The Musketeers S1E1 - "Friends and Enemies" Recap

The Musketeers begins with young D'Artagnan and his father travelling to visit the King in regards to high taxes. Bandits, led by a man claiming to be Athos of the Musketeers, arrive looking to rob them and the inn at which they are staying, a scuffle ensues, and D'Artagnan's father ends up dead while the pretend-Musketeers escape. D'Artagnan sets off on a quest for vengeance. D'Artagnan ends up in an argument with a man on the way, and ends up having an affair with his wife. Afterwards, D'Artagnan learns that the man has tried to kill her before and offers to kill him instead. The next morning, the woman is gone, but a bloody knife is stuck through her pillow. The husband is dead, D'Artagnan is wrongfully blamed, and he must run off to escape being captured. He finally manages to track down the real Musketeers and attacks Athos. They begin sword-fighting while Aramis and Porthos look on in amazement at D'Artagnan's solid abilities with a sword. Finally, the other Musketeers intervene to stop the fighting and right after, guards show up to arrest Athos for the robbery and murder at the top of the episode. Cardinal Armand Richelieu is determined to bring down the Musketeers and may frequently be found (figuratively) whispering into the King's ear.

Athos is sentenced to death. Aramis and Porthos recruit D'Artagnan to help find the real bandits/murderer. Upon returning to the scene of the crime, they examine the body of one of the bandits that D'Artagnan managed to shoot. They find that his clothes have been switched and suspect Cornay, a man also wanted (secretly) for stealing important letters belonging to the King. As it turns out, the woman D'Artagnan hooked up with is in cahoots with Cardinal Richelieu and together, they were the ones that stole the letters. He doesn't want the King to become independent, lest the Cardinal become un-needed. Also, the Cardinal has her search for the origins of a pistol found in his wife's room. Unbeknownst to him, the rifle belongs to Aramis, whom he witnessed having an affair with his wife earlier on in the episode. While Aramis appears to have a weakness for womyn, Porthos appears to have a weakness for gold, gambling, and money in general.

Aramis and Porthos threaten a man with whom Porthos fought with at the top of the episode. They trick him into thinking they'll kill him and they learn that the robbery was part of a bigger plan to steal the King's letters and they also learn that the captain of the Red Guard was the was one to kill D'Artagnan's father. Aramis, Porthos, and D'Artagnan plan an ambush of the Red Guard, with the help of a woman that D'Artagnan was helped by during his escape from wrongfully being accused of murder. D'Artagnan becomes trigger-happy at the prospect of finally apprehending his father's killer. A fight ensues and when D'Artagnan is about to kill the Captain, Aramis stops him. D'Artagnan begins to walk away and when the Captain tries to kill him when his back is turned, D'Artagnan kills him instead. They find stolen Musketeer uniforms and save Athos just in time. The Cardinal takes his wife into the woods and has her killed. Right before she is shot, she professes her love for Aramis. In the end, we see that the woman in cahoots with the Cardinal was once the love of Athos.

The Musketeers airs on Sundays at 21:00 on BBC One.