History Series / TheSerpentQueen

* TheFundamentalist: Mary, Queen of Scots is very strident in her Catholicism, to the point where even members of the court who are Catholics themselves call her a religious zealot. This results in multiple funny moments, including this exchange at the wedding of Mary and the dauphin:

** In the series, Charles V (Creator/RupertEverett) is the Holy Roman Emperor at the time of Henri's [[spoiler: fatal joust]] in 1559. In reality, Charles V had abdicated in 1556, being succeeded by his younger brother Ferdinand I.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Diane and Aabis, although both women demonstrate PragmaticPansexuality as well.
** Catherine's servant Aabis has an affair with King Francis, but later is also shown sleeping with perfumer Angelica. The series doesn't really make it clear if she's bisexual or if she's a lesbian who had sex with Francis in order to assure her safety in France.

* AmbiguouslyBi:

** After drinking the liquid gold that Angelica has provided, Diane gives her a long, sensual kiss on the lips. The most likely explanation is that [[PragmaticPansexuality she's trying to seduce Angelica]], who is unambiguously depicted as a lesbian, into giving her more of the gold solution, but it still opens up the possibility of her bisexuality.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory:

* ColorMotif: Diane always wears black and white. Henri begins wearing these colors as well, symbolizing the extent to which he is in her thrall.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The episodes post-timeskip are darker in tone than the earlier ones.

** After Catherine grants him an audience with the king, Pierre Marques calls Diane out for being a shameless AttentionWhore and states that she is an embarrassment to the throne of France. Diane completely loses it and [[spoiler: slits Marques' throat with a knife]] in front of the entire court. Then she cries and begs Henri for forgiveness, to which Henri (of course) acquiesces since he is completely under her thumb.
* DoctorsOrders: Catherine and Henri are forced to take to the advice of one Doctor Fernel in order to conceive. His theory is that they're not "well-matched" for one another physically and thus Henri must enter her from behind. Surprisingly enough this actually works, and Catherine and Henri wind up having a large number of children together.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Diane constantly demanding more of Angelica's liquid gold, and the [[SanitySlippage increasingly erratic and destructive behavior]] she exhibits after consuming it, looks a ''lot'' like someone spiralling into a serious drug addiction. This is made explicit when Catherine tells the story to Rahima:

* EveryoneIsRelated: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as it's a show about nobility, so almost everybody has some connection, no matter how distant. For instance, Catherine and Diane are cousins, and the de Guise brothers are the uncles of Mary, Queen of Scots.

* TheFundamentalist: Mary, Queen of Scots is very strident in her Catholicism, to the point where even members of the court who are Catholics themselves call her a religious zealot. As a result we get this gem of an exchange at the wedding of Mary and the dauphin:

* GenerationXerox: Towards the end of his life, Henri [[TheDogBitesBack comes to resent]] (to a degree, at least) Diane's overtly manipulative and controlling tendencies, and the way in which just about everyone views him as her lapdog. At the same time, he begins regarding his son's relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots as a carbon copy of what he went through in his youth, and starts doubting the match.

* MsFanservice: Diane is seen naked on numerous occasions and even gets a bit of GirlOnGirlIsHot when she French-kisses Angelica. Surprisingly enough this is TruthInTelevision, at least to an extent: the RealLife Diane de Poitiers enjoyed posing nude for artists, and some of the paintings survive to this day.

* SettlingTheFrontier: In his first privy council meeting, Henri is advised by one of the Bourbon brothers that establishing a French colony in the New World would be a great idea.

* IWantToBeARealMan: Henri finally gets fed up with everyone seeing him as being under Diane's thumb and decides to prove his masculinity by participating in a joust with another knight, whom he specifically orders not to go easy on him. This leads to his [[spoiler: suffering a significant head injury and, ultimately, dying from the wounds.]]
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Concerned that she is going to be kicked out of France for having failed to produce an heir for Henri, Catherine prostrates herself before King Francis and begs him to let Henri choose another potential bride--but, as a deliberate slight to Diane, asks that this bride be young, pure and virginal. The success is twofold, as Francis takes pity on Catherine and allows her to stay in France, and Diane is extremely unnerved at being OutGambitted by a teenager who has also managed to prey on her greatest insecurities.

* BlackWidow: Catherine makes a deal with Ruggieri to get rid of Diane for good...which involves [[spoiler: Henri's death.]] Whether this actually caused Henri to [[spoiler: have his accident at the tournament]] InUniverse isn't clear, but Catherine herself certainly believes that she was responsible when she tells the story to Rahima.

* GenerationXerox: Towards the end of his life, Henri [[TheDogBitesBack comes to resent]] (to a degree, at least) Diane's overtly manipulative and controlling tendencies, and the way in which just about everyone sees him as being her lapdog. At the same time, he begins regarding his son's relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots as a carbon copy of what he went through in his youth, and starts doubting the match.

** Again averted and this time PlayedForLaughs with the ladies-in-waiting of Mary, Queen of Scots, all of whom are also called Mary (having adopted the name at the behest of the "main" Mary, in honor of the Virgin Mary).

