Season Two
The second season opens with Cardinal Richelieu’s funeral (this was due to Peter Capaldi being cast as the Twelfth Doctor and having to leave the show) in Keep Your Friends Close. At the same time, Anne is giving birth to her child. The four Musketeers are riding to collect a man with vital information for the king. Unfortunately, that man is the Comte de Rochefort (played by Marc Warren, who does appear in one episode of Doctor Who), and I hate him from just about the first minute. He’s about to be hanged and when the Musketeers endeavor to help him, he ruthlessly kills one of his captors, who had let him go when ordered. Athos does punch him in the face later (Huzzah!). A prince, or dauphin as known in France, is born to King Louis and Queen Anne. Louis wishes for Treville to take the Cardinal’s place on his council, but Treville declines, stating he is more of a soldier. Louis is not pleased.
Enter Rochefort, who is an old friend of Anne. He tutored her prior to her marriage to Louis. And he’s just escaped a Spanish prison; he is a hero in Louis’s eye. His information for the king – General DeFrois is also in a Spanish prison; Rochefort advocates a rescue. There is tension with Spanish Ambassador Perades and we find out that Rochefort is secretly a Spanish agent. He plans to kill the Musketeers; their loyalty to the king is legendary and Rochefort intends to get close to both the king and the queen. In the meantime, Queen Anne has asked Constance to join her household as a confidante (remember, in several other versions of The Three Musketeers, Constance is one of Queen Anne’s ladies in waiting).
Rochefort accompanies the four musketeers. They escape the ambush he had planned; D’Artagnan has also gone ahead. (Santiago’s Chilean descent comes into play when Aramis speaks fluent Spanish) He swims beneath the prison and encounters the general’s sister. The rest of the plan continues as expected, though the musketeers continue to thwart Rochefort and they are still alive to return to Paris. Further threads are started for the season; Rochefort intends to drive a wedge between the king and queen. Constance and D’Artagnan still struggle with their feelings for each other and how they can live their lives. Constance has several valid points; if she leaves her husband for D’Artagnan, she’ll be surrounded by scandal. Any children would be illegitimate; and if D’Artagnan falls in battle there would be few paths for Constance. Aramis finds out that the Cardinal knew about him and Adele and Richelieu had the young woman killed for it. And General Defrois and Captain Treville may have information regarding Porthos’s father.
An Ordinary Man makes me angry at points. The king decides he wants to know what it’s like to be a normal person. The Musketeers sensibly try to talk him out of it; but he is king, so they must go along. Louis continues to behave like a child and he and D’Artagnan end up abducted by a criminal gang. Anne is frantic; their son’s christening is the next day and the king is expected to be present. Her faithful musketeers manage to solve the puzzle, while Milady shows up again and helps D’Artagnan and Louis escape. She enchants Louis, who pardons her, while he blames the musketeers for the whole debacle in the first place.
The Good Traitor deals with a Spanish General who wishes to defect to France, due to persecution in Spain for being a Moor (dark skinned and Muslim). He has a secret formula for white powder, but does not have the cipher key. He will give it to France in exchange for help rescuing his daughter. Events are not as simple as that. In one attempt, Porthos is injured and taken. The daughter tries to tell Porthos that he does not belong in France; eventually his friends will turn on him for his skin. Porthos firmly states that he is French. The musketeers and general try another gamble; resulting in the general’s death, on his own terms and his daughter safely away. Louis is once again disappointed in the musketeers and turns to Rochefort. Rochefort has also been making inroads with the queen, banking on their old friendship and after the events of the previous episode, now holds letters in her hand allying Anne with her brother, the king of Spain, for protection for her son, in case anything would happen to the king.
The subplot for the episode involves a feverish dauphin. Constance questions Doctor Lemay’s methods, such a bleeding. She ends up secreting the infant out of the palace and to a local laundry house where the steam can ease his breathing. The kings orders her executed for kidnapping the crown prince, but a moment later, when her actions are declared to have saved the babe, she is spared. She gains Doctor Lemay’s trust, but also Rochefort as an enemy. Louis has also taken Milady as a mistress – leading to an embarrassing scene where the queen enters to inform the king that his son is missing, only to find him finishing an evening with Milady.
