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The Musketeers 2.02
In which at the start I wondered whether, considering part of the production team is the same, we'd get a Musketeers twist on the Merlin episode The Once and Future Queen (also 2.02.), and as it turns out...
...in a dark side way, it is. Both Arthur and Louis imagine they can take a holiday playacting as a commoner, but of course still expect to be waited upon and for their privileges to be upheld. Both find the reality quite different than what they imagined. Both get a "truth told to power" moment. Both bond with a servant via telling of intimate confidences (Gwen on Arthur's case, D'Artagnan in Louis') and both start something that could become a romantic relationship with a kiss (Milady and Gwen). Both episodes feature an assassionation attempt subplot. Both end with the royal prince back in his usual role, but relationships having undergone a shift. And yet the episodes couldn't be more different. The Merlin episode is a romantic comedy, Arthur actually listens to what Gwen tells him, the climactic scene consists of him giving up his planned moment of glory to the commoner William, and the relationship shift is a positive one. Meanwhile, the Musketeer episode relationship shifts are all negative ones - Louis is frightened and humiliated by the whole experience and needs someone to blame, the potential romance he starts is with the main villainess of the show, Anne signing the letter (a rare nod to history in that historical Anne's secret and then discovered correspondance with her brother the King of Spain contributed to the spectacular dysfuntionality of her marriage to Louis) has given Rochefort future leverage and he's grown closer to her anyway, and instead of Louis proving he's learned something by taking care of Pippin's widow and child (at least), he does nothing of the sort and it's left to d'Artagnan and the other Musketeers to do this. (Which, btw, otoh showcases d'Artagnan's own growth and decency, which was good to see since in the previous episode he was something of an ass to Constance.) For a fluffy adventure show, this was surprisingly dark. But the King ordering d'Artagnan to kill What's his name and d'Artagnan refusing because it's dishonorable actually feels very Dumasian, if more in the later Musketeers novels spirit than in the first one.
I'm also impressed the episode managed this without demonizing Louis, who conctinues to be the most interesting interpretation of Louis XIII in any Musketeers based media, and it was a neat showcase for the actor, from the comedy scenes early on to the conversations with d'Artagnan about murdered fathers and the bravery during the escape to the anger and petty lashing out in the final scene.
In other news: Milady makes her comeback, and by and large, I think the show within its own universe found a plausible way to bring her back. Rescuing d'Artagnan and Louis after recognizing the King, thus ensuring herself an amnesty and royal favour with an eye to more is a very Milady thing to do. (Sidenote: though we still don't know whether the late Lord de Winter, whom she has her title from, ever existed in this 'verse, I whish they'd clear this up.) Mind you, I still regret this version of Louis isn't the repressed homosexual of history, because he's so well played otherwise.
Aramis seducing the governess in order to gain access to the baby: is the kind of caddish thing not just Aramis but the rest of the bunch actually do all the time in the novels (see also: last season's episode where everyone gets cash via rich women, which was a rare nod to book canon). However, I can't help but notice that they pointedly avoided to show us the part of the baptism ceremony where we hear the name of the infant, and have it referred to exclusively as "the Dauphin" otherwise in dialogue which makes me wonder whether those viewers who speculated that the baby will turn out to be not the future Louis XIV. but one of Anne's stillbirths promoted to actual living for a few months, then dying baby, aren't on to something, and we'll hear the baby was called Henri or Philippe when its dead. Or not. I'm still eying the possibility Aramis will eventually end up as Mazarin in this 'verse, while Rochefort is set up to play Buckingham.
...in a dark side way, it is. Both Arthur and Louis imagine they can take a holiday playacting as a commoner, but of course still expect to be waited upon and for their privileges to be upheld. Both find the reality quite different than what they imagined. Both get a "truth told to power" moment. Both bond with a servant via telling of intimate confidences (Gwen on Arthur's case, D'Artagnan in Louis') and both start something that could become a romantic relationship with a kiss (Milady and Gwen). Both episodes feature an assassionation attempt subplot. Both end with the royal prince back in his usual role, but relationships having undergone a shift. And yet the episodes couldn't be more different. The Merlin episode is a romantic comedy, Arthur actually listens to what Gwen tells him, the climactic scene consists of him giving up his planned moment of glory to the commoner William, and the relationship shift is a positive one. Meanwhile, the Musketeer episode relationship shifts are all negative ones - Louis is frightened and humiliated by the whole experience and needs someone to blame, the potential romance he starts is with the main villainess of the show, Anne signing the letter (a rare nod to history in that historical Anne's secret and then discovered correspondance with her brother the King of Spain contributed to the spectacular dysfuntionality of her marriage to Louis) has given Rochefort future leverage and he's grown closer to her anyway, and instead of Louis proving he's learned something by taking care of Pippin's widow and child (at least), he does nothing of the sort and it's left to d'Artagnan and the other Musketeers to do this. (Which, btw, otoh showcases d'Artagnan's own growth and decency, which was good to see since in the previous episode he was something of an ass to Constance.) For a fluffy adventure show, this was surprisingly dark. But the King ordering d'Artagnan to kill What's his name and d'Artagnan refusing because it's dishonorable actually feels very Dumasian, if more in the later Musketeers novels spirit than in the first one.
I'm also impressed the episode managed this without demonizing Louis, who conctinues to be the most interesting interpretation of Louis XIII in any Musketeers based media, and it was a neat showcase for the actor, from the comedy scenes early on to the conversations with d'Artagnan about murdered fathers and the bravery during the escape to the anger and petty lashing out in the final scene.
In other news: Milady makes her comeback, and by and large, I think the show within its own universe found a plausible way to bring her back. Rescuing d'Artagnan and Louis after recognizing the King, thus ensuring herself an amnesty and royal favour with an eye to more is a very Milady thing to do. (Sidenote: though we still don't know whether the late Lord de Winter, whom she has her title from, ever existed in this 'verse, I whish they'd clear this up.) Mind you, I still regret this version of Louis isn't the repressed homosexual of history, because he's so well played otherwise.
Aramis seducing the governess in order to gain access to the baby: is the kind of caddish thing not just Aramis but the rest of the bunch actually do all the time in the novels (see also: last season's episode where everyone gets cash via rich women, which was a rare nod to book canon). However, I can't help but notice that they pointedly avoided to show us the part of the baptism ceremony where we hear the name of the infant, and have it referred to exclusively as "the Dauphin" otherwise in dialogue which makes me wonder whether those viewers who speculated that the baby will turn out to be not the future Louis XIV. but one of Anne's stillbirths promoted to actual living for a few months, then dying baby, aren't on to something, and we'll hear the baby was called Henri or Philippe when its dead. Or not. I'm still eying the possibility Aramis will eventually end up as Mazarin in this 'verse, while Rochefort is set up to play Buckingham.