Six months have passed since the previous episode. Cardinal Richelieu has died, since Peter Capaldi was busy with Doctor Who. Treville is offered a seat on the King's Council, but he declines on the grounds that he's a better soldier than politician. The Dauphin Louis is born, whom Aramis believes to be his son. Constance is appointed to serve as the Queen's confidante on d'Artagnan's recommendation, but she's reluctant to resume their affair.
The Musketeers are sent to a remote village to meet a mysterious contact. Said contact is the Comte de Rochefort, one of the Cardinal's lieutenants, played by Marc Warren. Rochefort had been serving as a spy in Madrid until he was discovered and imprisoned. He claims to have escaped, and reveals that he was imprisoned alongside General De Foix, an old friend of Treville and one of France's chief military strategists. The Musketeers are assigned to accompany Rochefort on a covert mission to infiltrate a Spanish prison to rescue De Foix, or eliminate him if a rescue isn't possible. Unbeknownst to the Musketeers, Rochefort is a double agent for the Spanish. His intention is to lure the Musketeers into a trap while he rescues De Foix so he can be hailed a hero.
Rochefort is intended to be something of a contrast to Richelieu. While the Cardinal is methodical and calculating, Rochefort is more impulsive and devises his schemes on the fly. While the Cardinal acts in a combination of national interest and self-interest, Rochefort is actively working against his country. He's also a cold-blooded killer with eyes for Queen Anne. He's introduced being lynched by a mob, apparently for murdering an innkeeper, and the Musketeers are content to let him hang until they learn he has vital information. He also kills a priest who disturbs his meeting with his handler, the Spanish Ambassador Don Fernando Perales, played by Will Keen. Perales is visibly shaken by this, and often makes the point that he was never on board with working with Rochefort from the get-go.
The prison infiltration is tense, with d'Artagnan having to swim underwater to gain access via the well in the courtyard. And the escape has an equally tense sequence involving a pulley spanning a ravine. It's the kind of pulpy swashbuckling action I love.
One scene of note occurs at the end of the episode. A priest visits the Garrison in search of Aramis, giving him a message from the Cardinal. Said message comes in the form of a burial vault for Adele Bessette, the Cardinal's mistress whom Aramis had an affair with until she was executed at the end of the first episode. The priest warns that the Cardinal knows many of Aramis' secrets. It's quite ominous, and Aramis begins to fear that Richelieu was aware of the Dauphin's parentage. Unfortunately, not much really comes out of it.
Nevertheless, I'm hyped to see the next season.
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