'Barkskins' Episode 3 Review: Blood, empire and legacy of utmost importance on the Nat Geo show
Spoilers for 'Barkskins'Season 1 and Episode 3 'The Sugared Plum'
'Barkskins' has several disappearances but no clue on the whereabouts of these people.
With Gus Lafarge (Matthew Lillard) now dead, the entire town of Wobik finds itself in chaos. As Captain Bouchard (David Wilmot) begins his investigations into the killing of Lafarge, he first goes to the inn to visit Mathilde Geffard (Marcia Gay Harden). He tries to connect the murder to the young girl and the priest but is disappointed when Mathilde wouldn't give him the answers he is seeking.
Elsewhere, the young girls from Filles Du Rois are gearing up to select an appropriate husband. Melissande (Tallulah Haddon) is adamant that she will choose the wealthiest man with the most land. Even after Mother Sabrine (Leni Parker tells them that there is more to a man than just money. It displays how women at that time prioritized their criterion from marriage. Delphine (Lily Sullivan), on the other hand, does not have many requirements from her groom. But she is nervous about making the wrong choice and is filled with anxiety at the thought of her future.
It is Monsieur Claude Trepagny (David Thewlis) who is in the best of spirits this episode as he is finally going to bring home a French wife. With some zest that he wants to be hidden from Mari (Kaniehtiio Horn) he commands Rene Sel (Christian Cooke) to clear a patch in his ever-expanding land. In this small area that Rene would soon clear, Trepagny expresses his desire to have a family because that is the true legacy one leaves behind. There is a skip in his step as he tells about his honest interest in getting married.
Perhaps that is why Melissande immediately makes an impression on him at the dance. Initially, Trepagny is quite taken by Delphine but when Melissande interjects his intentions and show him that she wants exactly the same things as him - a family, son, children and land. "Blood. Land. What we make and grow from it is what will be left when we're gone," she says, immediately grabbing his attention. While Trepagny might be looking for a wife with true intentions of a family, Melissande is looking for the financial security that he will be offering her. It might come full circle when and if their marriage has problems in the future given Mother Sabrine's warning earlier this episode.
So far, Trepagny is the most eccentric of characters on 'Barkskins. He prays for the right bride, he diligently makes a home in the woods. For the dance, he prepares himself like no other man has. One of the wealthiest men alive, Trepagny could choose to skip it, but he is a man of valor and flamboyance, so why not.
'The Sugared Plum' shows Charles Duquet (James Bloor) at the peak of his quest to survive. Having now successfully fled Trepagny, he finds himself back in the town, from where he can now go back to France. But without money, he chooses to run a deadly errand for Elisha Coke (Thomas M Wright), who wants to get rid of Lafarge's boy Thom (Kyle Breitkopf), who could prove to be a witness against him. Duquet proves himself to make the best out of surviving. But it remains to be seen if he has lost his conscience.
Episode 3 sees each character in pursuit of something; often their desires clash with that of others - as is the case with Mari and Trepagny - while in other cases, they align as with Melissande and Trepagny. But what path they choose will be affecting their generations to come. But the real question still remains - who killed Lafarge?
'Barkskins' airs on Mondays at 9/8c on National Geographic.