#so i really hope to see an entirely new montparnasse and eponine

[granhairdo]

when i saw les mis us this year i saw the understudy for montparnasse and thought he was really good but now that im gonna see it again im hoping we get the og dude so i can see his portrayal as well

[badlesmisimaginesofficial]

shoutout to @byjuxtaposition​ for egging on my worst thoughts and impulses! this is dedicated to them and also the NHL for giving me more hours of hockey a day than one person can reasonably or safely consume

[nsfw text]

Imagine....

When Valjean first disappeared, you spent weeks looking for him. It made no sense how a man could vanish into thin air and yet he'd done it. Even when your pursued his pseudonyms, no one had heard of Madeleine or Fauchelevent. You kept looking for a while, hoping he would pop up somewhere, but months and then years passed. You had to accept it. The best dick of your life was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

Slowly, you got over it. Gillenormand was happy to pay for your therapy in exchange for sexual favours and you could always go to Javert if you wanted a spanking. His heart was never in it as much, but it scratched the itch.

'I think you're going to see him again,' Eponine says one day. You'd been feeling melancholy and, like clockwork, she showed up in your door with a lit cigarette in hand. It was like she had a psychic sense for when you needed to talk about your love life. So much as a fleeting thought about your romantic prospects and Bam, Eponine would be there.

'Really?' you say, hating how hopeful you sound.

'Yeah. Like, you'll be walking down the street one day and there he'll be. You won't be expecting it.'

'When did you get so wise, 'Ponine?' you giggle. She shoves you affectionately, rolling her eyeliner-rimmed eyes.

'I'm always saying, Y/N. You've got to put your trust in the Infinite.'

'Right. Because that always ends well.'

'Oh come on, it does. And in completely unrelated news, because I exist just to be your hypewoman - '

'What?'

'Are you coming to the game on Saturday?'

'Oh god. I don't know. Wait, are you going?'

Eponine nods, a sly blush creeping onto her face. 'Enjolras has been begging me, you know how he gets about sport.'

'Are you guys like, a thing now?' you ask, delighted. You've spent way too long watching the two of them circle shyly round each other, unable to act on the crazy amounts of sexual tension. It's even worse when they bicker, like watching a lightning storm due to obliterate everything in its path.

'Maaaybe. If you and Montparnasse come it'll be like a double-date!'

You sigh. The only person crazier about sport than Enjolras, Montparnasse has been trying to get you into ice hockey for ages. You're still not super sure of the appeal, but it's like, Really important to Monty. He's got Wayne Gretzky's face tattooed on his left buttcheek for a reason.

'I guess,' you say.

Eponine claps in delight. 'Yess! Ohmygod Y/N, it's going to be so much fun.'

*

You hate to concede it, but she's kind of right. The game is more fun than expected, plus Montparnasse is so delighted that you came that you just know you are getting ploughed for hours later.

Having done exactly zero research before going, you knew nothing about either of the teams. There was one face, though, that you instantly recognised.

'Wait,' you say, tugging on Montparnasse's sleeve. 'Is that... Gritty?'

'What? Oh, yeah. Guess you saw the memes, huh?'

You nod quickly. Ever since seeing tumblr posts about the hideous orange mascot, the thought of his dizzying eyes had stayed with you. You hadn't even realised it was a hockey thing. You can never tell Monty, but there's something sexually thrilling about Gritty, in an appalling way.

Now, you find your eyes following him. Is it your imagination, or is there something familiar about his frame? It's hard to tell under all the orange fluff, but his lumbering gait is oddly recognisable.

It's difficult to pay attention to the game after that. Monty is telling you about how power plays work, but your eyes keep seeking out Gritty wherever he is.

As soon as the first intermission begins, you know what you have to do. Mumbling something about going to the bathroom, you leave Montparnasse next to Eponine and Enjolras (who are snogging vigorously) and head at top speed to where you last saw the mascot.

