The Musketeers 1.06
Mar. 3rd, 2014 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which we get a historical nod to one of the most dysfunctional mother-son relationships among the Bourbons and a nod to a later Dumas novel as well, and the resulting episode works surprisingly well.
Marie de' Medici, not to be confused with Catherine de' Medici two generations earlier, doesn't show up in Dumas at all, but in real life she really did, once her regency for her older son ended bloodily (this involved her lover Concini, the then most powerful man of the kingdom, being killed by Louis' people and literally torn apart by the mob later, something the young Armand du Plessis witnessed and very much took note of as an example of what can happen when you lose royal protection even after you've made it to the top), spend her years in schemes, exile, reconciliation, schemes, new exile etc. Only she plotted together with her younger son, Gaston d'Orleans (who couldn't be executed no matter how often he was found out because until Anne gave birth to the future Louis XIV, which didn't happen for more than two decades, Gaston was the official heir to the throne), who apparantly doesn't exist in this 'verse. Instead, we get some borrowing from the third of Dumas' Musketeer novels, with the "secret birth of royal twins, one of them hidden away" trope that Dumas combined with the man-in-the-iron-mask tale moved a generation earlier. (In the third of the Musketeer novels, it's Queen Anne who turns out to have born twins, one of whom got raised in secret and in the course of the novel gets switched for a brief while with his brother Louis XIV. By Aramis, btw, so his role here as the one who engineers the fake death of the baby in order to allow Agnes and Henri a safe escape into anonymity is an ironic twist.) So Marie instead of scheming to get her younger son on the throne schemes to get her grandson on the throne and become regent again, which allows for some great scenes with both Louis and Richelieu.
Louis wasn't exactly the most sympathetic of Bourbon kings, but he really did have the childhood from hell (his mother never made a secret of her contempt for him and preference for his younger brother, and being told he was stupid and worthless was a regular thing); within the narrative of an adventure series, that longing to believe his mother mixed with distrust and awareness that it's all about power in the end was amazingly well rendered. Meanwhile, the historical Richelieu and the Queen Mother started out as allies and ended up as arch enemies, with a slight question mark whether they ever had an affair in between, so I was curious which way the tv show would go, and I thought that wary dance of two scorpions around each other was very well rendered. (Also, in her case, the "Armand" name dropping actually felt possible.) I had the impression that show!Richelieu never seriously considered her offer, though, even before getting the news about the baby; not least because he didn't share her opinion about who is qualified to rule France (i.e. that would be him through Louis, not her with him as a sidekick). The Richelieu and Treville conversation about not wanting a return of the bloody powerstruggle days that marked the end of Marie's regency also was great; this show is unique among Musketeer adaptions in letting Treville and Richelieu have not only an enemy but also a working-for-the-greater-good relationship, which is great.
Death score: no women killed this time (and no baby, either); several male redshirts.
Speaking of women: Constance makes a welcome return and is in great form, evidently having made progress in the sword fighting lessons she talked D'Artagnan into; Aramis holding the baby while Constance defeats the thug was such a great twist on the expected formula, and it had been fairly prepared two episodes earlier. Her conversation with D'Artagnan about wanting a child (or not) was part of the episode's general theme of mothers and children (and also a parallel to Anne, who needs to have one for dynastic reasons and very much minds not having one), but it also makes me wonder whether the show's Constance will become a mother at some point, because usually tv gives this type of conversation to people who do end up becoming parents. Not necessarily become a mother the biological way, though, this being an action heavy show, and also one that likes to use Constance as a mole inflitrating the bad guys' lair, which she can't when pregnant; but given Agnes' remark to Aramis about him already having a family, with a look at the Musketeers and Constance, I wonder about adoption at some point, because we haven't seen a street urchin yet, and I bet the show won't be able to resist using one sooner or later.
