So, then..."Musketeers"?

[Harry von Fleischmann]

Now, it's finished, what's the verdict?

I'll keep it general as some may not have seen the finale. Frankly I zoned out for some of S3 only going back for the finale so my wife wouldn't have to worry about giving the ending away. I wanted to like it but couldn't buy into Rupert Everett - who was good - just being all ambiguous and some guy called Grimaud doing the heavy villainous lifting.

Overall, I think it suffered from the Dr Who Saturday slot - it wasn't kids stuff, it wasn't adult and so at times you had Athos being SERIOUS while Porthos panto'd it up and the other two smirked. Credit where it's due, Treville was played SERIOUS all the time no matter how shaky the plot went

It took  a big hit when Capaldi jumped ship for Who. This -  I think - meant that Rochefort had to carry all of S2 as the villain, which worked but left them scrabbling for a non book villain in S3.

For me, the exploding cannon balls in the battle at the start of S3 were a low point, that and the size of the ammunition convoy. I mean, our old mate The Flashing Blade nicked that much in his series and it was barely enough for a few hundred men at Casale let alone the entire French army.....

Anyway, here is my alternative version.....Capaldi stays with it and S2 sees Rochfort doing dirty work for him...gradually we learn that Rochfort is plotting with the Kings brother and S2 ends with Richelieu dead, the King dying, the Queen marginalised and the Musketeers hip deep in trouble. Heck you could even have Treville with his head on the block.....S3 kicks off with the arrival of everyone's other favourite Cardinal, Mazarin, who picks up where Richelieu left off and with the aid of the musketeers, sorts out the traitors and secures the Queens regency. Throw in a bit of Frondeurism and a dash of Rocroi and all is well. I mean to heck with history.....

[Tym]

I could just not cope with the Cowboy hats!

[Steve63]

Deleted

[Malamute]

It's not often we get to see swashbuckling drama anymore on prime time tv. So I embrace it for what it is.
After three series I have begun to really enjoy the four leads, they will never replace messrs Reed, Chamberlain, Finlay and York but I think they trump any others.
They wrapped it up well enough, shame it won't be back, so I will just have to hold out for more Black Sails which I understand has also been cancelled with only one more season to run.

[Galloping Major]

I braved the first two series, despite the awful garb and other anachronisms and the hoots of derision from my wife and daughter, I thought the cast was very good and enjoyed aspects of it; but when it came to a third series, I just couldn't muster the resolution to go any further 


www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[mweaver]

I thought the first season was decent - the outfits for Our Heroes were dodgy, but other costuming and sets were pretty good and the action sequences tended to be fairly well done.  And I thought the four leads had the comrades-in-arms vibe going pretty well.  The biggest weakness was the plots tended to be pretty lame. 

I could not make it through the second season.  For the Rochefort villain to work, everyone had become a lot more stupid than they had been in season I.   

-Michael

[manatic]

I liked all three seasons, with the first one being my favourite. S3 got a bit angsty at times, and Grimaud was never really developed as a character. Still, the ending was satisfying and the show was good fun. Sad too see it ending.

[Brummie Thug]

I have really enjoyed all three season's. So much so I am now looking into playing some games in this genre/period and here to research ranges