The Musketeers hasn't always hit the mark over the past eight weeks, but shortly before it departs our screens for the foreseeable future, BBC One's period action romp offers up one of its strongest, most confident episodes yet.

'Knight Takes Queen' has all the essential ingredients for a stirring family drama - romance, humour and action - while also tantalisingly laying the groundwork for next Sunday's series climax.



A fast-paced first third establishes this week's peril, with Alexandra Dowling's Queen Anne targeted by a formidable gunman - all part of a wicked plot by Peter Capaldi's Cardinal to get his grubby mitts on a wealthy German banker's riches.

Our heroes are forced to take refuge in a convent, and while you might expect a nunnery to be the one place in 17th century Paris where the Musketeers would be spared girl troubles, Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) is briefly reunited with an old flame - the women who once broke his heart - before losing her all over again.

Said loss helps to deepen the hitherto rather frothy flirtation between Aramis and the Queen. Their unrequited romance has been paid only passing attention in the past eight weeks, so while their passionate clinch here doesn't quite feel earned, Cabrera and Dowling do at least get to share some exchanges with a little more depth than usual, as their characters each reflect on their own grief and loss.



It's not all broken hearts and teary tributes though; 'Knight Takes Queen' also keeps the adrenaline pumping with what is easily one of this show's most epic action sequences to date - the first siege on the convent. If the sight of bad-ass nuns tossing home-made bombs doesn't make you break out in a big grin, then you're probably watching the wrong series.

Amidst all this, The Musketeers also teases next Sunday's series closer. Whether or not the show's writers knew at this point that Peter Capaldi would not be returning for a second series is uncertain, but regardless there's a heavy sense of foreboding hanging over the Cardinal this week.



Launching his riskiest, most audacious scheme yet, Richelieu bites off more than he can chew and ends up dangerously exposed. Maimie McCoy's Milady is now not only his darkest secret - literally lurking in shadowy corners for the entirety of this episode - but could also prove to be his most dangerous opponent.

The Musketeers might know too much, but Milady knows everything and I suspect her tempestuous relationship with the Cardinal will come to a dark and violent climax before series end.

'Knight Takes Queen' offers up adventure drama on a grand scale, with a strong helping of humour to lighten the mood and dazzling location work, plus some much-appreciated additional screen-time for the underused Alexandra Dowling.

The Musketeers hasn't always hit the mark, but this week, it more than justified that second series commission.

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