Aramis getting protective of Agnes and figuring out a way to to spirit her and her child away via faking a death is both something similar and the reverse of what he does in the books in a similar situation. The tale about being in love at age 16 and getting dumped is new show backstory, but it still doesn't tell us whether or not this version of Aramis ever contemplated/ does contemplate joining the church. Nice bonding with Constance, who in this version now has her own friendships with the Musketeers instead of just being D'Artagnan's love interest; I approve.
Marie de' Medici, not to be confused with Catherine de' Medici two generations earlier, doesn't show up in Dumas at all, but in real life she really did, once her regency for her older son ended bloodily (this involved her lover Concini, the then most powerful man of the kingdom, being killed by Louis' people and literally torn apart by the mob later, something the young Armand du Plessis witnessed and very much took note of as an example of what can happen when you lose royal protection even after you've made it to the top), spend her years in schemes, exile, reconciliation, schemes, new exile etc. Only she plotted together with her younger son, Gaston d'Orleans (who couldn't be executed no matter how often he was found out because until Anne gave birth to the future Louis XIV, which didn't happen for more than two decades, Gaston was the official heir to the throne), who apparantly doesn't exist in this 'verse. Instead, we get some borrowing from the third of Dumas' Musketeer novels, with the "secret birth of royal twins, one of them hidden away" trope that Dumas combined with the man-in-the-iron-mask tale moved a generation earlier. (In the third of the Musketeer novels, it's Queen Anne who turns out to have born twins, one of whom got raised in secret and in the course of the novel gets switched for a brief while with his brother Louis XIV. By Aramis, btw, so his role here as the one who engineers the fake death of the baby in order to allow Agnes and Henri a safe escape into anonymity is an ironic twist.) So Marie instead of scheming to get her younger son on the throne schemes to get her grandson on the throne and become regent again, which allows for some great scenes with both Louis and Richelieu.
Louis wasn't exactly the most sympathetic of Bourbon kings, but he really did have the childhood from hell (his mother never made a secret of her contempt for him and preference for his younger brother, and being told he was stupid and worthless was a regular thing); within the narrative of an adventure series, that longing to believe his mother mixed with distrust and awareness that it's all about power in the end was amazingly well rendered. Meanwhile, the historical Richelieu and the Queen Mother started out as allies and ended up as arch enemies, with a slight question mark whether they ever had an affair in between, so I was curious which way the tv show would go, and I thought that wary dance of two scorpions around each other was very well rendered. (Also, in her case, the "Armand" name dropping actually felt possible.) I had the impression that show!Richelieu never seriously considered her offer, though, even before getting the news about the baby; not least because he didn't share her opinion about who is qualified to rule France (i.e. that would be him through Louis, not her with him as a sidekick). The Richelieu and Treville conversation about not wanting a return of the bloody powerstruggle days that marked the end of Marie's regency also was great; this show is unique among Musketeer adaptions in letting Treville and Richelieu have not only an enemy but also a working-for-the-greater-good relationship, which is great.
Death score: no women killed this time (and no baby, either); several male redshirts.
Speaking of women: Constance makes a welcome return and is in great form, evidently having made progress in the sword fighting lessons she talked D'Artagnan into; Aramis holding the baby while Constance defeats the thug was such a great twist on the expected formula, and it had been fairly prepared two episodes earlier. Her conversation with D'Artagnan about wanting a child (or not) was part of the episode's general theme of mothers and children (and also a parallel to Anne, who needs to have one for dynastic reasons and very much minds not having one), but it also makes me wonder whether the show's Constance will become a mother at some point, because usually tv gives this type of conversation to people who do end up becoming parents. Not necessarily become a mother the biological way, though, this being an action heavy show, and also one that likes to use Constance as a mole inflitrating the bad guys' lair, which she can't when pregnant; but given Agnes' remark to Aramis about him already having a family, with a look at the Musketeers and Constance, I wonder about adoption at some point, because we haven't seen a street urchin yet, and I bet the show won't be able to resist using one sooner or later.
