The Serpent Queen Season 2 is Fine, But Not Nearly as Good as Season 1

I was a huge fan of the first season of The Serpent Queen. So much so, that I listed it as the second-best overall television show of 2022. As a result, the fact that this eight-episode second season of the Starz program is just alright – totally watchable, but far from great – is actually fairly disappointing.

There’s still a decent bit to like with this season of The Serpent Queen. But, while the original eight episodes of the show felt like I was watching something of superb quality, this time around it feels more like watching a guilty pleasure-type show than something you’d consider fantastic TV.

I want to touch on what the show does well first before I get into where I think The Serpent Queen Season 2 falls short. Samantha Morton, who plays Catherine de Medici, is still excellent. There’s not the same development or growth for her character to experience throughout this season as there was in Season 1, but I still enjoy her portrayal of the Serpent Queen.

Many of the characters who returned from the first season, like the two Bourbon brothers, Antoine and Louis, I also enjoyed. The rivalry between the princes of the blood and the two Guise brothers can feel over-the-top at times, but it’s fun. There’s a lot of politics on The Serpent Queen and it works a lot of the time.

The look of the show, for the most part, is top-notch. There are a few blatantly CGI shots of the exteriors of buildings, but besides those, everything looks the part. The costumes and settings really work. (Even though everyone is speaking English) this feels like 16th Century France.

Many of the issues with Season 2 come simply as a result of the season’s (somewhat unnecessary) existence. In many ways, the first season of The Serpent Queen stands on its own and could actually be viewed as a compete story. It’s the story of Catherine’s rise to power and, ultimately, her victory over her rivals. Anything in addition to Season 1 feels sort of superfluous.

While Season 1 is the story of Catherine’s rise, Season 2 is more of an ensemble show focusing on the French court. Instead of centering only on Catherine, we spend more time with other characters. Most of these new characters, particularly Catherine’s children, are just not that interesting.

As a whole, I found Catherine’s children, mainly the king, Anjou, and Margot to all be pretty annoying. They’re one-note, not very deep, and aren’t really portrayed as anything more than chess pieces for Catherine to move around.

A protestant leader named Edith, Queen Elizabeth of England, and Catherine’s brother, Alessandro, all have major roles. However, especially relating to Edith and Alessandro, there doesn’t feel like a true threat to Catherine the way that Diane did in Season 1. We, as viewers, can pretty much guess how everything will work out, and know it’ll be in Catherine’s favor.

Catherine’s rivalry with Diane was a great component of that first season, but Diane is mostly absent from Season 2. Queen Elizabeth is well-played by Minnie Driver. Her successes as a female leader parallel Catherine’s and she’s meant to be similar to how Diane was a foil to her in Season 1. However, Queen Elizabeth feels mostly separate from the main story.

This season of The Serpent Queen reminded me of how I felt about later seasons of the TV show Vikings. Those first few seasons of that show I really enjoyed, but once we got into focusing on Ragnar’s children, who were a lot less compelling than he was, I mainly lost interest. It’s a similar story here.

I still don’t necessarily think this is a bad season of TV. I might even go so far as to say that it’s a pretty decent one, especially compared to a lot of what’s out there when it comes to other similar period piece royalty shows. I thought Season 2’s finale was its best episode. Sure, it was predictable, but there was something satisfying about seeing everything come together. It made me view the season in a more positive light than I otherwise would’ve had that episode not been so good.

Overall though, this is a far cry from the great experience offered by Season 1. I almost wish The Serpent Queen had been a miniseries instead of an ongoing show, since I think this will be a series with diminishing returns as years progress as it relates to quality. If you enjoyed that first season, I’d still recommend this one. But only barely.

Grade: 6.5/10