The Musketeers - | Season 1

The season is not flawless. The episodic “case of the week” structure can feel clunky (Episode 5, “The Homecoming,” drags). The fight choreography, while brutal and balletic, occasionally relies too heavily on the “Corkscrew Parry” (a move where a hero spins to block three opponents at once—thrilling the first time, a gimmick the sixth). Furthermore, the show’s insistence on modern social commentary (slavery, religious persecution, PTSD) is noble but sometimes anachronistic; characters speak like 21st-century therapists rather than 17th-century soldiers.

No season of The Musketeers works without a great Richelieu, and Capaldi is sublime. He never twirls a mustache. Instead, he leans into the banality of political evil. His genius move is liking the Musketeers. In Episode 4, “The Good Soldier,” he tells them he respects their honor—right before trying to destroy them. Capaldi’s Richelieu believes he is the only adult in a room full of children, and that terrifying self-righteousness elevates every scene. The Musketeers - Season 1

Despite its flaws, Season One of The Musketeers achieves something rare. It reminds us that the story is not about the sword fights—it’s about the men holding the swords. It understands that loyalty is not a slogan but a daily choice to forgive your brothers for being human. The season is not flawless

Then there is Milady de Winter. Maimie McCoy steals the show by refusing to be a victim. This Milady is not a femme fatale seduced into wickedness; she is a survivor who weaponized her trauma. Her chemistry with Burke is electric because it feels real—two people who loved each other and now hate each other with equal, exhausting passion. Instead, he leans into the banality of political evil

Final Grade: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

In the crowded graveyard of swashbuckling adaptations, the BBC’s 2014 series The Musketeers could have easily been a handsome corpse. The source material—Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers —has been blunted by parody ( The Mickey Mouse Club ), exhausted by excess (the 2011 3D film), and ossified by reverence (countless stuffy TV movies). To draw fresh blood in 2014, a new adaptation needed more than just witty banter and clanging rapiers. It needed a heart.