The Musketeers 1.08

[selenak]

In which there are not one but two book canon elements used, but D'Artagnan still can't pronounce his own name.



Seriously, this will never fail to distract me. How hard it is to say "D'Artagnan" the French way, Luke Pasqualino? That nobody else on this show can pronounce it, either, is no excuse.

Meanwhile, as mentioned, the scriptwriters decide to throw in two bits from the actual novel, to wit: a) Porthos and Aramis finance their life styles via rich women, and Porthos ends up with a rich widow (temporarily), and b) Richelieu hires Monsieur Bonancieux as a spy, albeit for different reasons than he does in the novel. (In the novel, it's because he figured out Constance - who in the book is one of the Queen's washerwomen - was how the Queen makes contact with Buckingham.) The Porthos subplot is a comment on changing times, but I'm not complaining. Book!Porthos can be after his rich widow (whom we never actually "meet", so to speak, she's just spoken of) for her money, and it's a source of comic relief. The reader isn't expected to wonder about her as a person, and Dumas certainly doesn't. Show!Porthos also needs the money (albeit just for one particular occasion) and follows Aramis' advice on how to get it, but we do meet the widow, she's a person named Alice, she's characterized sympathetically, Porthos and she are genuinely attracted to each other, and the fact that they part again at the end of the episode is her decision, because of his job.

The main plot wasn't terribly interesting to me because if there's a duel competition and D'Artagnan participates, of course he'll win in the end. While this is far more of an ensemble show than most Musketeers adaptions, he is the closest thing they have to a juvenile lead. On the other hand, said plot underlined Treville's devotion to his men again and showed Louis handling the whole thing well and shrewdly (complete with monetary gain for the kingdom), both of which were nice to observe.

Athos and Milady had their first actual conversation (Athos was nearly passed out drunk the last time, so that doesn't count) on the show (and we still don't know whether she married a Lord de Winter in the s how's universe), which goes about as well as expected, while Constance and D'Artagnan have their first breakup, into which she's blackmailed by her husband after he found out she's cheating on him. Considering all Constance does to make D'Artagnan "hate her", as charged, was to tell him they have no future together with her being married and him being penniless, D'Artagnan responds way over the top. I'm trying not to hold the fact his book self had no problem sleeping with Milady and her maid Kitty while supposedly being in love with Constance against him; show!D'Artagnan clearly isn't about to do that. But still, after all the help and support Constance gave him and his friends way before they ever kissed he should know betterthan to treat her this way.

Trailer for next week: at last, it seems we get an Anne-centric episode.

Comments

[muccamukk]

They can't pronounce anything else French either, so one assumes they're not trying like at all.

I enjoyed the going to church to pick up girls bit, and how Porthos skated by entirely up being adorable. Also Aramis goes enough to know who everyone is and what's going on, though possibly just to pick up women? The total lack of qualms about pimping themselves out here and in the book always amused me.

Athos didn't mention money, so I assume he's either getting it from home, or just wasn't interested in playing.

I've been enjoying the tax wank in this episode and the last, since it was such a huge issue for actual!Richelieu and Louis XIII, it's nice that someone's running with it.

Constance did get in a couple more cutting comments at the start, but d'Artagnan was over the top with his response. One does wonder why he hasn't heard of his farm before now.

I feel like Milady has too many balls in the air, and they're all going to land on her head in about two episodes.

[selenak]

The total lack of qualms about pimping themselves out here and in the book always amused me.

Same here. To quote Stephen Sondheim lyrics, women sell their looks, why not a man? if he can. Mind you, this is the first adaption in ages to actually use this bit, however modified. It also occurs to me I've been slightly unfair about the ridiculousness of last week's Richelieu-flirts-with-offer-to-become-Pope subplot; I mean, it is ridiculous for R., but I've been reminded older Aramis actually has this in mind when pulling off the <>Man in the Iron Mask gambit, i.e he expects Philippe to first push for his appointment to Cardinal and then to Pope, which means the scriptwriters actually used something Dumasian, outré as it was.

[jesuswasbatman]

The Radio Times previewer in the UK was quite shocked at Porthos and Aramis sleeping with women for money, and suggested that it was misogynistic.

[selenak]

Oh good grief. Not a much of a reader of the original novel, I take it? Also, I hope he or she was then also shocked at the occasional display of female prostitutes in earlier episodes.

Seriously though, just why two male regulars in need of cash sleeping with women (depicted sympathetically) to provide them with said cash is misogynistic escapes me. Unless I missed something in my dictionary - "misogynistic" means "hostile to women, hating women", surely?

[jesuswasbatman]

I think the previewer missed the human depiction of the female character and thought that the show was arguing that women are pathetic creatures only useful as sources of sex and cash for the men.

[selenak]

In which case the previewer must have stopped watching after the church scene, i.e. early on in the episode. And also conveniently ignores the female regulars. I'm not saying the show (or the episode) is a masterpiece of social justice, but this really sounds like someone looking to be offended and wilfully ignoring anything that stands in the way.

Mind you: most Musketeer adaptions I've seen tend to leave out how Porthos and Aramis get their luxuries (even this show changed it so it's one particular occasion for which they need the money, though there's the implication Aramis is an old hand at this); I think the last one I recall which did include at least the rich widow (by mention) for Porthos was Richard Lester's in the 1960s, nothing later than that. But let me dare to suggest this is because they think it throws a bad light on the men, not on the women. And now stop me before I go off on a Billy Wilder tangent.