What was the point of Constance's on point speech about how she's a married woman and life sucks for women if she's gonna go off and kiss D'artagnan IN FRONT OF THE KING??? And don't even let me start on Aramis. Basically I'm only digging those Athos/Milady scenes, although I totally feel like whatshername is going to kill Milady for the manpain. If that happens I'm gone.

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I think if they want to play that off as a moment of pure adrenaline/life-or-death rashness, then fine. But otherwise...



There's a small part of me hoping that she'll be proved right and D'Artagnan will have to eat his Quixotic bullshit, but somehow I think they're just going to make Constance's husband "evil" and keep preaching the "love will find a way" thing.



Yeah, I don't see Milady surviving this season, unfortunately. The way everything's been set in motion makes her death a natural endpoint.



And Athos has smiled like 3 times this season, so you know he's going to be plunged back into a world of manpain soon.

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I just want more Porthos, it's all I want. I'm not even going to hope for anything good out of Constance and D'Artagnan's mess and I look forward to hurling the word "STUPID" at the TV whenever Aramis and Anne are on screen, I really really just want more Porthos. That's how low my bar goes.

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It looks like he's finally getting a proper storyline in the 8th episode with Liam Cunningham.

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About damn time! They've been teasing his dad storyline for ages now!

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I know. And yet I can't believe we have to wait another week after this one.

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Indeed! But it's ok we have stupid ship drama to tide us over!!!! I for one look forward to watching the undoubtedly clever way they found to shove all the drama that the uncovering of a forbidden relationship with a royal entails without the actual outcome of the death penalty for both parties!

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I have a feeling it's going to open with the Athos/Milady/Rochefort thing and then that's all they'll give us.



But we'll get a solid 10 minutes of Constagnan's brave love.



And ugh at Aramis forever. The King, Rochefort, and Marguerite will have to die for the two of them to believably escape this mess.

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Is this show good, should I watch?

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If you like light, goofy entertainment, then yes. It's like a better-acted Merlin.

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Hmm, I think I'll give it a go this weekend.

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Might as well. It's uneven, but it's fun. And the guys are all babes.

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Your captions are A+, bb. A+.

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ty, ty

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"I haven't seen the King since we were children."



"He's barely changed."



Ain't that the truth lol The promos really are lacklustre. Just because there's fighting going on doesn't mean it's an exiting scene to preview. I actually found it boring and I already watch the show.



And idk I'm pretty happy with where things are heading right now for everyone (like idc about Constance/D'Artagnan but that's a step up from loathing them in S1... though the photos make me think I might go back to loathing tbh). Everything else is a-ok. Aramis/Anne? Dumb but pretty, so I can't hate. Athos/Milady? Hot and doomed, hft. Rochefort? Eh as long as he doesn't get too creepy with the Governess, that plot has potential. And I'm actually interested what will happen with the Porthos storyline now that it seems to get moving. So yeah I'm a happy camper. For the moment.

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Yeah, I'm happy enough after the last episode. It was a slow start, but even with the stupidity of the ships it's still fun.



Sassy king joke aside, I feel like the writers should be commended for not having Athos act like his (ex-ish)wife banging at least 2 other dudes is any of his business. Even when one of them is his boss, and the other is his friend.



I think any other show would have had him calling her a whore by now. Which is a low bar, but there you have it.

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That's so true, sadly enough. Didn't even cross my mind but lots of other shows would've made Athos super-hypocritical. I think they nail him pretty well on the show (not least of all helped by the acting) because even at his drunken lowest, he still comes across as a good man who has the decency to look somewhat ashamed of what he did or what he is or who he loved. Ashamed of something. And he's sensible enough to not shift this onto someone else and start preaching about morals when he himself is fairly far removed from the concept (because even if the attempted execution was lawful, it was immoral and he knows it).



By the same token, I like that Milady isn't teasing him in a cruel way and trying to get revenge~ but instead she's just out for herself, trying to get by in the only way she knows how.



So even if the writing isn't exactly stellar, at least they get all the basics right imo when it comes to these character beats. It would be so easy to screw up but if done well, it's difficult to imagine how it could be different so writers don't get credit for it. Spotting the flaws is something that happens almost automatically, the opposite requires more thought being put into it than most viewers would. I guess.



(I like writing myself so that's why 1) long comments and 2) some thoughts about it lol)

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because even if the attempted execution was lawful, it was immoral and he knows it



For sure -- and if his flashback memory proved anything, it was that Catherine was right: he definitely killed her for tricking him, not for murdering his brother. So with Milady constantly railing on about what "really" happened, she misses the fact that that isn't what he cares about.



By the same token, I like that Milady isn't teasing him in a cruel way and trying to get revenge~ but instead she's just out for herself, trying to get by in the only way she knows how.





