As with the conclusion of the latest series of Stella a few days ago, I felt I ought to briefly revisit the Musketeers, after first looking at it on this blog a few episodes in. Unlike Stella however, this is not going to be a double whammy case of me singing many praises. Indeed, I am still none too sure about BBC One's The Musketeers, even after ten whole episodes, yet I could concede there has been some development from when the show first entered the arena and onto our TV screens. So, here's another quick look, at The Musketeers.
In essence, my opinion is still the same as it was when I first reviewed the show. Yes it is entertaining with some good points, but the bad points, be they actor, story or believability-related, certainly weigh heavily on the whole essence of the show, and I for one when watching it, could not escape the feeling that this could go horribly wrong. In fact, after each week and each episode went by, I was still woefully unsure as to whether this new prime time series deserved to continue. Yet someone obviously did think so, as the Musketeers was indeed renewed for a second series, apparently at a time when we had only seen 4 episodes. Admittedly the renewal didn't surprise me too much, but the timing did. Nowhere near episode 4 did I feel there was much worth saving, and nor either did critics and other viewers, giving the show decidedly mixed reviews at best. However renew it they have, so I feel I should highlight some growing positive points, that I felt did emerge by the time the last episode was broadcast.
I ridiculed the writer's decision to highlight a major plot reveal related to Athos, played by Tom Burke, very early on in the show (i.e that his murderous wife still lived) as I felt they missed a great opportunity to build tension. I still stick by this opinion, but I was happy to see that, after a few episodes that were stagnant on the subject, they were able to turn it round slightly, and take the character arc into what was, while not a gripping direction, certainly a watchable one.
Another Musketeer that, certainly plot-wise, had some development was swarthy Aramis, played by Santiago Cabrera. By the end of the series, things have certainly kicked off in his corner, without wishing to give too much away. Once you see what's coming, Aramis' story could be seen as a bit too predictable, but I would infinitely prefer this to nothing at all.
With regards to the other two main Musketeers though, oh dear. None too gentle giant Porthos is mostly the designated muscle or comic relief, and when he is occasionally segued into more serious stories, the required results do not often happen. And whilst newbie D'Artagnan is the focus of many story lines and in some sense a lot of plot progression (as we literally see him go from farm boy to fully fledged Musketeer) for me he is still not really watchable at all. I'm really at a loss to explain why this is, and I wish it was not so. The writers are surely very ambitious for the character of D'Artagnan and rightly so, but actor Luke Pasqualino doesn't give anywhere near the right amount of passion, conviction and emotional range to make his character believable, watchable, or most of the time even entertaining.
There are good casting decisions, as I said last time, that have proven consistently so as the series has gone on. Hugo Speer and Tamla Kari always deliver good solid performances I feel, as does Peter Capaldi, whose malevolent Cardinal still steals the show slightly for me. Again, I reiterate it is a great shame that Capaldi is now set to leave the Musketeers, as I feel he would be very much needed in series 2. Still, The Musketeer's loss is Doctor Who's gain I suppose!
Talking of D'Artagnan though, his story is a good example of one final point I wish to make about the Musketeers. Even when we see him fully achieve his dream of becoming a Musketeer in episode 8, what he has striven and worked for for so long (though Luke Pasqualino's "emotional range" in this episode to me is almost cringe-worthy) this story is still sandwiched between two sidelines of an episode-long love affair from Porthos and the Cardinal vs. the captain. This has been common throughout the series. Yes, I fully agree multi-layered plots are a very good thing, but in the case of the Musketeers it very rarely feels well done at all when watching it. It's almost as if, at it's conception, the minds behind the show went mental with all these plots, sub-plots, characters and inventions, and as the series went on they panicked and started grasping at limp ideas to bring them all back in, trying to give them all screen time and make them relevant to the story. The result I feel, whilst containing a few gems, often renders a fast-paced, though quite confusing mess.
So yes, I maintain that if you are not interested in too much structure, solid acting and character development, or literary accuracy; if you're just interested in an action-packed, well scored, hour-long Sunday night romp, then the Musketeers is definitely one to watch. As I say, it is entertaining and does have merits. I just feel that if they want to stay in people's minds and on their tellys for some time to come, they better up their game and rectify quite a few things to do so.
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