* {{Outgambitted}}: For reasons that are as yet unclear, Rahima lies to Catherine by claiming that she can't read. Aware that she is being misled, Catherine decides to teach Rahima a lesson by sending her to retreive information from the room of Mary, Queen of Scots, where she's caught almost immediately by one of Mary's ladies-in-waiting (also sent by Catherine minutes later).

* ParentalSubstitute: When Catherine sees Diane for the first time, King Francis explains that she has been like a surrogate mother for Henri after the death of his own mother. Which of course makes their sexual relationship that much more disturbing.

* PetTheDog: Despite her ''many'' flaws, it does seem like Diane genuinely cares about Henri, particularly since their relationship began at a time when--being only the second son of the king--his political relevance was minimal to non-existent. Much later on, she begs him to let Francois de Guise take his place in battle against the Holy Roman empire, and immediately becomes worried when she realizes that he intends to take part in his [[spoiler: ultimately fatal]] tournament joust.

* EveryoneIsRelated: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as it's a show about nobility, so almost everyone has some connection, no matter how distant. For instance, Catherine and Diane are cousins, and the de Guise brothers are the uncles of Mary, Queen of Scots.

* GenerationXerox: Towards the end of his life, Henri [[TheDogBitesBack comes to resent]] (to a degree, at least) Diane's overtly manipulative and controlling tendencies, and the way in which just about everyone sees him as being her lapdog. At the same time, he begins regarding his son's relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots as being a carbon copy of what he went through in his youth, and starts doubting the match.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Diane is [[VanityIsFeminine obsessed]] with appearing younger than she is, and her (rather unpleasant and disturbing) beauty rituals are shown on-screen.

* MsFanservice: Diane is seen naked on numerous occasions and French-kisses Angelica. Surprisingly enough this is TruthInTelevision, at least to an extent: the RealLife Diane de Poitiers enjoyed posing nude for artists, and some of the paintings survive to this day.

* TheFundamentalist: Mary, Queen of Scots, is very strident in her Catholicism, to the point where even members of the court who are Catholics themselves refer to her as a "zealot." As a result we get this gem of an exchange at the wedding of Mary and the dauphin:
--> '''Louis de Bourbon:''' ''(halfheartedly)'' We, uh...we wish you all the best.
--> '''Mary, Queen of Scots:''' ''(smiling)'' Ah! And I pray you'll be spared God's wrath, as I pray for all Proestants.

* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Most of the feuding between Catherine and Diane takes this form.
* PetTheDog: Despite her many flaws, it does seem like Diane genuinely cares about Henri, particularly since their relationship began at a time when his political relevance was minimal. Later, she begs him to let Francois de Guise take his place in battle against the Holy Roman empire, and immediately becomes worried when she realizes that he intends to take part in his [[spoiler: ultimately fatal]] tournament joust.

* TheFundamentalist: Mary, Queen of Scots, is very strident in her Catholicism, to the point where even members of the court who are Catholics themselves refer to her as a "zealot."

** After drinking the liquid gold that Angelica has provided, Diane gives her a long, sensual kiss on the lips. The most likely explanation is that she's trying to seduce Angelica, who is unambiguously depicted as a lesbian, into giving her more of the gold solution, but it still opens up the possibility of her bisexuality.

* MsFanservice: Diane is seen naked on numerous occasions and even gets a bit of GirlOnGirlIsHot when she French-kisses Angelica. Surprisingly enough this is TruthInTelevision, at least to an extent: the RealLife Diane de Poitiers enjoyed posing nude for artists, and some of the paintings survive to this day.

* InformedAttribute: The way others talk about her, one would think that Catherine is hideously ugly, even though in reality she's (at worst) [[HollywoodHomely somewhat plain]].

** In the series, Charles V (Creator/RupertEverett) is the Holy Roman Emperor at the time of Henri's [[spoiler: fatal duel]] in 1559. In reality, Charles V had abdicated in 1556, being succeeded by his younger brother Ferdinand I.

** Catherine's servant Aabis has an affair with King Francis, but later is also shown sleeping with perfumer Angelica. The series doesn't really make it clear if she's bi or if she's a lesbian who had sex with Francis in order to assure her safety in France.
** After drinking the liquid gold that Angelica has provided, Diane gives her a long, sensual kiss on the lips. The most likely explanation is that she's trying to seduce Angelica, who is unambiguously depicted as a lesbian, into giving her more of the gold solution, but it still opens up the possibility of her being bisexual.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: In the flashbacks, Catherine often gives asides to the camera, particularly when she's a teenager.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Diane constantly demanding more of Angelica's liquid gold, and the [[SanitySlippage increasingly erratic and destructive behavior]] she exhibits after consuming it, looks a ''lot'' like someone spiralling into a serious drug addiction.

** Angelica repeatedly [[IWarnedYou warns]] Diane that ingesting too much gold could make her go insane. Not only does Diane not listen but she actually increases her gold consumption. The preview for the sixth episode even suggests that she's begun ''bathing'' in it.
* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Diane is [[VanityIsFeminine obsessed]] with appearing younger than she is, and her (rather unpleasant) beauty rituals are shown on-screen.

