Translate

Tuesday 21 June 2016

The Musketeers 3.10 "We Are The Garrison" Review

                                      Image result for the musketeers the prize photos

Contains Spoilers

As the Musketeers attend Treville's (Hugo Speer) funeral and say their farewells, Grimaud (Matthew McNulty) narrates about dying; in a scene reminiscent of Feron in 3.6 Death of A Hero.
Grimaud: "bury your friend your minister, the saviour of France.  Your grief is your downfall, while you weep, and mourn as the pain overwhelms you.  You are blind, you won't see me coming!" And the dramatic music crescendo build up...

At Christophe's inn, they say goodbye and talk about Athos (Tom Burke) not touching a drop, obviously Athos was staying sober for Grimaud.  Constance (Tamla Kiri) tells Sylvie (Thalissa Treixeira) she should tell him as they need some good news, but she doesn't think it's the right place or time.  That she is pregnant with Athos's baby.  Porthos (Howard Charles) recalls Treville and gives him a rousing goodbye, by saying how he was a father to them all, gave his life for his country and how he won't forget his bravery and sacrifice.  Touching that Porthos should be the one to pay tribute to Treville as being like their father.  He had father issues and problems in series 2.  D'Artagnan (Luka Pasqualino) adds how he didn't care if you were from a farm or from the streets, or anywhere else.  "All he saw was the man that you could become, the soldier, he gave us a home, a family" and clearly he can hold his emotions no longer as he's in tears.  How they owe him everything and Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) finishes off with how they were all young cadets with self doubt, Treville believed in them and that made them Musketeers; also recalling his "endearing temper."   As they all toast "Treville!"
As explosives come raining through the window and then explode.  The four of them are uninjured and soon there are more explosions, this time from the garrison.  D'Artagnan runs to find Constance as Porthos tries to stop him, but he goes ahead anyway. They find some survivors and pull them out of the rubble and flames and Athos spots Grimaud on the roof as the smoke clears and then covers him, he vanishes.

They believe D'Artagnan to be dead but he comes out alive with Constance and Porthos goes after Brujon (Tom Morley).  D'Artagnan begs Aramis to bring her back to him and after a while she begins to breathe.  Sylvie arrives with help and they take the injured to Christophe's.  Including Clairmont (Daniel Parr) where Aramis tries to save him and remove more shrapnel from him.  Porthos says there aren't any weapons but they stole their gunpowder or the garrison would've gone up in flames and be completely destroyed.

Grimaud tells Marcheaux (Matt Stokoe) the Musketeers are still alive and he only killed D'Artagnan. Marcheaux replies they're demoralized, so they're more or less destroyed anyway, but Grimaud isn't satisfied.  As he plots some more.  Griamud goes after Sylvie and he notices the old woman putting a hand on her stomach.  He asks Sylvie if Athos would come for her and for the both of them, as she spits on him.  He takes her hostage and tells Marcheaux to bring the old woman to him.  He asks why Sylvie would want to bring a baby into this world and she replies he should know why.  Then realizes he doesn't know why.  He kills the old woman and sends her to the a garrison with a note written in Sylvie's hand.

It tells them to meet in the town and all three must come or else they'll start killing the refugees every hour starting with her.  Porthos says they have an advantage in that Grimaud thinks that D'Artagnan is dead and they can use him for this.  Athos asking D'Artagnan how it must be to risk his life for someone he loves and he replies it makes it more worthwhile.  D'Artagnan will take out as many as he can and will be the element of surprise.  When they arrive, Griamud orders them to drop their weapons and they want the hostages first.  Sylvie tells Athos he shouldn't have come.  Grimaud orders them to execute Porthos and Aramis and they're led away.  D'Artagnan finding the time to strike now.  Aramis saying as a condemned man they should have last requests.  Porthos says he'll only waste it by praying.  They fight and overpower the men, then fire two shots.

Then attack the rest of the men to save Athos and Sylvie and the hostages.  But D'Artagnan can only wound Grimaud with his dagger and yet again he makes his escape.  So how many lives has he had then, nine for the entire ten eps so surely his luck has to run out in the series finale.  Sylvie and D'Artagnan take supplies to the inn and Grimaud hides by the docks.  As they begin the task of rebuilding the garrison, Athos tells Anne (Alexandra Dowling) she should promote Porthos as he will be a great asset as a strategist.  She wants Athos to take Treville's place as minister, but he says Aramis is more suited since he has ecclesiastical experience too.   The dauphin is to be blessed tomorrow and she has invited all the people to come, not just the nobility.  They need to go after Grimaud but thus far they've been fighting him by their rules and they need to throw honour out the window and meet him on his terms, yeah fight dirty!

