by Helen Langdon
Sundays are going to be a lot less swashbuckling from here on out, at least until next year and series two of The Musketeers. The final episode saw resolution for most of the major season arcs, and the musketeers managed to ride off blithely into the sunset at the end of the episode. But, oh, they took a convoluted route to get there.
Sundays are going to be a lot less swashbuckling from here on out, at least until next year and series two of The Musketeers. The final episode saw resolution for most of the major season arcs, and the musketeers managed to ride off blithely into the sunset at the end of the episode. But, oh, they took a convoluted route to get there.
Pretty much every episode in the series contained some kind of complex plot, where at least one character was hiding their true intentions. Musketeers Don’t Die Easily took that to the extremes. Firstly, there was the musketeers’ plan to hoodwink Milady. At the start of the episode, once the musketeers begin to fight, you’re certain it’s a ruse. After all, d’Artagnan went undercover in an earlier episode, and they keep arguing in public. But then there’s the fact that Athos actually shoots d’Artagnan. A gunshot wound seems slightly extreme to just be part of a plan, so you’re left guessing for the first fifteen minutes as to what exactly is going on. It creates great tension, and perhaps the episode would have been stronger if it had continued throughout.
But instead, the episode’s main plotline is Milady’s plan. If it can really be called that. At times in this episode, Milady almost seemed like a different character to the one we’ve previously seen, the calm assassin who can disappear into the shadows. First she gets ambushed by her husband in the middle of Paris – how didn’t she notice him? As good a musketeer as he is, he’s drunk, and drunk people don’t make for good ninjas. And then, not learning from the previous week’s debacle, Milady again brings in outside help in the form of a dodgily bewigged Sean Pertwee. Exactly why he’s needed to kidnap Constance and threaten to kill her is never made entirely clear. Milady apparently believes the musketeer plot up until the final reveal, so what was she going to use Constance for? Insurance, yes, but it seems like an awful lot of effort to go to, capturing her so far in advance.
But instead, the episode’s main plotline is Milady’s plan. If it can really be called that. At times in this episode, Milady almost seemed like a different character to the one we’ve previously seen, the calm assassin who can disappear into the shadows. First she gets ambushed by her husband in the middle of Paris – how didn’t she notice him? As good a musketeer as he is, he’s drunk, and drunk people don’t make for good ninjas. And then, not learning from the previous week’s debacle, Milady again brings in outside help in the form of a dodgily bewigged Sean Pertwee. Exactly why he’s needed to kidnap Constance and threaten to kill her is never made entirely clear. Milady apparently believes the musketeer plot up until the final reveal, so what was she going to use Constance for? Insurance, yes, but it seems like an awful lot of effort to go to, capturing her so far in advance.
Also, the kidnap allows for the (partial) resolution of the Constance and d’Artagnan subplot, bringing the two lovers briefly back together before getting torn back apart by her husband’s suicide attempt. That’s always the problem with season finales – every subplot from previous episodes has to reach some kind of resolution, so you’re left with multiple endings. There’s the reveal of the Cardinal’s plot, the reveal of Athos’ continued existence to Milady, the Western showdown to fight Milady, the Constance resolution, the reveal of the Queen’s pregnancy... It made for a slightly disjointed ending, but at least there was closure for everything.
Well, nearly everything. Just how are they going to handle the Capaldi problem? Presumably the production team know by now, having known about his other employment since before the series aired. The thing is, the Cardinal can’t be replaced. Not one season in, surely? The final few scenes teased us with his realisation (speculation, at least) about Queen Anne and Aramis. That storyline can’t be abandoned! They need Peter Capaldi swanning about in various capes as the ultimate big bad for at least one more season. There are other potential villains still to be found in the source material – Comte de Rochefort, for one, the Cardinal’s henchman played so memorably on screen by Christopher Lee – but they’re just not the same. Perhaps the Doctor Who filming schedule will allow for the Cardinal to remain as a recurring character, the manipulative genius in the shadows. We can but hope.
But that’s all speculation. Whatever we get from series two of The Musketeers, hopefully it’s going to be maintaining the mix of slight comedy, sword fighting and morally ambiguous villains in well-crafted plots.
Well, nearly everything. Just how are they going to handle the Capaldi problem? Presumably the production team know by now, having known about his other employment since before the series aired. The thing is, the Cardinal can’t be replaced. Not one season in, surely? The final few scenes teased us with his realisation (speculation, at least) about Queen Anne and Aramis. That storyline can’t be abandoned! They need Peter Capaldi swanning about in various capes as the ultimate big bad for at least one more season. There are other potential villains still to be found in the source material – Comte de Rochefort, for one, the Cardinal’s henchman played so memorably on screen by Christopher Lee – but they’re just not the same. Perhaps the Doctor Who filming schedule will allow for the Cardinal to remain as a recurring character, the manipulative genius in the shadows. We can but hope.
But that’s all speculation. Whatever we get from series two of The Musketeers, hopefully it’s going to be maintaining the mix of slight comedy, sword fighting and morally ambiguous villains in well-crafted plots.
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