Pagan rituals, mysterious cousins and beautiful tiaras? It's true - the Reign I love so much is back!

Reign Season 1 Episode 10 was our first real peek into the Bash administration, and let me tell you: it is awesome.

Watch Reign Season 1 Episode 10 Online

We've had a bit of a hard time getting to know Bash through Reign Season 1, mostly because Francis was always getting in the way - making out with Mary, or pledging his love to Mary, or pretending like he's mad at Mary when we know he's not really and he's totally going to come back any second and pledge his love to her again.

But this hour gave us one of our first sustained looks at who Bash really is. And it turns out: he is a spunky, sarcastic, spiritually open-minded man with little tolerance for royal decorum and the striking blue eyes of a well-bred Husky. Sign me up, man!

I know you can't force love (or its cousin, sweaty teen lust), but I hope Mary gives it a shot; Bash seems like he'd be much more tolerable to spend a lifetime around than Francis.

The birthing scene did take the whole "Mary the Saint" thing a little far. Even Bash's cousin seemed to think it was a bit much. But I thought it made great use of the "birth in an unusual place" sitcom trope, and also provided a great opportunity to make a plea for religious tolerance of pagans.

I know I can be a little hard on this show's historical revisionism, but I loved that moment. What a spine Bash has!

Queen Catherine, now locked up in a tower, is increasingly becoming an actual fairy tale witch, and her attempts on Bash (and everyone else)'s life are taking on a bit of a Wile E. Coyote sheen.

Nothing to worry about, though - if anything, this all has made her more entertaining, her Reign quotes tarter and her scenery chewing all the more delightful.

I particularly loved seeing her up against Kenna again - they're the two campiest, sassiest characters on this show, and honestly, I think we should just let them slug it out in the castle's moat. Or maybe they're holding on to that one for Sweeps Week?

It seems we'll have to wait until next week to find out what happened to Nostradamus. Is he just, like, lying there? ROTTING? How thoroughly ghoulish. Then again, that would be just another day at French court, where someone is always murdering someone with a poisoned ring, or telling a terrible secret through a false wall panel, or letting a corpse just molder. Man, do I love this show.

Official Reign FashionWatch: 9/10! Everyone looked great this episode, but I was especially fond of Mary's velvet cloak and Lola's dress when the Ladies go visit Queen Catherine - it looked like something Tilda Swinton would wear to the Golden Globes to show that she is sexy but still tasteful.

But when you're done trying to figure out what size velvet robe you wear, answer the real question:

What's next for Queen Catherine?