The Musketeers: The Good Traitor

This was a rather patchy episode, with a lot of good scenes strewn across three different storylines that had absolutely nothing to do with each other. As such, all three felt slightly short-changed to some extent, though the show's track record in keeping plots hole-free continues (even if there were a few stretches here and there).

We get the long awaited guest appearances from Colin Salmon and Antonia Thomas as father/daughter Tariq and Samara, two Spanish Moors that have abandoned Spain after unspecific racial prejudice. But because Tariq carries with him a concoction of gunpowder that's ten times as powerful as the usual stuff – actually, you know what, it hardly matters. This is a typical MacGuffin that's nullified by the end of the episode and therefore not worth discussing.

The real investment of the episode is what Tariq wants in exchange for the powder's formula: his daughter's safety. She's been kidnapped by Spaniards who are keeping her hostage in order to get their hands on Tariq, the powder's formula, and its encryption machine.

Yeah, it's a pretty tried-and-true setup, but unlike other episodes that have also taken familiar narrative routes, there aren't a lot of original surprises here. The negotiations go sour, the double-cross backfires on the Musketeers, there's a stand-off and a stalemate and a storming of the building, and the black guy ends up dead (again). By the end, all the Musketeers have achieved is to ensure the formula is denied to the Spanish as well as to the French (and that was thanks to Tariq rather than our boys).

I had been looking forward to seeing Antonia Thomas as Samara from the moment her role was announced last year, though I have mixed feelings about the finished result. Let's be clear here: Samara was a great character. She was brave and opinionated and passionate and "a poet, not a nurse." But her role within the story is that of a character who has no agency whatsoever. She's a hostage who gets to be defiant while in captivity – but remains helpless. She gets to break out some self-defence moves during the ill-fated trade-off – but is recaptured again. She tries to tend to Porthos's wound – only for him to yank the arrow out himself. She gets to cleverly hide the encryption machine inside her book of poetry – only for her father to give the game away. She stalwartly refuses to leave Tariq's side – only to fold as soon as he insists on her departure.  

Then she heads off to Morocco and it's doubtful we'll ever see her again. The only active choice she makes over the course of the story is to leave it.

This sort of thing happens a lot in modern stories that require a Distressed Damsel. The writers are aware that it's a sexist cliché, and so they give the damsel in question wit and spirit and a personality as a sort of trade-off for the role she's been cast in. But she's still confined by the requirements of the plot.

For the record, I'm not adverse to the occasional damsel in distress. It's often preferable to a have a Distressed Damsel who is likeable, interesting and lively than an Action Girl who has the personality of an empty vase.

But the show already pulled this off to a certain extent with Lucie de Foix in the season premiere, and when you get someone like Antonia Thomas as a guest star, you really want to make the most of her. So Samara ends up being a case of: loved her, wanted more, hope she comes back. And her rapport with Porthos was not what I expected – there was no real hint of an attraction between them (exemplified with her use of the word brother in their farewell), but plenty of veiled foreshadowing regarding the theme of "belonging" that will no doubt reappear in the forthcoming Porthos backstory episode.

(Which reminds me, is de Foix still dying in a darkened chamber somewhere? Because last time we saw him he seemed pretty set on telling Porthos the truth).

***

The political machinations remain the show's strong point, what with the guarded negotiations between King Louis and the Spanish Ambassador. The latter is obviously aware of what's going on with his agents in the city, naturally denies all knowledge of their activities, and yet works on a "hypothetical" scenario that allows him to aim for exactly what he wants without outright admitting to kidnapping and treason. His line: "naturally I deny the allegations, but I will make enquiries" is a thinly veiled courtesy that's fooling absolutely no one in that room (including Louis) about what he really knows. Heck, even he knows they know. This is just how court intrigue plays out.

And it's beginning to get really nerve-wracking watching all these life-or-death decisions being placed in the hands of a man-child like Louis. Perhaps it was because Anne was engaged elsewhere, but I found myself getting stressed that decisions where being made without her in the room (not that she gets much input, but having her there at least prevents anything truly stupid from going down).

Though of course, last season she could clearly see the Cardinal for who he really was. This time around, it would seem she's becoming increasingly swayed by Rochefort's influence.   

Rochefort continues his "advancement" on the Queen, though we discover for the first time that it's not entirely a con. In fact, it dives right into "OMG, what the hell is this creep doing?" territory when he engages in a little role-playing with a random prostitute. Suddenly this doesn't feel like a family-friendly show anymore.

