The Serpent Queen Part 4 is the third instalment of an American historical period drama TV miniseries revolving around the life of Catherine de’ Medici. Created by Justin Haythe, the miniseries is based on the 2004 non-fiction book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda.
SP O I L E R S
Plot
Entitled “A New Era”, The Serpent Queen Part 4 provides us with a 15 year time jump that lives up to the title. In that time, Catherine has had 10 children with Henri but her cousin Diane remains her husband’s mistress throughout. King Francis is still alive but not for much longer, his Privy Council is now consisting of the sons of his former councillors but the politicking and scheming amongst those in his court does not change.
READ OUR ANALYSES OF THE SERPENT QUEEN.
Francis dies but before he does, tells Henri to place Catherine on the Privy Council, which will cement her relevance in this new era. Diane does her best to exert her influence over the new King, what she has been working on from the first episode. Essentially, Catherine will have to be able to out-manoeuvre both Diane and those pesky Privy Councillors to survive. Which she must have of course, as she is the Queen Mother in the present day, which removes all the available tension in the series.
Characters
With Catherine aged up, The Serpent Queen Part 4 finally brings us Samantha Morton fully in the lead role. Even as her position is threatened by her daughter-in-law Mary in the present, she must manipulate her way into Queen Regent role as her young son Charles IX ascends to the throne. To be honest, this aspect of Catherine’s personality has not been fully developed yet but hopefully will provide the main appeal of the series to come.
The Final Analysis
The Serpent Queen Part 4 provides enough promise of what is to come in this recommended period drama.
Now streaming on Starz.
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