It doesn't take long to find him. You see the back of his head over the crowd and your heart speeds up. Weaving through the other fans, you break through to the front and find yourself face to face with Gritty.

'Hey,' you say. For one long, horrible moment, he just stares at you, impassive and unblinking. Maybe you got it wrong? It could be some random guy in there, who has no idea who you are or why you sought him out.

'Y/N..?' Gritty says, softer than any such abomination should sound.

Your heart somersaults. It is him!

'We need to talk,' you say, oblivious to the confused fans surrounding the two of you. Gritty nods quickly and, taking your hand, leads you through a series of doors until you're safely enclosed in a store cupboard. Only then does he remove his head, hands trembling, and reveal his face.

'I thought I'd lost you,' you say, tracing one hand along his jaw.

'I'm sorry I left,' Valjean whispers. 'It was all so complicated. But you deserve better.'

'I can't believe you're here. Have you always been Gritty?'

He nods. 'It was a chance for a fresh start. I had to take it, Y/N. God, it's so good to see you.'

Leaning in, he kisses you passionately. It sends electricity through your entire body. You haven't felt like that in so long.

'I...' suddenly, you remember Montparnasse, dutifully waiting for you.

'What?' Valjean tenses, and then reads your mind, just like old times. 'You have a boyfriend?'

Shamefully, you nod. 'I know I should go back to him.'

'Do you want to?'

You shake your head. 'I want... I want you.'

A sudden, devilish smirk plays its way across Valjean's face. 'That can be arranged.'

He reaches to unzip his costume, but you stop him.

'Oh, no,' you say. 'Gritty costume says on during sex.'

[enjol--taire]

The people have spoken, here's a review on the Les Miserables performance at the Sondheim that i saw 3 weeks ago lol

First of all the theatre is so pretty! The Queens was already one of my favorite theatres but it got even more beautiful

I went on a monday which means Luke McCall was on as Valjean and holy moly, the hot dad jumped out

He did so amazing honestly, the acting, the singing, he was so angry during look down and Valjean's soliloquy and then so soft with Fantine and little Cosette

There was a little new moment in the prologue with Petit Gervais which i LOVED so much!!

Also I would die and kill for bishop Myriel

The combination of hot dad Luke McCall and sexy Javert Bradley Jaden sure was something

This was the second time I've seen Bradley and he's so incredibly good

His hair was in a little braid during look down? Instead of a ponytail? It was a look

Miss Carrie Hope Fletcher is a goddess of theatre

Her I dreamed a dream was the best I've ever heard. 15/10. A legend

Also the factory fight seemed a lot more agressive than it did in the original production

Fantine's death really be out here breaking my heart huh

Ian Hughes and Josefina Warner as the Thénardiers were so so good

They were funny but they weren't too much? If that makes sense

Master of the house is one of my least favorite songs to listen to but i loved watching it, it was a lot of fun

I'd die for every little Cosette on the planet

I LOVE Valjean and little Cosette they make me so soft!! When he hands her the doll?? I cry

Paris got so many buildings and it was kinda a lot? The stage at the Sondheim is pretty small and filling it with huge buildings makes it even smaller idk

I don't know the name of the boy that played Gavroche but he was so good!! He was quick and funny and acted the part perfectly

I'd like to thank the les mis management team for giving me my one true love: Harry Apps as Marius

The dumbass energy was OFF THE CHARTS

He almost tripped on stage like 15 times?? Very book accurate of him

Talking about book accurate. Shan Ako is the perfect Eponine. She was rough and playing around with Marius a lot which i thought was very cute

Also there were a lot of little Eponine/Gavroche moments which is just a one-way ticket to cry town for me

During the robbery Marius was arguing with Montparnasse which i LOVED. Also Montparnesse was hot

Bradley's stars was so so so very good

The ABC cafe continues to be one of my favorite scenes and i actually really liked the changes made here especially in the set. It looked exactly the way I imagine it when I read the brick

Ashley Gilmour's Enjolras was very good however he had to grow on me a bit but by red and black I was convinced

He looked very Done with his friends while also being so fond of them and i thought that was very Enj of him

There was a bit of Enjoltaire in the ABC cafe but it wasn't nearly as good as in the original production tbh

Lily Kerhoas is a very charming Cosette. She looked and sounded amazing and she was so excited during a heart full of love. Very cute!!

