The Musketeers returned with a second episode focusing on undercover operations, some with criminals but mostly with prostitutes. In addition, Sleight of Hand expanded on the story of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis while still remaining focused on D’Artagnan and his journey to become a full-fledged Musketeer.
Sleight of Hand follows the Musketeers in their pursuit of a vicious criminal named Vadim, who is hell-bent on causing destruction in Paris. Vadim is locked away in a prison, but he quickly escapes along with D’Artagnan who is locked up for illegal dueling. This escape sets Vadim’s master plan in motion, although no one is quite sure what this plan actually is. The only thing that the Musketeers know is that Vadim has hundreds of powder kegs hidden somewhere in the city, and he has a massive vendetta against the King.
The Musketeers must find a way to stop Vadim’s plot against the King while also rescuing a compromised D’Artagnan from an explosive death. Unfortunately, the Musketeers also have to deal with hidden enemies in Cardinal Richelieu and Milady DeWinter. Their main goal is destroying the Musketeers, but they feel the need to intervene when Vadim comes to close to fulfilling his plan.
Villainous indeed
The plot of Sleight of Hand may be a fairly common one, but that can be forgiven because enough outside influences were added to keep it from becoming stale. Many extra plot points—like Vadim’s love affair with a prostitute, or Aramis’ complicated love life—added in extra elements to consider while watching. Plus, the Musketeers added some fun moments that helped disguise this common plot of an undercover operation to stop a terrorist. Multiple times throughout Sleight of Hand, Constance would find a reason to slap Aramis as hard as she possibly could. These moments were quick, but they were fun.
Aramis in a rare moment when he isn’t being slapped.
One other positive from this episode was the usage and balance of the main heroes/villains. Richelieu takes more of a backseat during Sleight of Hand, but he still plays a very important role. Mostly, he has to keep Vadim and Milady from murdering every single person in France and stealing their belongings. On the opposite side, Athos has an expanded role from the pilot, but I still don’t know much about him besides a tendency to be a very serious fellow. I don’t believe that The Musketeers would keep Athos as a more subdued character when Porthos and Aramis are so fun. Hopefully, he will take after Kiefer Sutherland’s version of Athos and find occasional moments to get really drunk and talk about his love life.
Porthos and Aramis continue to literally steal the show with their strange banter, drunkenness, and penchant for fighting. During one scene in particular, Porthos and Aramis watch D’Artagnan during his illegal duel, and they spend the entire time discussing his fighting style, or lack thereof. In addition, Aramis even found a moment during this scene to play on the well-known Musketeer phrase “All for one, and one for all,” while abandoning D’Artagnan to his imprisonment. It seems that these two Musketeers have the main purpose of providing humor during otherwise serious moments. I definitely chuckled when Porthos snuck up on Aramis during a very tense moment and stuck a gun against his head. There was absolutely no purpose to the move besides having some fun and screwing with Aramis.
D’Artagnan during his duel.
The Musketeers is only two episodes into the first season, but I am definitely enjoying it so far. The action is great, as is Peter Capaldi, but I believe the main draw is the mood. You can tell that the show is focused on having fun and the actors all seem to agree with that goal. Little, fun moments keep the Musketeers from trying to be overly serious, and I am grateful for that. Of course, I can never turn down a show involving the Three Musketeers.
I will keep watching and enjoying the show while anticipating the upcoming stories. How will Athos deal with the knowledge that Milady DeWinter is alive?
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