Exactly. He seems to be more irritated at her power-grasping than who she's doing to get there. He did flinch when she winkingly implied she was porking the Cardinal, but again -- he didn't actually say anything about it. And I think the power-grasping is more distasteful, because it makes him conclude that she only married him for the advantages that his money/position would bring.



I love long comments and dissecting TV because I'm weird, so go right ahead.



Yeah, I think it's interesting that they're the only couple I don't hate. A lot of that is writing, but I also think that Tom and Maimie are just capable of more subtlety/chemistry so they're elevating what they're given.

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he definitely killed her for tricking him, not for murdering his brother. So with Milady constantly railing on about what "really" happened, she misses the fact that that isn't what he cares about.



I agree, his harsh reaction was mostly down to the betrayal aspect of it though we haven't seen enough of his brother to know whether he was an unlikeable douchebag to begin with or actually someone who Athos was really fond of. They still have enough wiggle room there to give the story a few twists though I'm not sure they're going to matter all that much as the relationship between Athos and Milady is already progressing and changing as it is (which I prefer to having a development forced by plot contrivances). I think any revelation they might still have in store will come as a sort of end point/final push for the Milady redemption arc.



And poor Athos, he seems to attract power-grasping women if Milady and Catherine are anything to go by. Though of course the difference is that Milady presumably didn't marry him primarily for his wealth and status but because she loved him. He's probably torn about this because on the one hand he would like to believe that she loved him but then that would make his actions that much worse and on the other hand it'd be easier to live with his decisions if she really was just a conniving social climber and criminal but then that would mean he let himself get fooled into thinking she loved him. Either way, no wonder he's always nursing that bottle lol (how hilarious was it when he entered Treville's room and the first thing we see is the bottle of wine and only then the camera pans up?)



And last but not least, yes a lot of it is in the acting. If the chemistry isn't right, there's nothing writing can do about it. Though in this case the writing for the other pairings is also lacklustre in comparison. What do Aramis and Anne see in each other? They hardly feel fully formed as characters in the way Athos and Milady do (even if those two aren't the most complex characters ever either) so it's hard to make myself care for their relationships beyond a superficial "oh that's pretty!". Same goes for Constance/D'Artagnan though their conversations are slightly more annoying.

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I'm afraid you're right re: Milady redemption arc, but I think the best case scenario is having everyone in the story -- Athos, Milady, Thomas, and Catherine -- come out partly responsible.



Otherwise, it would be too tempting to either completely justify Athos's actions by having Milady admit that Thomas was just threatening to expose her real identity, or else try to redeem Milady by having Catherine be some kind of crazy villain who "goaded" her husband into rape or something similarly batshit.



But grey is where this needs to remain because I'm nhf Athos being in the right (and then able to move on with his life guilt free) or Milady being a tragic, misunderstood victim, because her body count's way too high for that now.



I don't think we'll ever find out for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the idea isn't that Milady initially went after Athos for his money and then actually fell in love. It fits better with her character and makes their romance more interesting.



And something that also likely won't be discussed or resolved is... from all of the flashbacks, Milady definitely was very, very different when she was married to him. And while I'm sure she loved him, part of his obvious mistrust must come from the fact that she's a conspicuously different person now -- just like with her sycophantic "I'm Venus, sire!" turning to "Ah, fuck it -- flip the damn coin" in this last episode with the King (who similarly seemed creeped out by her 180).



Sure, she was scorned -- but I also don't think all of the scorning in the world makes you that sassy and self-reliant if you were once genuinely a wilting flower skipping around the field with your hot Count husband. That said, I find it funny because it seems like her sassiness is a constant turn-on for him, and vice-versa.



The pan-up from the wine: YES. I laughed so hard at that.



As far as acting elevating the writing or not, I think it is more about the actors than the writers just excelling at one ship. Because the thing I said above about Milady's differing personalities... that's something that I think the writers should have addressed and haven't. And if Maimie wasn't so good at playing those scenes, or if Tom and Maimie didn't seem to circle each other like cats in heat every episode, I think we would need to stop and examine that more closely. They were attracted to one-another when they were lovey-dovey twenty-somethings, and now they're still wild for each other as hardened, angry, bitter thirty-somethings? I can see how Athos got there, because we've had a whole series of episodes about it. But Milady's trajectory seems to have been street urchin to Comtesse, then back to social-climbing thief/murderer. Which would suggest that she's more the outer two than the middle, at heart.



Aramis and Anne have always been a mystery to me -- I felt dense, tbh, when they got together and everyone on Tumblr was like "Finally!" It wasn't til I re-watched the season that I saw how obvious it was in terms of the plot, but they're both beautiful so I sort of get it.



Don't even get me started on Constagnan. They were cute last season, and I think their chemistry is good enough, but everything about his "love will save the day" a-historical nonsense is bothering me.



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Your captions on the photos are killing me. "So pretty. So dumb". Truer words....

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dead @ all of op's captions ili

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