Emilie also tends to rile me up. A young woman, Emilie, who is called Joan of Arc reborn, has dreams telling her that France must invade Spain; for Spain is the devil. She’s got a peasant army and tensions are such that Spanish citizens in Paris are being attacked and killed. Anne cannot stand by and watch her countrymen killed. If the king will not grant Emilie an audience, she will try to talk sense into the woman herself. Constance accompanies Anne to the camp. The peasants are not pleased to see the Spanish woman. Emilie’s mother goes so far as to suggest killing the queen, so Louis can marry a proper French woman. Aramis defends the queen, calling his loyalty to Emilie into question (he had come to the camp claiming he had defected from the musketeers in order to seek enlightenment, and get close to Emilie to determine what sort of threat she poses. He too insists that he is French, despite his Spanish look).
Turns out, Emilie’s mother had been drugging her food for years and was trying to ride the wave of popularity they were experiencing. When Emilie was young, she had suffered fits and had been stoned by villagers. Aramis is clued in to the true nature of Emilie’s vision when Constance had some of Emilie’s soup and suffers similar horrifying dreams. Athos helps Emilie through the withdrawal (Aramis states the man has experience). They are right, it was drugs, not God. The peasants turn on her and when her mother tries to rally them again, she is killed by a stone. It’s not a fun episode, the musketeers don’t really win and in the end, Louis relieves Treville of command, for helping Emilie instead of killing her. (Milady even tried to stand up for Treville; and gets told to leave that sort of thing to men).
Athos is returned to Pinon against his will The Return. His tenants are facing harassment from a neighboring baron and entreat Athos to help them. He has no desire to be in Pinon again and does not wish to be the Comte de la Fere any longer. Baron Renard cannot believe the notion of nobility no longer wishing to be noble. But he and his son Edmond will treat Athos like dirt in order to get his land. Athos’s musketeer brothers, and Treville come to find him and stay to train the villagers to defend their home. Also in Pinon is Catherine; a childhood friend of Athos’s and Thomas’s fiancée before his death. Her main desire is to be restored to her “rightful” place. It’s plain to see she had hoped to marry Athos before he married Milady and even hopes now to marry and gain a new title. But Athos gives the land to all the people. During his final duel with Edmond, Catherine holds a pistol to Athos and asks Edmond if he will offer her better terms and seems intent on killing Athos (she’s also mad that Milady is still alive). When Edmond moves with a knife in his hand, the gun goes off, killing him. Athos thanks his friends for helping him see his duty to his people. He still has no desire to return to Pinon and with it no longer being his land, he has no need.
Through the Glass Darkly is a dark episode. An astronomer, Marmion has invited the king and his court to view the eclipse. Athos chooses to remain at the garrison instead of accompanying the court and watching Milady flirt with Louis. As the eclipse strikes, Marmion begins his real plan; taking everyone hostage. Aramis argues compassion for the women and the dauphin. Marmion pushes the musketeer out a window. Porthos, Rochefort, and the other men try to make a stand; Marmion has Porthos and Rochefort taken to the dungeon. Now, they must work together in order to escape. Louis must play Marmion’s game, calling a coin toss to decide fate; Marmion arguing that it’s simple chance. Louis will not call at first, but Milady is willing to make a gamble with her life. She calls correctly and is free to go. She rides back to the garrison and retrieves Athos, Treville, and the rest of the musketeers.
An awning luckily caught Aramis, so though he’s a bit battered, he climbs the wall of the building and makes his way back in. Marmion has sent Anne and Marguerite, the dauphin’s governess (and Aramis’s current lover…so he can be close to his son) along with the babe to one room; the rest of the courtiers are sent to another. Constance and D’Artagnan are tied together to witness Marmion with Louis. Marmion forces Louis to choose blindly which room a killer will be sent into. Louis ends up calling for the courtiers’ death; Aramis rescues Anne, Marguerite, and the baby. He meets up with the rest of the musketeers. They hear a loud moan, as Athos puts it, “that was either a wounded boar or Porthos.” Porthos had Rochefort dislocate his shoulder so they could escape, and pop it back in.