* MsFanservice: Beauty-obsessed Diane is shown naked a couple of times and even gets a bit of GirlOnGirlIsHot when she French-kisses Angelica. Surprisingly enough this is TruthInTelevision, at least to an extent: the RealLife Diane de Poitiers enjoyed posing nude for artists, and some of the paintings survive to this day.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted; there are ''three'' separate characters called Francis, as it's a family name.

* PetTheDog: As influence-hungry and conniving as she can be, it does seem like Diane genuinely cares about Henri.

** Angelica begins supplying Diane with bizarre methods for enhancing her appearance.

''The Serpent Queen'' is an American period drama television series about the life of the 16th century French queen, Catherine de' Medici, portrayed by Creator/SamanthaMorton as an adult and Liv Hill as a teenager.

''The Serpent Queen'' is an American period drama television series about the life of the 16th century French queen, Catherine de' Medici, portrayed by Creator/SamanthaMorton as an adult and Liv Hill as a teenager. The series follows Catherine as she is sent by her uncle, Pope Clement (Creator/CharlesDance), to France in order to marry Henri (Alex Heath), the son of King Francis I (Colm Meaney). However, on her wedding night, Catherine discovers that Henri is having sex with Diane de Poitiers (Creator/LudivineSagnier), a noblewoman more than twice his age.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Concerned that she is going to be kicked out of France for having failed to produce an heir for Henri, Catherine prostrates herself before King Francis and begs him to let Henri choose another potential bride--but, as a deliberate slight to Diane, asks that this bride be young, pure and virginal. The success is twofold, as Francis takes pity on Catherine and allows her to stay in France, and Diane is extremely unnerved at being OutGambitted by a teenager who has also managed to prey on her greatest insecurities.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Catherine is this in the present timeline--everyone either despises her or is terrified of her.

** After Catherine grants him an audience with the king, Pierre Marques criticizes Diane for being a shameless AttentionWhore and states that she is an embarrassment to the throne of France. Diane completely loses it and [[spoiler: slits Marques' throat with a knife]] in front of the entire court. (Then she cries and begs Henri for forgiveness.)

%%* LargeHam: King Francis.

* ColdHam: Catherine. Particularly as an adult, when she's played by Creator/SamanthaMorton, her voice rarely rises much above a whisper, and people are often intimidated by her.

** Pierre Marques criticizes Diane for being a shameless AttentionWhore and states that she is an embarrassment to the throne of France. Diane completely loses it and [[spoiler: slits Marques' throat with a knife]] in front of the entire court. (Then she cries and begs Henri for forgiveness.)

** Catherine's servant Aabis has an affair with King Francis, but later is also shown sleeping with perfumer Angelica. The series doesn't really make it clear if she's bisexual or if she's a lesbian who had sex with Francis in order to assure her safety in France.

* AntiHero: Of the [[PragmaticAntiHero pragmatic variety.]] Catherine freely admits that she has made morally dubious choices, but argues that she had to in order to survive in the French court.

%%* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: The dauphin.]]

* ColdHam: Catherine. Particularly as an adult, when she's played by Creator/SamanthaMorton, her voice rarely rises much above a whisper, and yet almost everyone is intimidated by her.

** Pierre Marques criticizes Diane for being a shameless DramaQueen and states that she is an embarrassment to the throne of France. Diane completely loses it and [[spoiler: slits Marques' throat with a knife]] in front of the entire court. (Then she cries and begs Henri for forgiveness.)

%%* ExtremeLibido: King Francis.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Diane is [[VanityIsFeminine obsessed]] with appearing younger than she is and some of her rather unpleasant beauty rituals (e.g. being repeatedly doused in ice cold water "for the skin to contract" and drinking liquid gold) are seen on-screen.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Poor [[spoiler: Sebastio]] gets pulled apart by horses after being falsely accused of [[spoiler: poisoning Dauphin Francis.]]

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: The show's theme song contains distorted guitar riffs, while the end credits typically feature punk and alternative rock songs by female artists.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Dauphin Francis is given a major HistoricalVillainUpgrade, being portrayed as a JerkJock when he had actually become bookish and solitary during his years as a hostage in Spain.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Diane constantly demanding more of Angelica's liquid gold, and the [[SanitySlippage increasingly erratic and destructive behavior]] she exhibits as a result of it, look a ''lot'' like someone spiralling into a serious drug addiction.

** After drinking the liquid gold that Angelica has provided, Diane gives her a long, sensual kiss on the lips. Whether this is a strange power play or whether she's legitimately attracted to Angelica is uncertain.

%%* DirtyOldMan: Pope Clement, big time. Also King Francis to some extent.

* HistoricalInJoke: Pierre Marques' speech to Henri, in which he attacks the decadence of the royal court (and in particular the antics of Diane) and states that if they continue to carry on in the way they are, the wider population will revolt against them. A couple of centuries later a little thing called UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution happened.

* NewMoney: While Catherine wasn't a true commoner, her family wasn't part of the older European nobility, which was part of the reason why they were regarded with such suspicion.

* SanitySlippage: Diane becomes increasingly unhinged as the series progresses.