The Serpent Queen

★★★★☆ 7.8/10
📅 2022 📺 16 episodes ✅ Completed 👁️ 15 views

Hey, everyone! How’s it going? Today I’m here to review the drama The Serpent Queen, which became Starz’s most ambitious historical series, bringing the fascinating and controversial life of Catherine de Medici to television with stunning period detail and powerhouse performances.

The Serpent Queen is an American historical drama television series created by Justin Haythe for Starz. The Serpent Queen premiered on Starz on September 11, 2022. In October 2022, Starz renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on July 12, 2024. In October 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons. In February 2021, Starz granted an eight episode series based upon the book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda, with each episode running approximately 60 minutes. The series delivers lavish costume design, complex political intrigue, and psychological depth that brings one of history’s most controversial queens to vivid life.

Series based on Leonie Frieda’s book “Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France.” The show follows Catherine de Medici’s journey from Italian orphan to one of France’s most powerful and influential rulers, exploring how she navigated the treacherous world of 16th-century French court politics. The series uses flashbacks to tell Catherine’s story as she reflects on her life and imparts lessons to her servant girl Rahima, creating a narrative structure that allows for both intimate character moments and grand historical spectacle.

From Florentine Orphan to French Queen: Catherine’s Rise to Power

“The Serpent Queen” tells the story of Catherine de Medici who, against all odds, became one of the most powerful and longest-serving rulers in French history. Catherine’s tale unfolds through flashbacks as she defends her actions and imparts the lessons she’s learned to her new servant girl, Rahima. The series begins with young Catherine arriving in France as a political pawn, married to the future King Henry II to secure an alliance between France and Florence.

Considered an immigrant, common and plain, Catherine de Medici is married into the 16th century French court where she faces immediate challenges from established nobility who see her as an outsider. The show excels at depicting how Catherine transforms from a naive young bride into a calculating political strategist, using intelligence, manipulation, and ruthless pragmatism to survive in a world designed to destroy her.

Samantha Morton’s Catherine: A Masterclass in Royal Ruthlessness

Samantha Morton is a perfect Catherine de Medici. Though some may remember her for her villainous turn as Alpha in The Walking Dead, her portrayal of the French queen represents a career-defining performance. Morton brings both vulnerability and steel to Catherine, showing how the queen’s legendary cruelty emerged from necessity rather than inherent evil. Her performance captures a woman who learned to weaponize every perceived weakness.

Morton’s Catherine is complex and multifaceted, capable of genuine love and devastating betrayal often within the same scene. The actress masterfully portrays the evolution from young, hopeful bride to the calculating “Serpent Queen” who would stop at nothing to protect her children and maintain her power. Her chemistry with the supporting cast creates authentic relationships that drive the series’ emotional core.

The French Court: A Deadly Game of Political Chess

The series excels in its portrayal of 16th-century French court life, where every conversation is a potential trap and every alliance is temporary. Catherine must navigate relationships with powerful nobles, ambitious courtiers, and religious factions while dealing with her husband’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wields significant influence over the king. The court becomes a character itself, beautiful and deadly in equal measure.

The show doesn’t shy away from the violence and brutality of the era, using Catherine’s story to explore themes of religious conflict, political intrigue, and the price of power. Each episode reveals new layers of court conspiracy while showing how Catherine gradually learns to play the game better than anyone around her, earning her reputation as one of history’s most formidable political operators.

Season Two: The Cost of Power Revealed

In the second season of “The Serpent Queen,” Catherine’s rule faces power struggles, conflicts, and betrayals as she seeks unity in France. Her grip on power is tested. The second season, which premiered on July 12, 2024, delves deeper into Catherine’s reign as Queen Mother, showing how her earlier choices continue to haunt her while new threats emerge from both within and outside France.

The final season explores the full cost of Catherine’s ruthless climb to power while examining whether redemption is possible for someone who has made the choices necessary to survive in such a brutal world. Without spoiling specific details, the season provides a complex examination of legacy, power, and the price of survival in one of history’s most dangerous courts.

The Renaissance Court’s Complex Web

The series features exceptional supporting performances that bring the entire French court ecosystem to life. The cast includes established actors and newcomers who create authentic period characters without falling into stereotypes. From scheming nobles to religious fanatics to foreign ambassadors, each supporting character serves specific narrative purposes while maintaining their own distinct motivations and fears.

The show’s attention to supporting characters helps create a fully realized world where Catherine’s actions have consequences that ripple throughout French society, showing how royal politics affected everyone from the highest nobles to the lowest servants in ways both subtle and dramatic.

Success on Starz: A Historical Drama Phenomenon

The Serpent Queen premieres in the US on Sunday, September 11, on the STARZ channel at 8 pm ET/PT. It will be available at midnight on September 11 on the STARZ app and on all on-demand and streaming platforms where a Starz subscription is available. The series became a critical success for Starz, generating extensive discussion about historical accuracy and the portrayal of powerful women in period dramas. The show attracted viewers who appreciated sophisticated historical storytelling combined with complex character development and political intrigue. Each episode sparked conversations about power, survival, and the moral complexity of historical figures, establishing the series as appointment television for history and drama enthusiasts. The series proved that audiences hunger for intelligent historical drama that doesn’t simplify complex historical figures or sanitize brutal historical realities.

The Ultimate Renaissance Power Drama

If you love historical dramas, complex female characters, and stories about survival against impossible odds, The Serpent Queen is the perfect series to binge on Starz. This isn’t just television; it’s a masterclass in political intrigue and character development that brings one of history’s most fascinating women to life with intelligence and authenticity.

Why This Royal Saga Deserves Your Complete Attention

The Serpent Queen succeeds because it treats its historical subject with complexity and intelligence, avoiding both vilification and romantic glorification while delivering the sumptuous period detail and political intrigue that makes for addictive viewing. The series offers a perfect blend of intimate character study and grand historical spectacle, proving that the best historical drama comes from understanding that the past was populated by real people facing impossible choices.

Series Details

Number of Episodes: 16 (across 2 seasons)

Platform: Starz

Release/End Year: 2022-2024

Rating (IMDb): 7.8/10

Genre: Historical Drama/Political Thriller

Status: Completed (Canceled after 2 seasons)

Main Characters: Samantha Morton (Catherine de Medici), Amrita Acharia (Rahima), Enzo Cilenti (Ruggieri), Ruby Bentall (Margot de Valois)

Antagonist: French court politics, religious conflicts, and various political rivals