The Serpent Queen: Season 1

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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The Serpent Queen: That Throne Is Mine

Now Playing: The Serpent Queen: That Throne Is Mine

Season Details & Credits

Starz | Season Premiere Date: September 11, 2022

Summary: Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton) tells how she rose to power as the Queen of France after being married off at the age of 14 to a French count in this drama series based on Leonie Frieda's book "Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France."

Genre(s): Drama

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E8. A Queen Is Made
Air Date: October 30, 2022
tbd
S1:E7. An Attack on the King
Air Date: October 23, 2022
tbd
S1:E6. The Last Joust
Air Date: October 16, 2022

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Rob Owen

Sep 6, 2022

“The Serpent Queen” offers juicier period drama than either of the ballyhooed fantasy epics [“House of the Dragon” and “The Rings of Power”]. ... [Samantha] Morton mesmerizes. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

Sep 8, 2022

Samantha Morton, whose career has brought her from strength (“Jesus’ Son,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) to strength (“Harlots”), is just right for the role. ... In the five episodes (of eight in all) made available, Morton is somewhat peripheral, as we see how Catherine came to power through flashbacks featuring an excellent Liv Hill as the younger, more vulnerable version. But she nonetheless casts a powerful shadow across those episodes. Read full review

Melanie McFarland

Sep 12, 2022

"The Serpent Queen" may be the latest Starz drama that plumbs the ghastly inner workings of court intrigue to remind us that in the past, as now, a woman's life was far from the stuff of fables. But it distinguishes itself by rinsing away the cosmetics of royal etiquette and self-serious machination with bracing wit. Read full review

Collider Chase Hutchinson

Sep 7, 2022

Morton is the one that guides us through all of the story’s challenges with ease. When making the most of her performance and the character study it creates, The Serpent Queen proves to be more than worth getting wrapped up in, with the story only luring us in — much like the snake in its title. Read full review

Max Gao

Sep 8, 2022

For all its minor faults, though, The Serpent Queen still feels like a worthy successor to the likes of Becoming Elizabeth, The White Princess, and The Spanish Princess, carrying on Starz’s legacy of lavish period pieces told through a more modern lens. Read full review

Joel Keller

Sep 12, 2022

The Serpent Queen has just enough irreverence to make what could have been a boring period story a lot more interesting, emphasizing Catherine de’ Medici’s cunning over being prim and proper. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Clint Worthington

Sep 7, 2022

The show livens up when Hill (or eventually Morton, as Catherine ages into adulthood in the framing device) struts in to perform her Machiavellian calculations, but until she does, the show can be a bit of a bore. Read full review

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User Reviews

podaddy

Nov 21, 2022

Bravo. Well done series with top notch acting(especially Morton) and quality writing. Had low expectations for The Serpent Queen and it proved quite the opposite. Highly recommend.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

shoulderoforion

Sep 12, 2022

I figured this was going to be a waste of time, and yet another low level production from Starz. The first episode was surprisingly entertaining. I'm a sucker for period piece edutainment, and knowing nothing about this period of time in France/Italy/et all, seeing Charles Dance pull off aI figured this was going to be a waste of time, and yet another low level production from Starz. The first episode was surprisingly entertaining. I'm a sucker for period piece edutainment, and knowing nothing about this period of time in France/Italy/et all, seeing Charles Dance pull off a particularly naughty Pope was really great. While always a fan of Sam Morton, Liv Hill's young Catherine de' Medici was captivating. Im in, and will be checking this out weekly.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

OlivierPiel

Sep 11, 2022

Medici is a very complex and fascinating subject, who inspired politics in France and Europe well into the 19th century. Balzac's fantasy and fantastic novella on her life and legacy is of course incomparable to this dumbed down version made for the Tik Tok (de)generation raised on Game ofMedici is a very complex and fascinating subject, who inspired politics in France and Europe well into the 19th century. Balzac's fantasy and fantastic novella on her life and legacy is of course incomparable to this dumbed down version made for the Tik Tok (de)generation raised on Game of Thrones onanism. However, if only a few of the young audience could be interested to learn about her life and French history, then this program would have served its purpose.
The stupidly patronizing woke "additions" - in particular the abducted, bullied black/Arabian maid side story, ironically at a time where white Slavic and black Subsaharan women were indeed being enslaved by Ottomans- do not help its case. (France was not an imperial power at the time, it was indeed fighting the Habsburg and Holy Roman empire!)… Expand

4 of 10 users found this helpful46

Seasons & Episodes

76

Series Overview
Season 1

76
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: September 11, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E8. A Queen Is Made
  Air Date: October 30, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E7. An Attack on the King
  Air Date: October 23, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E6. The Last Joust
  Air Date: October 16, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E5. The First Regency
  Air Date: October 9, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E4. A New Era
  Air Date: October 2, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E3. The Price
  Air Date: September 25, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E2. To War Rather Than To Bed
  Air Date: September 18, 2022
- tbd
  S1:E1. Medici B.
  Air Date: September 11, 2022