This week, the Musketeers are faced with the dangerous mystery of a young woman named Emilie (Emma Lowndes), who appears to be something of a visionary, having prophetic dreams and mobilising the people to march into Spain.
Meanwhile – oh Aramis, what sort of romantic subterfuge are you playing at?
It’s clear that he has ulterior motives in his secret romance with Marguerite, given her close working relationship with the little Dauphin, whose safety Aramis seems overly invested in for someone who definitely never ever had any sort of indiscretion with Queen Anne about three-quarters of a year before the precious little royal was born.
(The intimate conversation and kiss they share later in the episode is kind of a dead giveaway, though – in case there was any doubt whether there were still feelings going on there. This can’t possibly end well for anyone, and it is with only the slightest pang of guilt that I can say I can’t wait to see what happens.)
Also meanwhile, Perales and Rochefort plot to murder each other with the assistance of that nice prostitute (such a shame we never do get to find out her name), and not only does Rochefort emerge triumphant, he even gets to give our heroes a proper talking-to in no uncertain terms as a result.
The King’s lines about how much Rochefort is the only person he can trust are so thickly smothered with dramatic irony that it’s all I can do not to throw my slippers at the television and shout at him – not to mention as he continues to fall prey to Milady de Winter’s admittedly abundant but devious charm. I’m turning into a panto audience.
As far as dangers go, Emilie is sweetly disconcerting: it’s abundantly clear that she’s absolutely convinced that her motivations are true and right.
It is eventually revealed that her visions are the result of unknowingly being fed magic mushroom soup by her mother: it seemed clear from fairly early on that Emilie’s mother is the worst possible sort of stage mom – even before we discover exactly what she’s been doing to bring about Emilie’s visions, we see her sowing the seeds of destructive divine purpose in Emilie’s mind. I suspect that Emilie is going to be in therapy for many years to come.
Aired at 9pm on Friday 30 January 2015 on BBC One.
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