Back in the main room, Marmion tosses the coin for Constance’s fate. Louis calls wrong. D’Artagnan begs for himself to be killed instead. Marmion’s brother steps in front of the shot (they were the only two survivors of a plague town that starved to death during quarantine). Now Marmion’s sights turn to the king. Heads the king dies, tails they all go free. The coin lands head’s up; D’Artagnan is to execute the king. He and Constance instead work together with the rope tied between them to knock down the guards and the rest of the musketeers flood in to the rescue. Rochefort hunts down Marmion and kills him. Louis calls him a hero; he’s furious at D’Artagnan for the gamble and dismisses Milady for deserting him. Anne is pleased to see Constance, sorry that she had put her friend in so much danger. Constance will gladly bear it for the queen. She does run back down the hill to hug and kiss D’Artagnan. “I don’t care what people think; I don’t care what they say. This is my life and I want to spend the rest of it with you.” Their friends smile.
In A Marriage of Inconvenience the king begins to withdraw from his court and council, even the queen. He fears everyone is out to kill him, but Rochefort. To Louis, Rochefort is the one loyal friend he has and thus makes him First Minister. Rochefort blackmails Marguerite for information on Aramis, especially once he sees the jeweled cross the musketeer wears. Louis’s cousin is due to marry for a Swedish alliance, the musketeers escorting her, but assassination attempts plague her. Rochefort berates the musketeers at every turn and grants Treville the “honor” of retrieving the princess’s wedding present from the king, a portrait. Milady witnesses who shoots Treville. Aramis and Lemay, who has asked Constance along, work together to save the captain’s life (they all refer to him as captain even though he was technically demoted). Athos and Porthos investigate the gift and discover that the sketches don’t match the princess they are guarding.
Turns out, the princess is actually a professional assassin, alongside her lover, Francesco. They were hired by Rochefort to eliminate council members who stood against him. Milady is the one to wrangle to information out of Sophie. But Sophie has given D’Artagnan a gift; she killed Bonacieux when he walked in on her. She had noticed that Bonacieux struck Constance when Constance told the man she wished to be with D’Artagnan. Bonacieux dies from his wounds before D’Artagnan’s eyes, cursing the young man that he will never be happy. D’Artagnan has the unpleasant task of informing Constance of her husband’s death.
Porthos’s search for his father comes to fruition in The Prodigal Father. Treville, after gaining some strength back from his nasty wound, finally reveals to Porthos that his father was an old friend of his and Defrois, the Marquis de Belgard (Liam Cunningham plays the older man, a veteran of other BBC shows and Game of Thrones, among other credits). Belgard claims that Treville’s treachery ruined his life. He was the former captain of the royal bodyguard for Louis’s father. When Henry IV was assassinated, Belgard was the scapegoat. He retired from public life. Belgard also tells Porthos that his mother, Marie Cesette was the love of his life. She was a servant originally, but they fell in love and married in secret. His father disapproved and Treville was in league with him, kidnapping Marie and Porthos and abandoning them to the Court of Miracles. Treville told Belgard they were dead and Belgard puts the seed of doubt in Porthos’s mind regarding Treville’s making him a musketeer. Belgard remarried and has a daughter, Eleanor, with a horrible husband. They fight with Porthos.
In the background, they sell young girls into prostitution. Aramis, who had accompanied Porthos to Belgard’s estate, had seen two of them. One is dead now and the second is terrified. Aramis follows the girl to a house in Paris and informs Athos and Treville. Athos, D’Artagnan, and Aramis later investigate Eleanor’s famous entertainments, a tableau of innocence. They rescue the girls and head to Belgard’s. Porthos has confronted Treville on the truth of the matter with his father. Treville admits that he had taken Porthos and his mother to the Court. Porthos walks out.