Aramis getting protective of Agnes and figuring out a way to to spirit her and her child away via faking a death is both something similar and the reverse of what he does in the books in a similar situation. The tale about being in love at age 16 and getting dumped is new show backstory, but it still doesn't tell us whether or not this version of Aramis ever contemplated/ does contemplate joining the church. Nice bonding with Constance, who in this version now has her own friendships with the Musketeers instead of just being D'Artagnan's love interest; I approve.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 09:41 am (UTC)My takeaway was that Richelieu & Marie de Medici had at some point been banging like a screen door, so I'm tickled to find that that may plausibly have happened IRL. Also, Richelieu/Treville hatesex y/y.
Meanwhile, Constance! I clap like a seal whenever she is onscreen. I'm so glad her weapons training is bearing fruit, and how she seems to be becoming more and more a part of their team as time goes on. OT5 for great justice! And she is rather cool in a crisis or undercover, even though she's scared and thinks she doesn't know what she's doing; I like that about her.
I'm really just enjoying this show. It's such fun.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-05 03:41 pm (UTC)It's a definite possibility. He knew a secret door to her bedroom at any rate. Richelieu and the Queen Mother, the short version: after Henri IV was murdered, the general assembly was called together (what passed for French parliament, and wouldn't meet again until the eve of the French Revolution two hundred years later, btw), and the young and extremely ambitious Bishop of Lucon was one of the MPs representing the clerics of the provinces. His speech impressed Marie and her lover Concini, and he promptly got a job at court and rose steadfastly with a mixture of flattery and efficiency (not even his direst enemies ever denied Richelieu was one of the all time great workoholics in French history until the day he died). When Marie's regency came to its bloody end, Louis banished not just his mother but everyone from her circle, which included Richelieu (who wasn't Richelieu yet but still Bishop of Lucon); the future Richelieu ended up in Avignon for a while (with his family; Louis had banished them as well), and then regrouped, negotiating with Louis' favourite, who had started out as a falconer but knew he was a bit in over his head with the whole government/administration business. Not to mention that there were still a vengeful Marie de' Medici plus younger son Gaston out there. So the ex-falconer got Louis to call Richelieu back and employ him in government while Richelieu promised to reconcile the young king with his mother. Which he did. Only Marie then naturally assumed Richelieu would represent her interests and would do as she told him in government where he was soon not just a minister but the first minister; was he not her protegé and favourite? Alas for Marie, she soon found out he had no intention to follow her directions. She was furious and became his enemy. This led to an all out feud which culminated in the "Day of the Dupes", where Marie locked herself up with her son and started a verbal pummelling to make him fire the Cardinal (who was now Cardinal Richelieu). But Richelieu was alerted to this by his favourite niece (who was a very interesting person in her own right, btw; with this show's tendency to include interesting women Dumas left out, I am starting to hope they might introduce her at some point - she was undeniably the person closest to Richelieu for most of his life, managed his household, had one of the great salons and was a patron of the arts - Corneille's Cid is dedicated to her) who was a lady in waiting at that point. Now Marie had positioned guards (don't know whether they were Musketeers or not) in front of the door with strict instructions not to interrupt her and the king, and the king had confirmed that order. But, as mentioned earlier: Richelieu knew a secret door into that room, used it, and a furious Marie made the mistake of giving Louis her "him or me, my son, decide now!" ultimatum.
Now, the French nobility assumed Marie had won this one by the way all three people concerned left Marie's room, the Cardinal silent and pale, Marie looking haughty and triumphant, and Louis sullen. And a lot of them lost no time showing exactly what they thought of Richelieu.... only to find out that in fact the Cardinal had won and Louis had chosen him while Marie was off to another round of exile. Which is why this event is called "The Day of the Dupes" in French history.
The show's a blast, and I really love what they're doing with Constance.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-08 10:05 pm (UTC)