The Musketeers 2.05
Feb. 14th, 2015 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which we get a certain type of Western trope played out Musketeer-style, and also there's a new continuing character introduced.
Of course, you could also summarize this as "pull yourself together, Athos!" , but that's not even the main issue, as everyone is way too busy worrying about the villagers to indulge Athos in his brooding. A few weeks ago, I've seen the complaint that the supporting cast (Constance, Anne, Louis, Milady, Rochefort) now gets more narrative attention than the main cast, and while I don't think this is true, this is still the first episode in a while where you have all four musketeers at the same place (mostly), interacting, while the aforementioned supporting cast, with the exception of Treville, is nowhere in sight, and also a straightforward adventure without a B-plot. "Evil overlord menaces peasants, peasants with help of regulars fight back" is a favourite trope whether in Western or in genre tv - some of this show's writers did it relatively recently on Merlin in the episode The Moment of Truth - , and when not bungled, it's always fun. Completely ahistorical and unDumasian as it is, I also appreciated the villagers at the end did get the land.
Of course, the episode still wasn't a standalone adventure. It also retcons a new character into Athos' backstory who seems to be intended as a new nemesis for Milady and/or new villainess. For this show, Catherine is done downright subtle. (Especially compared to Rochefort, ahem.) She's an arrogant aristocrat with a lot of entitlement, and a massive chip on her shoulder of the "fate has done me wrong" type to rival Athos', but she's also, like him, an efficient fighter. (And note she came to join the fight for the village before he told her he'd sign over the land.) What with all the flashbacks, I kept waiting for the revelation that future Milady (whose original name in this version seems to have been Anne, as Athos calls her this in the flashback) said the truth re: Thomas and that Catherine observed this but didn't say anything out of jealousy and/or revenge issues. And while I still think this could be waiting in a future episode, it didn't happen here.
Speaking of layered for this show: the two Evil McEvil main villains of the episode getting a grieving moment when Edmund dies in his father's arms. I appreciate details like this, which don't justify the villains' actions, just point out they have emotions beyond the raping-and-killing-scale.
Also continuing: Porthos and Treville. All very well, but are they going to have the same conversation every episode now? Get on with this, show.
Of course, you could also summarize this as "pull yourself together, Athos!" , but that's not even the main issue, as everyone is way too busy worrying about the villagers to indulge Athos in his brooding. A few weeks ago, I've seen the complaint that the supporting cast (Constance, Anne, Louis, Milady, Rochefort) now gets more narrative attention than the main cast, and while I don't think this is true, this is still the first episode in a while where you have all four musketeers at the same place (mostly), interacting, while the aforementioned supporting cast, with the exception of Treville, is nowhere in sight, and also a straightforward adventure without a B-plot. "Evil overlord menaces peasants, peasants with help of regulars fight back" is a favourite trope whether in Western or in genre tv - some of this show's writers did it relatively recently on Merlin in the episode The Moment of Truth - , and when not bungled, it's always fun. Completely ahistorical and unDumasian as it is, I also appreciated the villagers at the end did get the land.
Of course, the episode still wasn't a standalone adventure. It also retcons a new character into Athos' backstory who seems to be intended as a new nemesis for Milady and/or new villainess. For this show, Catherine is done downright subtle. (Especially compared to Rochefort, ahem.) She's an arrogant aristocrat with a lot of entitlement, and a massive chip on her shoulder of the "fate has done me wrong" type to rival Athos', but she's also, like him, an efficient fighter. (And note she came to join the fight for the village before he told her he'd sign over the land.) What with all the flashbacks, I kept waiting for the revelation that future Milady (whose original name in this version seems to have been Anne, as Athos calls her this in the flashback) said the truth re: Thomas and that Catherine observed this but didn't say anything out of jealousy and/or revenge issues. And while I still think this could be waiting in a future episode, it didn't happen here.
Speaking of layered for this show: the two Evil McEvil main villains of the episode getting a grieving moment when Edmund dies in his father's arms. I appreciate details like this, which don't justify the villains' actions, just point out they have emotions beyond the raping-and-killing-scale.
Also continuing: Porthos and Treville. All very well, but are they going to have the same conversation every episode now? Get on with this, show.