Everything comes to a head when Athos, Aramis, and D’Artagnan arrive; Belgard pleads ignorance of Eleanor’s machinations, asking Porthos to defend him. But Porthos has questions for Belgard. He knows the portrait Belgard showed him of his “mother” is a fake; even though he was young, he remembers his mother’s face. Belgard must have just bought a portrait of any black woman. Belgard, Porthos, and Treville end up in a three-way stand-off. Treville reveals that Belgard was the one behind leaving Porthos in the Court; he had not wanted to be disinherited by his father and had threatened to kill the child and his mother. Treville had gone back to look for Porthos, but they were gone. And Treville is a man of honor; he would never commission anyone into the musketeers who did not deserve it. When Belgard pulls a gun on Treville again, Porthos shoots it out of his hand. The prostitution ring is broken up, Porthos rejoins his brothers and can now look at Treville with respect again.
Meanwhile, Constance has refused to move on from her husband, telling D’Artagnan they have no right to take advantage of the circumstances. She needs time. D’Artagnan warns her that he may not be there anymore when she finally makes up her mind. At the palace, Lemay approaches her, offering her marriage. He finds her a unique woman and believes they could make each other happy (he obviously is not aware of her affection of D’Artagnan). Anne talks some sense into Constance; Anne was born into a life of duty and privilege; she has never been free. But Constance is free. The young woman changes out of her black dress and rushes to the garrison. She admits her love to D’Artagnan, who asks her to shut up during her rambling and kiss him. (Fans cheer!) When she returns to the palace she discovers Rochefort attacking the queen. Rochefort confronted Anne about the jeweled cross Aramis wears. It had originally been a gift from Rochefort to Anne when he was her tutor. If Anne admits she loves Rochefort, he will forgive her. Anne slaps him, declaring him a monster. When Rochefort tries to force her, she scratches his eye with a hairpin (enter Constance). Rochefort is furious and declares that the king will hear of Anne’s adultery, shouting down the hall of treason.
Now we’re building for the finale. The Accused picks up right where the last episode ended. Constance fetches the musketeers to escort the queen to see the king, she quietly informs Aramis that Rochefort knows of the affair. The Red Guards and Rochefort stop Anne from seeing Louis; he is trying to turn Louis against Anne. Rochefort has Marguerite remove the dauphin from Anne and places Anne under arrest in her rooms. Athos forces Aramis to admit to their friends and Treville of what transpired at the convent. Well, Athos is the one to voice that Aramis slept with the queen. Aramis does say that the dauphin is his son. Treville is furious. They must come up with a plan. Milady approaches them; she has discovered that Rochefort is a Spanish agent. The stakes are now higher. Athos and Milady sneak in to find documents proving Rochefort’s guilt (after being waylaid by Catherine seeking revenge; Athos still cannot kill Milady). The couple shares a rather passionate kiss as they are hiding. They’re broken apart by Marguerite’s scream; the king has been poisoned.
Earlier, when the king was complaining of a headache, Doctor Lemay prescribed a drug to added to his wine; Rochefort switched the bottles. While Athos is following Milady, the other musketeers get Anne out of the palace, Constance staying behind to buy them some time. So, when Lemay is brought before the king, Rochefort brings Constance as well, claiming her a traitor. The king wearily orders them executed. Anne is safe at a convent (not sure if it’s the same as last time, different Mother Superior), but insists on returning to Paris once she hears of the king. Athos was unable to find documents incriminating Rochefort, but he has the idea to forge one. Porthos will make contact with the Spanish spy master Vargas and bring him to Paris to claim Rochefort as his. The rest of the musketeers return to Paris with the queen. They are caught upon arrival, Anne returned to her rooms under arrest and Aramis arrested for treason. Lemay is executed and Constance is forced to watch; she faces the same the next dawn. D’Artagnan rushes to see her, and is beaten for his troubles while Constance calls out “D’Artagnan, I love you!”
