Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

The Musketeers: Emilie

“I didn’t become a Musketeer to destroy an honest woman’s reputation.”

I guess it was only a matter of time before a show set in the France of the past dealt with the myth of Joan of Arc. Wonder if St. Joan had the same reason for her visions as Emilie did for hers?

A young woman, in armor and on horseback no less, is citing religious visions and convincing the peasants to stand behind their king and fight off the evil king of Spain. The connection was clear, so clear even the show alluded to it several times.

What might have been a ridiculous episode worked. It worked because the character of Emilie was so guileless and so innocent that you understood that she firmly believed in her visions. It also gave our characters a chance to get out of Paris and, therefore, out of their normal milieu. As a result, events could transpire that might not back home.

Turns out that Aramis is the Musketeer with faith. He is the one most willing to believe that Emilie is special and he treats her with deference and respect. It might be argued that Aramis does that with all women, yet he never tries to seduce Emilie. He simply protects her.

He is, however, currently sleeping with Marguerite. I respect the way he doesn’t lie to her, doesn’t allow her to believe that he’s in love with her. He’s doing what he’s doing simply to be nearer his son. I just hope Marguerite doesn’t figure that out.

The woman that Aramis is in love with gets herself into danger again this week. Anne can be reckless, but there is a boldness about her that I admire. Understanding that Louis is completely wrapped up in his new favorite and won’t do anything to stop the mobs, she will do it herself. Taking matters into her own hands was good for her. For the past two episodes she’s been worried either about her husband or about her son. This time, she was able to be herself and even forget herself long enough to kiss Aramis.

Although Constance didn’t get a kiss, she could have if she had wanted to. It was wonderful to have the scene between D’Artagnan and her and to see them interact the way they used to. Although Constance told him she is glad they can be friends again, it is clear that they are still much, much more to each other than that.


While this was the episode that we got to see our two favorite couples back together, albeit briefly, the pairing of the episode was Anne and Constance. From the beginning of the show, I have raved about how well written the women characters are. Here, they came into their own. They even passed the Bechdel Test, not once, but several times.

Their friendship is growing stronger all the time, and it is a true friendship. Of course, Anne is Constance’s queen (not to mention boss), but the interactions between these two become more intimate with each passing scene. Constance has Anne’s back, even more important now that she knows Anne’s secret. The good news is that Anne couldn’t have picked a better confidant. If anyone knows about being in love with a Musketeer...

Athos is a dark horse. He’s been though a drug withdrawal before and he was wonderful in that scene with Emilie. His moment, however, was when he came fact-to-face with Millady. As I predicted, her situation renders her more powerful and more threatening than she has ever been. She knows it and she knows that what she says to Athos is going to hurt. Tom Burke’s eyes as she walks away tell us everything we need to know.

Rochefort has stepped over the line from intense to full-on crazy. In this episode alone, he slaps Perales, chokes Milady, blackmails the latter into killing the former, threatens Father Allard, and forces Marguerite to spy for him. I’m not completely happy about this change. One of the reasons the Cardinal was such a fabulous villain is that he was so understated and that he helped the Musketeers as much as he plotted against them. Rochefort, if he goes too far off the deep end, will become more of a stock character than someone worthy of being this show’s Big Bad.

From the first episode of this season, Treville and the Musketeers have been losing favor with Louis. Even when he is in the wrong, the king finds a way to blame them and to believe that they are working against him. It all comes to a head at the end of the episode when Treville loses his commission. I did not see that happening quite so soon. I was expected a season ending cliffhanger.

But, it has happened and I am curious as to where we are going from here. It’s hard to imagine this band of brothers without their father figure and leader.

Another episode I enjoyed, but mutedly. I loved the main story, loved the Anne/Constance connection, loved seeing my two favorite couples together (if only for a moment), but I am very concerned about where Rochefort's character is headed. Three out of four funky bowls of soup.

Salut:

-- Great news! The BBC has ordered a third season, which will begin filming in April. I expect it will air in the US in January of 2016.

-- I sincerely mean this without disrespect to those who have stronger views than I, but I love the idea of religious visions being the result of magic mushrooms. Having said that, watching Emilie detox was tough. And, her mother certainly won’t win any prizes, will she?

-- Porthos was, unusually for him, the voice of reason in this episode. He was the one who kept reminding Emilie that marching peasants with pitchforks into the Spanish army was probably not the best idea. Although she wasn’t listening, it was nice to see him as something other than the comic relief.

-- Porthos also seems to have figured out that Treville knows about his father. Porthos is right; Treville is a lousy liar.

-- Does it make me a bad person that, as soon as the Inquisition was mentioned, I flashed to Monty Python?

-- Fascinating moment when Milady refuses to remove her choker for Louis. She did it for D’Artagnan as soon as they slept together. A wonderful way to show how she manipulates men. Although, it appears as though Louis is seriously underestimating her.

-- Constance’s visions were horrifying.

Touché:

Porthos: I’m getting the feeling that we’re not welcome here.”

D’Artagnan: “Are you waiting for me?”
Constance: “No. I often hang around the garrison late at night. You never know when you might get lucky.”

D’Artagnan: “Did you hear all that?”
Athos: “Mmm.”
D’Artagnan: “What are you going to do?”
Athos: “I’m going to drink.”
D’Artagnan: “Do you want to be alone?”
Athos: “No.”
D’Artagnan: “Wine?”
Athos: “Yes.”

Aramis: “We promised each other...”
Anne: “A queen is allowed to break her promises.”

Anne: “You know all my secrets now. You carry my life in your hands.”

Milady: “The past is dead. I am a different woman now.”
Athos: “The past is never dead. But, we are finished with each other. From now on, we will be strangers.”
Milady: “You are a stranger to yourself. The truth is staring you in the face and you can’t even see it.”
Athos: “What truth?”
Milady: “Whatever I am, you love me. And, you always will.”


ChrisB now understands it is possible to be in love with four men at the same time.

2 comments:

  1. Aramis is the musketeer with faith, just like in the books.
    I loved that it was bad mushrooms that fuelled Emilie's visions.
    Athos is so good in this, poor guy is so lost over Milady.

    ReplyDelete
  2. In the books Aramis was on his way to becoming a priest, when an encounter in the Seminar lead to a duel after which he had to escape and joined the Musketeers. So yup, Aramis is definitely the one with the faith! Like I've said before, they've completely separated from the books story-wise, but the characters are pretty much true to origin both in backstory (well mostly, you never read much about Porthos, and there is SO much more to Milady!) and personality.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.