And I'm not entirely sure whether Anne is falling for it or not. She may trust him, but I don't believe for a moment that she's actually attracted to him in the way that he seems to think she might be. Of course, he has no idea that he's competing against Aramis, which makes his comment "my devotion to her child can only increase her passion for me" seriously laughable.

It'll be interesting – or catastrophic – to see how he'll react if/when he realizes that Anne isn't the malleable little flower he pictures her as, but until then he has this expression on her face at his declaration of love to remember:

Yeah, keep dreaming dude.

But the reason she's so upset is down to the episode's B-plot: the dauphin has a fever and not even the super-hot physician can find a cure.

From our pleasant view of things in the 21^st century we can cringe at the crazy medical methods they inflict on a sick infant, and as usual Constance is the only one talking sense. At least up until the moment she completely loses her marbles and kidnaps the dauphin from the palace in order to clear his lungs by taking him to a laundry house.

Wow – look, I know her heart was in the right place and that she was vindicated by the world's most plot-convenient remedy, but this was nuts! I love you Constance, but you did not think this through.

After putting not only her own life but that of Marguerite's at risk, it's down to the amazingly generous and humble (and really cute) physician to spare her from the gallows by extending all the credit of the dauphine's recovery to her. Girl got VERY LUCKY that a 17^th century man was willing to publicly bow to a woman's superior knowledge in his field of expertise.

But since he did, maybe she should consider making a move... 

***

And in our final subplot of the week, Milady makes her move on the King. And it's fantastic.

There are so many great beats to this little arc, from the look on her face when she makes the decision to murder a woman for her dress...

Though she's perfectly capable of making a joke about it afterwards

... to the way she effortlessly uses the Madonna/Whore dichotomy to her advantage. Twice Louis calls her "his saviour" and "an angel", so she knows to work that angle when it comes to seducing him, while at the same time removing his ring from the midst of her cleavage as a way of "keeping it safe." By the time she's got him on his knees for the sake of "praying", he's in a position where he thinks he's the one making the moves on her.

The Madonna...

And the... you know...

And Louis is – I can't believe I'm saying this – oddly cute throughout all this. Despite the fact that his son is gravely ill and his wife then has to deliver the news that he's been kidnapped while he messes around with another woman under the dining room table...

Okay, the warm-fuzzies have passed.

***

Oh, and Aramis keeps lurking like a lurker. Think of Adele and tone it down, dude.

It's an episode that's spread rather thin across three different plotlines, yet still manages to pack in a lot of material. What's missing though is the central bond between the Musketeers themselves. Porthos and Aramis used to be Those Two Guys, but there hasn't been much of a rapport between them lately. Same goes for the mentor/protégé vibe between Athos/D'artagnan. Heck, I'm pretty sure we've seen more of King Louis than Athos – so fingers crossed this won't lead to another Alfrid situation. I realize the writers are juggling a lot more this year, but hopefully they'll find the right balance soon.

That said, even though I appreciate that the show pays close attention to the stories of the women, it's clear that the writers are not yet prepared to take the focus away from the boys for any length of time. A part of me feels that all of this episode's Milady/Anne/Constance material would have worked better as a fleshed-out A-plot (perhaps while the boys are on duty outside the city), though for now they're relegated to the subplots.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Nice of the Musketeers to let Tariq muck around with gunpowder on the palace grounds in the presence of the King right after he's held Treville at knife-point. And then he goes and blows up a perfectly lovely statue! Some people...

Still not sure what's up with Marguerite (who presumably isn't going to be punished for falling asleep and letting Constance run off with the baby?) though I did hear the Spanish Ambassador mention her in his conversation with Rochefort. His exact words on hearing that the dauphin was sick were: "Marguerite should know this." Just a throwaway line, but surely it means something.

To the show's credit, the scene in which innocent civilians are caught in the cross-fire of the Musketeer/Spanish gun-fight actually had a lot of weight. A brief grieving period is depicted, and Louis cites their deaths as a reason to let the Spanish take what they want (even if that part was a ruse).

It would appear that the more honourable the Musketeers act, the more Louis and Anne are thrown into Rochefort's orbit. That slow and steady camera creep on Anne in the corridor as Rochefort neared her was beautifully done (if not a tad obvious).

If Samara had the cypher and not Tariq, why not just tell the Musketeers that to begin with? It would have certainly increased their motivation to see her rescued safely. Perhaps Tariq never intended to give up the encryption machine to anyone, but his daughter seemed to be his number one priority throughout all of this. Holding back only increased the danger she was in.

Oh, and this happens:

This was awesome, and they even gave it the slow-motion treatment.