Trial and Punishment opens with the musketeers rescuing Constance from the gallows. She joins the men to help Porthos bring in Vargas. Treville bluntly tells the Spaniard that King Phillip would not want to see his sister die, which will happen if they do not stop Rochefort. Louis still wants to pardon Anne, but he sits and listens to Aramis’s testimony. Aramis tries to turn the trial on Rochefort, but Marguerite is brought out to speak against him and the queen. She plainly states “the dauphin is Aramis’s son.” She is appalled by what she has done; she drinks poison later, leaving the little baby wailing. Milady is the only one available to get Aramis out of prison, so he’s able to meet up with his brothers. Rochefort bullies the king into sighing Anne’s execution order and stalks off to complete
the deed. He empties the palace aside from his guards and enters the queen’s chambers with a garrote. Aramis and Constance go for the queen, Porthos and Treville take Vargas to the king, while Athos and D’Artagnan provide cover fire. Anne takes her sentence with dignity, but just as Rochefort lays the chain across her neck, Aramis enters and shoots the villain. Sadly, he’s not dead, and starts a sword fight with the musketeer. Constance gets a lucky hit with a pistol, but Aramis keeps her back. He stabs the double agent in the shoulder with a sword (it’s kind of grim, especially when Rochefort pulls it out). Vargas and the other musketeers face Rochefort. It’s over. But Rochefort still fights. D’Artagnan steps forward to ferociously take out Rochefort for trying to kill Constance. He suffers a slow death and admits that none of his actions were for Spain.
The day is wrapped up outside in the sun; Louis reunites with his wife and son. He apologizes to the musketeers, particularly Aramis; Rochefort had his head so turned around. Louis once again asks Treville to join his council, as War Minister. Spain has crossed the line. Treville accepts the post. He later makes Athos the new musketeer captain. Athos is now torn once again between love and duty; Milady has asked him to accompany her to England, where they can make a new start. He ultimately chooses duty, but I’m not sure if he per say chooses it, or that’s what he’s left with; he tries to see Milady at their meeting spot, but she is gone by the time he gets there. Aramis leaves his brothers; he made a promise to God that if he and Anne were spared, he would devote his life to God. Treville gifts Porthos with his sword to see him through the war. D’Artagnan gets a happy ending; he finally marries Constance, Athos is the one to give her away, but they have a short honeymoon due to impending war with Spain. The three ride out to find Aramis, knowing he would want to be beside his brothers.
Rochefort is more of a straight villain than Richelieu. I spent the entire season hating him (which might have been the point). He hired a prostitute to dress like Anne so he could play out his fantasies…that’s just, wrong. So wrong. I applaud Anne for keeping her wits about her when Rochefort came to her. I was glad that the Musketeers dispatched Rochefort; they all got their hits at him. I’m frustrated the entire time the Musketeers try to get ahead and Rochefort is there to turn its on its head, and paint them subpar to the king. I want to yell at Louis that the Musketeers are loyal, not Rochefort. Still don’t have a high opinion of Louis.
The stakes are higher this season. Just when things seem about to work out for our characters, something gets thrown in the way. Porthos discovers his father…and he’s a jerk. Porthos is angry at Treville…but Treville had his best interests at heart (this is a good thing). So much gets thrown in front of D’Artagnan and Constance being together; they eek out being happy; Constance chooses D’Artagnan, then her husband slaps her and orders her home. He dies. But she feels guilty. The young couple gets married! And war breaks out. Athos and Milady go back and forth; and honestly, I don’t think those two are good for each other. I think it’s great that Milady is a strong character, a woman who gets things done. But she’s like a spider with Athos in her web. The Catherine subplot really wasn’t needed. Yes, it makes sense that there were other people affected by Thomas’s death; but there was absolutely no reason for Catherine to appear in The Accused. I like Athos for the tortured good character that he is, but I also want to wrap him up in a hug. I adore Queen Anne; a compassionate ruler. She goes to keep peace, even when the group hates the country of her birth. And I think she deserves to be loved and Aramis is devoted to her. But it’s dangerous being attracted to the queen. On the one hand, Aramis should not have slept with her, considering her position. On the other hand, hey, at least the country now has an heir.
I want to say that brotherhood holds out at the end, but Aramis leaves them and war is on its way. Well, we’ll just have to see what season three brings.
Next Time: The exciting conclusion to The Musketeers story.
Dreamer in the Mirror 