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Sunday 7 August 2016

The Musketeers 2.2 "An Ordinary Man" Review

                                             Image result for the-musketeers an-ordinary-man photos
Louis (Ryan Gage) insists on spending life as a carefree citizen of Paris, well I shouldn't use citizen as they haven't had the French revolution yet, more like his subjects.  Cos they really do have nothing but happiness and joy in their meagre existence, with nothing to look forward to and he wears the clothes of one of his servants.  At the tavern he insists on drinking and playing cards, too making a general nuisance of himself when he accuses a man of cheating.  He gets the Musketeers into a fight as they are accompanying him.  As D'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) takes Louis out the back way, they are ambushed.  The others can't find either of them and they question the tavern keeper who denies knowing anything.

They search the morgue where we see a woman, Simone Pepin (Sandra Reid) with her daughter looking for her husband who's gone missing.  The attendant tells them someone matching their description was brought in but it's not either one of them.  Athos (Tom Burke) recalls what happened on the streets a few years ago, when drunks were abducted and a man was held responsible.  He had a brother who is a blacksmith. He also denies knowing anything and Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) finds he's making shackles, the type that are used by the Spanish in their gallies.  They head back to the tavern where he says a man pays him to do it and he was afraid of losing his inn.  Aramis asks where the panel leads to and at the back Porthos (Howard Charles) finds the street has been scrubbed clean and finding blood.  Also the door handle has been removed so they can't get in again.
D'Artagnan and Louis are shackled and are lead in the woods with other men, one of whom is Pepin (Micah Balfour) the woman's husband.

He falls and is threatened with being killed unless someone carries him, D'Artagnan agrees to do so and Louis asks why they must carry him, well he's not the one doing the carrying.  Also saying he should tell them who he is, which would've been stupid.  Showing why he needs his advisers around him and is lost without the cardinal and also Anne (Alexandra Dowling).  They search for them and Treville (Hugo Speer) says his men are looking.  However Rochefort (Marc Warren) says the Red Guard will also search and will fare better, what happened to them then.  He also thinks D'Artagnan led Louis astray and shouldn't have accompanied him.  Constance (Tamla Kari) stands up for him saying he's the king's champion, as Rochefort later tells her not to defy him as she's just a servant, a commoner.  He later sees how close she is to Anne and apologizes, knowing he can get her to reveal Anne's confidences, which she plainly refuses to do.

Rochefort then gets Anne to write letters to her brother in Spain, so that if Louis is killed then she will remain regent and with Spain's help will remain on the throne.  She's reluctant to sign and Constance suggests he should hesitate, but she goes ahead anyway.  Time is running out as the dauphin will be christened and Louis needs to be there.  Rochefort suggests they tell everyone Louis is unwell and Anne tells Treville this will buy them time to find him.

At the camp, a woman rides in and it's Milady (Nainie McCoy) she's behind this as she steals the men's valuables.  She sees the king's ring and recognizes D'Artagnan and helps them to escape. However they don't get far and are caught, as she packs her things and leaves.  Once again she meets up with them and brings horses too for which Louis is grateful and also develops a soft spot for her helping them, as Pepin also helps him but is killed when the inn keeper arrives with his men and is told to finish everyone off by Rochefort. The Musketeers get his brother to tell them where the camp is after he gets his foot caught in a bear trap and he is told by Louis he will be pardoned if he stays and helps them as Porthos takes Louis back.  Also he tells Milady she is pardoned too after D'Artagnan tells him she's a thief and Aramis adds they don't know what else she's done.

At the christening Louis turns up in time as does Milday who watches as well.  Showing Anne was hasty in writing those letters.  Aramis gets a chance to see his son being christened too.  Louis later tells him the innkeeper's brother he's to die and he's showing mercy by executing him, he orders D'Artagnan to carry out the execution, but he refuses since he's a soldier, not an executioner. Rochefort obliges and stabs him with his sword, currying more favour in the eyes of Louis.  Telling D'Artagnan off and the others too for convincing him to go was uncalled for and we know Louis wouldn't accept responsibility for his own actions.  But he still didn't see how his subjects really live and he got no sense of their struggles, even after he was abducted and contrary to what he said to Pepin about changing the laws and ensuring this doesn't happen, he does nothing, easily showing the concept of the 'divine rights of the king' where he stood above the law and subjected himself only to the law of God.

As for Pepin's widow and daughter, all five of them pool together their money and D'Artagnan gives it to her, telling her how her husband died in the service of the king, saying the money was from the king.  Louis still did nothing, so much for reminiscing also with D'Artagnan about his own father, Henry and how he was eight when he was assassinated.  D'Artagnan also saying his father was killed, which is the only thing they shared, being worlds and emotions apart.  Louis caring for no one except his throne and the dauphin, but D'Artagnan having a heart and morals.

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