'Reign' season 4 premiere spoilers: Queen Elizabeth conspires with Lord Danley; EP speaks on show's new theme
Queen Mary (Adelaide Kane) vows to avenge Lola's (Anna Popplewell) death on the upcoming episode of The CW's historical drama "Reign" season 4.
Titled "With Friends Like This," the show's hotly-anticipated premiere explores the aftermath of Lola's tragic death. According to the official synopsis, Queen Mary is now unsure who to trust, even on the side of her own family. In an attempt to know who's still loyal to her, she tests her brother James (Dan Jeannotte) after hearing of his meeting with John Knox (Jonathan Goad). Elsewhere, Queen Elizabeth (Rachel Skarsten) conspires with Lord Darnley (Will Kemp) to try to sabotage the powerful suitor's relationship with the Queen of Scots.
Last year, The CW finally decided to pull the plug on the period drama. While it's unclear if the fourth season will take viewers all the way to Mary's death, it has been confirmed that more of her romantic life will take center stage. Executive producer Laurie McCarthy recently caught up with Yahoo! TV, and she revealed that Mary's second husband Lord Darnley (Will Kemp) will play a huge role this season. Although he and Mary have a good relationship, he'll be a problem at times because of his own desire for influence and power.
"What happens in this chapter in her life is that she meets her second husband and it's an incredibly tumultuous marriage," McCarthy said. Over the course of the season, fans will also get to meet Mary's third husband as well as her children. "There really is joy amongst the tragedy ... You will see how scrappy Mary is and how hard she fights, not just for her child, but for the people around her," the EP added.
The EP added that the show's overall theme is very timely in the sense that it tackles how far a person could go to have the upper hand. "The constant theme of the show is what do you give up to maintain power? And then the sub-theme of that is what's it like to be a woman in power?" she hinted, adding, "And I feel like it could not be more timely."
The fourth and final season of "Reign" premieres on Friday, Feb. 10, at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.