Obviously the blessing was going to be attended by Grimaud as he turns up at the inn and Constance helps him by removing his dagger as he then vanishes again.  Telling her, or rather repeating from before that "pain makes us strong."  Clairmont dies and she tells Broujon he was the strong one.  Elodie (Lily Loveless) arrives in Paris saying Grimaud came after her and she still hasn't named her daughter.  He introduces her to Constance and she'll take care of her.  He tells Elodie he'll always be a soldier.  At the cathedral, Elodie spots Grimaud in the crowd heading inside and tells Constance who he is.  She warns D'Artagnan and they go after him, recalling the gunpowder and clear the church.  D'Artagnan puts out the fuses on the barrels and then fights him, as he cuts his cheek.  Then runs again.  Athos tells him he must do this.  They fight and Athos finally kills him, telling D'Artagnan 'it's done'. Finally!!

The blessing goes ahead and Anne tells the people she's disbanding her Musketeers and reforming them as the peoples' Musketeers, where they will fight for France and for justice still. Outside, she gives Porthos his promotion to General and sends him to the front.  Telling Aramis he should be her minister, but he declines.  Later Athos tells him it's the best way for him to be close to his son and Aramis replies he'll be his son's servant and minister.  Athos reminding him how he didn't think of Treville as just his captain, but more.  He taught them to be Musketeers but also they are men.  Porthos marries Elodie and he wants to be there for them both and she'll get his pension if anything happens to him.  He asks Broujon to accompany him and he becomes a Musketeer.  Athos needs to go away for a while, taking a leave of absence and  wants D'Artagnan to be captain.   He reluctantly accepts, but only as long as he returns.

Oh here see D'Artaganan in a hat!!

Athos also gets to be the one who speaks the title in this ep after Brujon says they don't have anything left, it's not the place that makes the garrison but they do and wherever they go, "we are the garrison."  We also get to see what a conniver Anne really is in secret, well she is Spanish after all, as she hires Milady (Maimie McCoy) to carry out an assassination.  She works for her now and she asks if she really wants this man taken care of.  Who turns out to be, no surprise, Gaston (Andre Flynn) as he is the last remaining loose thread in her ascension to the throne and becoming regent.  Now nothing stands in her way, in her complete takeover of the throne, but was it really all for France and Aramis doesn't realize what lengths she'll go to, to preserve herself and perhaps the dauphin.  hey glad I was right last ep review when I said Milady will probably kill Gaston!  Perception! ha.

As they go their separate ways, Athos narrates now and ends his dialogue with love.
"...with great passion... face a challenge; hearts that stay true to all they hold dear, courage, no matter how many enemies lie in wait for us, faith the daylight will always follow the dark, [Sylvie: "and love"]... 
above all else."

So it ends after three years of fights, romance, intrigue and backstabbing.  A fitting way to go out still blazing before people got bored of it, maybe not so much bored but before writers exhausted all the storylines just for the sake of more eps; but also giving them all a happy ending that they deserved. Porthos getting a ready made family, Athos on his way to becoming a father, Aramis becoming minister and taking up the role, so he's able to see his son and D'Artagnan holds the garrison for Athos's return, keeping the next generation of Musketeers together.

I was reading how many people equated Athos with being similar to Grimaud, but personally I didn't see the similarities.  They were two very different men from two very different worlds and upbringings.  Athos was of nobility, with character and great standing.  He treated people with respect, didn't judge them harshly or unfairly no matter who they were, his personal life with Milady aside.  Even then he did still maintain some feelings towards her.  He was above all a Musketeer, fighting for injustice wherever he came across it and was selfless.  Griamud was the exact opposite. He was not loved, downtrodden in his meagre existence, though it was no fault of his own, he could have strived to be a better man, a better person when he grew up.  Yet he was only interested in what he could get from the world and what he was owed.  In some ways his start to life was similar to Porthos, with only his mother to bring him up.  Grimaud's mother did try to end his life, but she was faced with a terrible life of her own.  Porthos had Treville, but even then he made his life his own after leaving the court of miracles and deciding to go his own way.
Griamud was fuelled by pain and suffering, never by doing the right thing cos it was the right thing to do.

No comments: