The Musketeers: Series 1, Episode 4 – “The Good Soldier” (2014)

 

I think the show has stepped up its game the last couple of episodes.  The drama has been more compelling, and the humor has struck a more successful balance between fun and hokey.  We’re getting to know the individual musketeers a little more beyond their larger archetypal identities of the initial episodes.

 

Yesterday, we got backstory on Athos, and Porthos had some heavy investment in the story at hand.  It’s Aramis’s turn in the spotlight today, and D’Artagnan seems a bit more integrated into the group.  Anyway, what begins as a simple but dull assignment – standing at attention while the Duke of Savoy and his wife (the king’s sister) pay a courtly visit – immediately goes haywire.  An assassination attempt is made on the duke, and that’s just the jumping-off point for revelations of conspiracy, betrayal, and international espionage.  The musketeers’ faith in the system to which they’ve devoted themselves is shaken.

 

At first, I was concerned that Richelieu wasn’t going to deliver on his early promise of entertaining villainy.  It seems like he’s been progressively less shady with every passing episode, but today’s outing takes a step back towards his original nefarious direction.  Basically, the good cardinal is up to his eyeballs in intrigue, and while he’s not outright despicable, his scenes have a little more weight behind them.

 

In particular, he has an excellent scene in which he goes head-to-head with the duke.  The king of France is an overgrown teenager, who makes shows of defiance but generally toes the line.  The duke of Savoy, however, is a grown man who’s been to a few rodeos, and he’s not so eager to be managed.  The two have words, and Richelieu proves he’s not a man to be trifled with.

 

Sharp-eyed Whovians will recognized Adrian Schiller, who played Uncle in “The Doctor’s Wife.”  And I can’t end this review without mentioning the fabulous JJ Field, appearing in this episode as a former musketeer.  I first saw him as a tremendous Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey a handful of years ago (my introduction to the wonderful world of cinematic Austen,) and he was also in the Sally Lockhart Mystery films with Billie Piper and Matt Smith (post- and pre-Who, respectively.)  He’s a great actor, and I always enjoy seeing him.