affection and to persuade the King to postpone his search for a new daughter-in-law for the time being.
Keeping in mind that her dowry was the cause of all of this problems for her, she devises a strategy to avoid it. All of the things that Pope Clement VII pledged to give France in exchange for marrying Catherine off to Henry still remain in Italy, with whom France is already in a position that is not particularly friendly. In addition to the politics taking place within the court, there is a great deal of unrest taking place between France and Italy on the outside. For France to be able to turn the tide in its favour, it needs an ally, someone who can assist them in winning the war, regardless of whether it is brought to their doorstep or if they choose to take it to the Italians. Catherine discovers the solution to her problem in the Ottoman Empire.
She arranges a covert meeting with the Ottomans and negotiates a contract with them, which paves the way for France to form an alliance. It is unknown what she is willing to provide in exchange for the help, but whatever it is, she does not consider the cost to be prohibitive in order to improve her circumstances. When the agreement is finalised, Catherine persuades Henry to take up arms against Italy and go grab what was owed to him rather than wait for it to come to him. This is because she believes that waiting for it to come to him would be a waste of time. This deed will demonstrate to his father that he is not a weak or timid individual, and it will unquestionably improve his image in the eyes of the judge and the rest of the court. Henry’s weak spot is that he wants to make his father feel better about him, and Catherine cleverly exploits this weakness of Henry’s. When this piece of guidance turns out to be successful for Henry, it will demonstrate to him that Catherine is capable of much more than only bearing his children for him, which will convince him that Catherine is an asset to have. She can’t afford to lose Henry’s favour, especially if she wants to unseat Diane as the one who has a special place in his heart.
In spite of the fact that it appears as though Catherine has gone to all of this bother just for Henry’s sake, the truth is that she is driven by the need to safeguard her own life. She is under an incredible amount of pressure to achieve her goal of becoming pregnant. No one will be critical of her for the length of time it has taken to conceive a child if her husband is not present. Instead, everyone will feel sorry for her because her spouse is currently serving in the military and is away fighting a war. Therefore, Catherine is not in danger so long as Henry is away, particularly since that the King has reassured her that she would be looked after in his absence. In the event that Henry is successful in his return, it will be a tremendous boost for Catherine as well. Even if he were to perish in the conflict, we would emerge victorious. She will be a young widow, free from the burden of having children and free from the anxiety of the possibility of being auctioned off or transported back to Italy. She will have a greater degree of freedom than she has ever had before, as Diane had previously explained to her. The Medici girl is in a position where she can only benefit from this circumstance.
Development
In February of 2021, Starz gave the go-ahead for an eight-episode series that would be based on the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France written by Leonie Frieda. Justin Haythe was slated to serve as both the show’s writer and executive producer, and Francis Lawrence and Erwin Stoff were also slated to serve in these capacities. Stacie Passon will direct various episodes of the series, including the pilot, over the course of the show’s run. The television production companies that were going to be participating in the series were going to be Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Casting
Samantha Morton made her debut as Catherine de’ Medici in April of 2021 after being cast in the role.
Amrita Acharia, Enzo Cilenti, Barry Atsma, Nicholas Burns, and Danny Kirrane joined the cast in starring roles in May 2021. Charles Dance, Ludivine Sagnier, Liv Hill, Kiruna Stamell, and Colm Meaney were added to the cast in a recurring capacity at the same time. Ray Panthaki made his debut in the role of a series regular in June of 2021. It was revealed in August 2021 that Raza Jaffrey, Sennia Nanua, Beth Goddard, and Alex Heath had joined the cast of the series in unknown roles, starring roles, and recurring roles, respectively.