The Musketeers: Episode 7 review - In the land of women  

Feeling rather like a retort - albeit an unwitting one - to critics like myself who\'ve questioned the negligble role afforded women on

, \'A Rebellious Woman\' sees our heroes encounter a new phenomenon: feminism.

Leading the charge is the rebellious woman of the episode\'s title. Actress

Annabelle Wallis brought a gentle, almost ethereal quality to her role in BBC One\'s

last year and impresses again here as spirited trailblazer Ninon De Larroque.

Ninon is seeking to educate the young women of Paris - even the lowliest servant girls - but her efforts have placed her in opposition not only to the city\'s stubborn menfolk but also the Cardinal, who is urged to crush the troublesome De Larroque to secure a position as the new Pope.

puts Peter Capaldi\'s considerable talents to good use for a second week running. He\'s clearly having a ball in the scenes which see Ninon put to trial for debauchery and witchcraft - once literally tweaking his moustache - and is equally terrific as the weakened Cardinal, struck down by poison, questions his own motives and place in the world, not that his newfound piety lasts long.

With Richelieu bedridden, \'A Rebellious Woman\' also allows Maimie McCoy\'s Milady to return to the fore in spectacular style. So good is McCoy as she toys with and manipulates all those around her that it only highlights what a pity it is that her character\'s been used so sporadically up till this point.

In general, and inkeeping with the episode\'s feminist themes, this episode allows the women of

far more prominent, stronger roles than has often been the case in the past seven weeks.

Alexandra Dowling\'s Queen Anne and her sympathies for Ninon\'s work are used as the jumping-off point for this week\'s plot, while Tamla Kari\'s Constance not only fights the corner of a young relative bullied into a loveless marriage but subequently breaks free from her own unhappy union for a much-teased dalliance with d\'Artagnan.

That final kiss aside though, with so much going on - the accidental death of a young girl, Ninon\'s trial, the nefarious schemes of John Lynch\'s Father Sestini - it\'s fair to say that any romantic elements present in \'A Rebellious Woman\' feel a little throwaway and inconsequential.

In particular, the fleeting romance between Ninon and Athos (Tom Burke) seems shoehorned in and the episode would likely have functioned perfectly well without it.

The episode\'s resolution is not black-and-white either - Ninon escapes death but the Cardinal succeeds in repositioning her wealth for his own ends - and while last week a murky ending felt right, here Ninon being sentenced her to life as a nomad, \'never to be heard\', rather undermines the episode\'s entire message.

But \'A Rebellious Woman\' can still be considered a strong stab at addressing the issue of women\'s place in society within the framework of a historical action-adventure, with James Payne\'s script making solid use of an excellent cast.

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More: Cult, The Musketeers, Annabelle Wallis, Peter Capaldi, Maimie McCoy, Tom Burke, Alexandra Dowling, Tamla Kari

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