The Musketeers Series 2 Review: An Excellent Follow-Up That Exceeds The High Standards Of Series 1

An excellent follow-up that exceeds the high standards established by the first series. (warning: potential spoilers ahead)

There’s a pleasing sense of closure that has come with the conclusion of the second series of BBC One’s The Musketeers.  Though the Cardinal’s immediate plans had been thwarted, by the end of Series 1 many of the ongoing plot threads and character arcs were still only partially resolved by the finale; D’Artagnan (Luke Pasquilino) and Constance Bonacieux (Tamla Kari) were still erring to the side of “won’t” as far as their ‘will they/won’t they?’ relationship was concerned, Queen Anne’s (Alexandra Dowling) and Aramis’ (Santiago Cabrera) pregnancy/child was left a looming time-bomb for a villain to use against them, Porthos’ (Howard Charles) parentage and history in the Court of Miracles had been explored a little but with no definitive answers given, and even the Cardinal’s plot to remove Queen Anne – though thwarted in the most immediate sense – was a thread that could have been further extrapolated upon had Peter Capaldi been able to return to the role in the second series.

None of this is intended as a criticism of Series 1. Indeed, it showed confidence in the future of the fledgling series on the BBC’s and the writers’ part to leave so much up to be picked up upon later. However, in the wake of Series 2, it can now be said that all of these plot threads have now been followed up on and – seemingly – concluded; each played out over the course of ten (mostly) standalone adventures for the Musketeers, and each in some way increasing our understanding of the protagonists (and antagonist) as people. We learn more of Porthos’ heritage, the results of the affair between Aramis and the Queen come to a head in the finale, and even Athos (Tom Burke) – whose past life and relationship with Milady de Winter (Maimie McCoy) were comprehensively explored in Series 1 – is given room for further background details of the character to be revealed.

What this all adds up to is that the conclusion to this series more of a feeling of moving on to the next story, as opposed to setting up the resolution to the current one.

As with the first series, the principal cast is, to all intents and purposes, without fault. The tension between Porthos and Captain Treville (Hugo Speer), as a result of the latter withholding information about the former’s parentage, is a palpable depiction of the emotions often felt between two men in a mentor/student relationship. Meanwhile, Aramis’ Casanova-esque charm from the first series is now heavily tempered by his paternal feelings towards the Queen’s son, the Dauphin Louis.

Of the other female characters, Alexandra Dowling remains simultaneously a strong and confident presence as Queen Anne, whilst Maime McCoy gives a first-rate performance as the character of Milady is taken on a veritable rags to riches to rags to redemption journey over the course of the series, going from travelling assassin in the wake of the Cardinal’s death, to King Louis’ mistress, to disgraced outcast, and finally to ally of the Musketeers, reconciling with Athos and helping them in their battle against Rochefort (although the finality of this reunification is called into question at the very end of the series).

Speaking of Rochefort, it is – without a doubt – Marc Warren who is the primary driving force of this series. In my review of episode 1 of this series, I wrote of Warren’s Rochefort that: “Whilst Richelieu was portrayed as a cold-blooded manipulator with an undeniable megalomaniacal streak in the first series, it could also truly be claimed that a great many of his actions – no matter how repugnant – were what he considered to be in the best interest for his country. At present, Rochefort’s allegiance is anything but as clearly defined; seemingly playing both the France and Spain towards his own, as yet undisclosed, end”.

The end, as it transpires, was to seize power in France for himself, and in doing so make Queen Anne, whom he had desired since before his imprisonment in Spain, his mistress.

Warren’s performance is outstanding, with his character easily matching Capaldi’s Richelieu in terms of being a Machiavellian arch-manipulator, but complementing the cold, calculating demeanour present in both villains with a barely controlled psychosis (made all the more unsettling for the sexual fantasising that goes with it), that grows ever more apparent until the close of the series where the mask entirely falls away, revealing a villain who is almost tangibly loathsome in his willingness to commit genuinely horrifying acts to achieve his ends.

Another great character/performance – and one that, I fear, may be underappreciated by many – is that of Ryan Gage as King Louis. Throughout the series, the King is put in numerous situations that provide the opportunity for a clichéd “the bad king sees the error of his ways and becomes a better ruler as a result” piece of character development; from seeing slavery and rebellion flourishing under his nose, to being held hostage by a fanatic whose family has been killed as a result of the King’s decisions as monarch.

However, throughout the series, Louis (in a manner that is, sadly, probably far truer to how powerful people would react in real life) fails to see his own failings as ruler having any hand in the matter, and Gage magnificently depicts the King’s fall from arrogant fop to a paranoid man who sees treachery in every corner save for the one place he should be looking for it (Rochefort). To cap it all off, the final two episodes see Gage give a movingly distraught performance, as Rochefort’s plan tips him over the edge emotionally.

I must confess, I have a slight niggle with the relationship between Constance and D’Artagnan, or rather a single aspect of it (and even then, I am not sure it is actually a fault of the show so much as it is a fault with me as a viewer). Make no mistake; Pasquilino and Kari both deliver superb performances in their respective roles, and – indeed – in many ways, Constance grows as a character greatly in this series, becoming a trusted advisor to the Queen, as well as bravely holding her own against pretty well every other character. The problem, for me, lies in the depiction of D’Artagnan. As a Musketeer, he is firmly cemented as one of the brothers in arms, but as the love of Constance’s life, he is irritating to say the least; repeatedly insisting she leave her husband early in the series, and – following his (Bonacieux’s) death in episode 7 – barely waits for the gravediggers to finish piling on the earth before again insisting that he and Constance should be together, and reacting with anger when she (not unreasonably) says she needs time to reconcile her love for him with the death of her husband.

Again, this is probably a reaction that is truer to life than the clichéd heroic “we can’t be together” selflessness so often seen in films and television, but all it does is highlight what an unattractive quality it is in a character with whom we’re meant to sympathise.

All of that said, on reflection, perhaps that is what makes the relationship between them so believable: that they are not the perfect, selfless couple.

Another thing one could mention about The Musketeers as a criticism (probably on much surer ground) is that – whilst it deals with a great many issues such as faith, oppression and equality in a fair, balanced manner – it can at times be a little too earnest in the way it goes about it. If – for example – the episode deals with slavery, you may rest assured there will be a line of dialogue at some point to the effect of “this is the slavery episode; and slavery is bad”. Again, it is a slight gripe, but probably worth noting.

However, if there was one thing that really, genuinely, unequivocally did let The Musketeers down this year, it was that it fell victim to completely erratic scheduling on the BBC’s part, which is a real shame as overall the series offered a variety of swashbuckling adventures and great characters, which concludes a number of character arcs set up in Series 1, whilst at the same time setting the foundation stones for what is to come in Series 3, and it would have benefitted greatly from a consistent time slot to stop the audience losing track of what was transpiring over the course of the ten episodes.

Nevertheless, Series 2 of The Musketeers is now available to buy on DVD, so if you missed any of it, lost track of the story, or simply want to see the story unfold again, I strongly recommend it as a purchase.

THE MUSKETEERS SERIES 2 is available to buy now on DVD and Blu-ray now.

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