Monday, January 19, 2015

The Musketeers - Keep Your Friends Close


Season Two of The Musketeers begins with some big changes to the show. Due to Peter Capaldi now traveling through space and time on a different BBC TV-show, "Keep Your Friends Close" begins with the funeral of Cardinal Richelieu and the introduction of a new villain in the Comte de Rochefort (Marc Warren), a former agent of the Cardinal in Spain who escapes prison to enlist the help of Athos (Tom Burke), Aramis (Santiago Cabrera), Porthos (Howard Charles), and D'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) to rescue an imprisoned French general (Dominic Mafham). Hiding his true motives as a Spanish spy, Rochefort manages to betray everyone he comes into contact with turning each situation to his own personal advantage.

Capaldi's departure is a blow to the show as Rochefort may be as evil as the Cardinal but nowhere near as cunning. However, the Cardinal was always loyal to the crown leaving the show's new snake in the garden an entirely different set of storylines to explore. And introducing the idea of Rochefort's longtime friendship with the Queen gives him alternate ways to exploit situations for his own advantage. The opening episode also features Queen Anne (Alexandra Dowling) giving birth to the royal heir (who is actually Aramis' son) and the introduction Olivia Llewellyn of a possible new love interest for D'Artagnan hopefully putting an end to the never-ending soap opera between the young Musketeer and Constance Bonacieux (Tamla Kari).

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