The first hour of The Count of Monte Cristo set the stage enough to understand why Edmund was imprisoned. The second hour sets up his escape, allowing the rest of the story to flow throughout the remaining episodes.
It’s a good choice to quickly move through the decades. Not only does this skip over some of the more boring parts of Edmund’s imprisonment, but it also offers a chance to see how much changes on the outside world, and how little Edmund hears about.
Jeremy Irons Brings Humor to The Count of Monte Cristo
Even a dramatic story needs a little humor. There are times that we need to take a breath, and that’s what Jeremy Irons’s Abbe Faria offers. Up to this point, we just knew that he was a prisoner considered insane, and we do get a sense of why that is when he literally tunnels through the wall into Edmund’s cell.
At first, it looks like Abbe may have wanted to reach his fellow inmate, but it turns out that he never meant for that at all. For the last 10 years — well, we can assume that — he has been working to get out through the castle walls, only to realize that he took a wrong turn somewhere.
That could have left to complete despair, but the two end up forming an epic friendship. Initially, Edmund wants to work with Abbe to escape, but then he realizes just how much Abbe knows, and Edmund wants to learn. So, the two spend plenty of time together, digging during the day and learning at night, and it’s clear that Abbe is more than willing to have someone to talk with and teach.
This is when we learn of the fortune Abbe apparently has. It’s on a parchment written in invisible ink. They just have to hope that the fortune is still there. They’re prisoners with no hope of release, so what little do they have to lose?
Throughout all this, we get the humor that only Irons can bring to a wall. He takes on the role of crazy so well, but Abbe isn’t crazy for the sake of it. He’s been left in solitude for so long and he’s a genius. Of course, he’s gone a little mad. But he’s still kind and has his wits about him, making it clear that there is a lot of heart there.
Photographer: Paolo Modugno
It’s the heart that leaves us feeling the loss when it’s clear he has a stroke. That stroke eventually brings death, and we can feel the loss Edmund experiences in this moment. However, Edmund doesn’t have time to fully grieve, and hopefully that comes up later on The Count of Monte Cristo.
Abbe’s death offers Edmund a different way out. Armed with a knife and the parchment, he gets himself in the death bag — after putting Abbe into his own cell with some of his hair over the top — so that he will be thrown into the water. He’s fortunate that he’s thrown out before someone checks on his cell, but then that was the risk he had to take. Again, it’s not like he had anything left to lose.
A Quick Look at the World Moving Outside
It’s only when Edmund gets into Abbe’s cell that he realizes how long he has been locked away. He hasn’t considered finding a way to track that at first, and who would? He was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and all he was hoping for was someone to vouch for him.
As the reality of the situation sinks in for Edmund, especially as he realizes that the man he thought would support him was the reason he was in this prison cell, we get to see how the world has continued outside. And it’s as devastating as you would think.
Photographer: Paolo Modugno
Everyone is lied to about Edmund’s situation. They’re told he has died, and that leaves Mercedes and Edmund’s father in tatters. While they likely remained close at first, Mercedes eventually leaves, because it’s only later that she learns the man who would have been her father-in-law passed away a week before her visit.
He couldn’t bear any longer without his son, and it’s a story as old as time. A parent should not outlive their children. It’s the reason there isn’t a word for a parent who has lost all their children — in the way that there is the term orphan for a child who has lost both of their parents.
I would have liked to see a little more of this part play out on the screen. Maybe we could have had some idea that Merecedes and Edmund’s father were close at some point. Otherwise, why did he remain alive for so many years if he was so depressed about losing his son? Did Mercedes leaving for other pastures lead to him believing he had nothing left to live for?
I can only imagine how devastated Edmund will be as he learns about everything that happened while he was gone. The ending to The Count of Monte Cristo Episode 2 has me all the more excited for the rest of the season.
