The Serpent Queen · Season 1 · Starz
The Serpent Queen Season 1
The Serpent Queen Season 1 is a MUST-WATCH, BollyMeter 8.5/10. 8 episodes on Starz from 11 September 2022.
Updated
What BollyAI Thinks
The Serpent Queen launched on Starz in September 2022 with a clean 100-percent Rotten Tomatoes score from 33 critics - a near-consensus that Justin Haythe's historical drama had done something genuinely fresh with its subject. Samantha Morton's Catherine de' Medici is introduced as a teenage Florentine orphan navigating a French court that views her as leverage rather than a person, and the show's wit lies in chronicling exactly how she converts that position of nothing into absolute power. Critics praised the modern-feeling dialogue and Morton's chameleonic performance, describing the series as sharper and more irreverent than its royal costume implied. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review named it the juiciest period drama of its season, and Salon called its bracing wit a genuine differentiator.
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The Room
“Morton mesmerizes. The Serpent Queen offers juicier period drama than either of the ballyhooed fantasy epics.”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review“The series distinguishes itself by rinsing away the cosmetics of royal etiquette with bracing wit.”
Salon
Standout Episodes
The hours worth arguing about - premieres, finales, and the turning points. BollyAI reads the room episode by episode.
- E1The Serpent Queen8.6
The premiere establishes Catherine's impossible starting position with dark wit - a fourteen-year-old political pawn who frames her own story from the start. Critics praised the show's refusal to romanticise royal life, and Morton's instant ownership of the role.
The moment: Catherine addresses the camera directly, making clear she knows exactly how her story ends and intends to tell it on her own terms.
“A hip show about a woman who understands her power and is not afraid to use it.” - TV Guide