The Musketeers Marathon - S1E1: Friends and Enemies

 

Well, it's a new month, and time to start the marathon.

It's 1630. France is ruled by the childish King Louis XIII, played by Ryan Gage. Stuck in a loveless marriage to Queen Anne of Austria, played by Alexandra Dowling, the king is more concerned with hunting than ruling. As such, he defers most state matters to his First Minister, Cardinal Tucker Richelieu, played by Peter Capaldi. The King is protected by an elite regiment known as the Musketeers, led by his close friend Captain Treville, played by Hugo Speer. When not on duty, the Musketeers share a rivalry with the Red Guards, the Cardinal's personal regiment.

Luke Pasqualino plays d'Artagnan, a farmer from Gascony with a talent for swordplay, who is travelling to Paris with his father to petition the king over the taxes levied upon them by Richelieu. While staying at an inn, they're robbed by bandits led by "Athos of the King's Musketeers", and d'Artagnan's father is killed while they're fighting them off. In the style of Inigo Montoya, d'Artagnan travels to Paris seeking revenge. He is seduced by Milady de Winter, the Cardinal's personal assassin and spy, played by Mamie McCoy. After Milady frames him for the murder of a Spanish envoy, he eludes the authorities and meets Constance Bonacieux, a cloth merchant's wife played by Tamla Kari. 

Meanwhile, we also follow three Musketeers: Athos, a troubled nobleman played by Tom Burke; Porthos, a boisterous bruiser played by Howard Charles; and Aramis, a romantic libertine played by Santiago Carbrera. They're tasked by Treville to search for a troop of musketeers who disappeared in Chartres with a number of important letters. After learning both he and the Spanish envoy he was due to meet failed to make the rendezvous, they return to Paris and are confronted by d'Artagnan. After a brief fight, Athos is arrested for murder and robbery. Aramis and Porthos must then seek d'Artagnan out to help clearing their friend's name.

This episode provides most of the traditional swashbuckling clichés you'd expect from a story of its kind. While I'd say it's a genre that's built on cliché, it would be nice to see them done a little differently from time to time.

I especially like the sequence after the intro in which the Musketeers are introduced. It establishes their characters perfectly:

• Athos is shown waking up in his room surrounded by wine bottles and looking forlornly at a locket, implying he's lost somebody. He promptly dunks his head in a bucket of water (after punching through the layer of ice on the surface), dons his uniform, and heads out. It establishes that he puts duty first, even when it's painful for him.
• Porthos is shown playing cards with a Red Guard who accuses him of cheating. After Athos suggests a duel, the Red Guard agrees and then kicks Porthos' sword away. Porthos fends him off with a fork, laughing all the while. This shows his boisterous and cunning nature.
• Aramis is shown to be sleeping with the Cardinal's mistress, and is forced to dangle from a window so he isn't caught by the Cardinal. As his friends laugh at his predicament, he falls. This shows his romantic notions, and their tendency to land him in trouble.

Yes, it's traditional swashbuckling action, but I still love it. In fact, I'd often say that Aramis and Porthos were one of the inspirations for Kestrel and Scar.