The Musketeers Episode 3
Feb. 3rd, 2014 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessFun and some nice developments.
Bonnaire was meant to remind us of Captain Jack Sparrow at first, no?
I did think that they developed his relationship with Porthos unconvincingly. Why would Porthos try to bond with him and swallow everything he said, suddenly? They had him tagged as a liar and a scoundrel. I know it was to add in a sliver of betrayal to Porthos’s response to discovering that Bonnaire was a slave trader (although, my lovely, what did you think cheap labour in the colonies meant?) but that aspect didn’t work for me. Porthos’s reaction to anyone he was meant to guard being a slave trader would, I think, have been powerful enough. (Of course, Richlieu never even batted an eyelash and the King probably didn’t think about where the money to fund his Navy would come from and we don’t like to think what a lot of our past was built on either, do we?)
There was even more seriousness in broody Athos’s door-opening and drinking homecoming. Well, I thought that the dramatic door-opening lost its impact the sixth time, but it was good to have more of his and Milday’s backstory and for him to know that his wife is alive. I thought the duty vs. love theme they’ve got going on with him is fascinating, because you could tell that siding with duty versus love for his fellow musketeers could be a problem. Aramis and Porthos (and to a lesser degree D’Artagnan) will be loyal to him out of love but expect that loyalty back – especially when crooked Richelieu directs the King to do wrong things that they’re meant to put their lives on the line for.
Where does Athos go from here? Where does Milady? The pressed flower stayed her hand, but basically they have a huge, probably irreconcilable view on the value of human life – we don’t know the full story with the brother, yet, but Remy didn’t deserve to be killed. At the same time, I hope Lady Vengeance pays Richelieu back for saying she’s a monster he created (pre Shelley, no?)
Poor D’Artagnan, when he puts all the pieces together, what will he do? His instincts are good, in general, but he’s out of his depth around Milady and her history with Athos. I liked Constance standing up to her, but her instinct to be afraid of Milady was sound.
The episode was written by a woman, but didn’t pass the Bechdel test and featured a fridging of a perfectly entertaining character. (Sorry, I am probably guilty of setting a higher standard for a female writer, but we had the wife cat-fighting with a waitress who was the object of Bonnaire’s flirtation and Milady and Constance having a battle of sorts over D’Artagnan. I almost cheered when the Musketeers stepped in and started subduing Marie, and didn’t mind her not playing fair and biting D’Artagnan.)
As Athos was BROODING the most, Porthos – to an extent – and D’Artagnan and certainly Aramis got lots of fun lines. I liked the knowing to knock Porthos out, Aramis’s pride as the doctor and D’Artagnan’s farmboy business, and the way we watched their dynamics and, to a large degree, competence.
Bonnaire was meant to remind us of Captain Jack Sparrow at first, no?
I did think that they developed his relationship with Porthos unconvincingly. Why would Porthos try to bond with him and swallow everything he said, suddenly? They had him tagged as a liar and a scoundrel. I know it was to add in a sliver of betrayal to Porthos’s response to discovering that Bonnaire was a slave trader (although, my lovely, what did you think cheap labour in the colonies meant?) but that aspect didn’t work for me. Porthos’s reaction to anyone he was meant to guard being a slave trader would, I think, have been powerful enough. (Of course, Richlieu never even batted an eyelash and the King probably didn’t think about where the money to fund his Navy would come from and we don’t like to think what a lot of our past was built on either, do we?)
There was even more seriousness in broody Athos’s door-opening and drinking homecoming. Well, I thought that the dramatic door-opening lost its impact the sixth time, but it was good to have more of his and Milday’s backstory and for him to know that his wife is alive. I thought the duty vs. love theme they’ve got going on with him is fascinating, because you could tell that siding with duty versus love for his fellow musketeers could be a problem. Aramis and Porthos (and to a lesser degree D’Artagnan) will be loyal to him out of love but expect that loyalty back – especially when crooked Richelieu directs the King to do wrong things that they’re meant to put their lives on the line for.
Where does Athos go from here? Where does Milady? The pressed flower stayed her hand, but basically they have a huge, probably irreconcilable view on the value of human life – we don’t know the full story with the brother, yet, but Remy didn’t deserve to be killed. At the same time, I hope Lady Vengeance pays Richelieu back for saying she’s a monster he created (pre Shelley, no?)
Poor D’Artagnan, when he puts all the pieces together, what will he do? His instincts are good, in general, but he’s out of his depth around Milady and her history with Athos. I liked Constance standing up to her, but her instinct to be afraid of Milady was sound.
The episode was written by a woman, but didn’t pass the Bechdel test and featured a fridging of a perfectly entertaining character. (Sorry, I am probably guilty of setting a higher standard for a female writer, but we had the wife cat-fighting with a waitress who was the object of Bonnaire’s flirtation and Milady and Constance having a battle of sorts over D’Artagnan. I almost cheered when the Musketeers stepped in and started subduing Marie, and didn’t mind her not playing fair and biting D’Artagnan.)
As Athos was BROODING the most, Porthos – to an extent – and D’Artagnan and certainly Aramis got lots of fun lines. I liked the knowing to knock Porthos out, Aramis’s pride as the doctor and D’Artagnan’s farmboy business, and the way we watched their dynamics and, to a large degree, competence.