One day more makes me go absolutely crazy

Ngl I miss the way the barricade came together in the original production

Shan's on my own blew me away. She added some small riffs here and there which really showed off her incredible talent

After a little fall of rain Gavroche was straight up crying and I was straight up not having a good time

Drink with me will always and forever be one of my favorite songs in this show but I will never forgive them for cutting The Hug

Ciaran Bowling's Grantaire was very good!! He fully captured his sadness and his relationship with Gavroche was so sweet

Luke McCall's bring him home made me cry like a baby but what else is new

Enj died first?? And Grantaire died last?? I cried??

Another thing I really missed so much was the barricade turning around to show Enj hanging upside down and Gavroche lying in front but it's whatever

There was a little moment where Javert bowes over Gavroche's dead body and It made me :((

Also Gav's cap fell off when they picked him up to put him on the cart and it stayed on stage all through the sewers and Javert's suicide until one of the women picked it up during turning lol

Bradley Jaden owns my entire ass when he sings Javert's soliloquy. He's so emotional?? It makes Javert so very human.

I think his new bridge is far too big tho but that's another story

Listen. I love empty chairs at empty tables as much as the next gal. But I will throw hands at whoever decided that scene should be done without a single chair or table on stage?? That don't make no cents luv

I did like the candle thing tho and Harry sang it so beautifully

I forgot how much I actually love the wedding scene idk why it always makes me smile a bit

I HATE how Fantine has her long hair in the finale now. Why they do that,,,,

The moment when they sing "to love another person is to see the face of God" while looking at the people they loved?? Amazing

Valjean and the bishop hugged when Valjean entered heaven which was very nice

Javert should be in heaven sent tweet

[pilferingapples]

Tell me more about Marius and Montparnasse being mirror images of each other :3c

Since you ask, Nonny! But this will be a Long Post:

they really do get the same physical description: 

Marius was, at this epoch, a handsome young man, of medium stature, with thick and intensely black hair, a lofty and intelligent brow, well-opened and passionate nostrils...As his mouth was charming, his lips the reddest, and his teeth the whitest in the world, his smile corrected the severity of his face, as a whole. At certain moments, that pure brow and that voluptuous smile presented a singular contrast. ( 3.6.1, Hapgood translation)

A lugubrious being was Montparnasse. Montparnasse was a child; less than twenty years of age, with a handsome face, lips like cherries, charming black hair, the brilliant light of springtime in his eyes; he had all vices and aspired to all crimes. 3.7.3

--both got that Snow White thing going on:P   Hugo doesn’t bring in physical descriptions a lot in Les Mis; when he does, it’s for reasons beyond just painting a visual--generally to evoke a Type and/or some hefty Symbolism (always Some Symbolism, tbh, it’s Hugo).

More importantly, though, Hugo sets up Marius and Montparnasse as being different sides of the same virtue/vice.  Marius gets chapters talking about Heroic he is and how his poverty actually improves his nature because Marius overcomes it by working . Montparnasse, by contrast, is led into a life of violent crime because he wants to be idle.

There is like... a World of Concepts to delve into there, but in contrast with Montparnasse , it’s clear what specific fate Marius is being saved from by his time of poverty. He is, by choosing to refuse either debt or the safety of his family wealth, essentially refusing to become the kind of wealthy asshole that Bamatabois and Tholomyes are. It’s a life that would be very easy for Marius to have-- a life that Gillenormand is even sort of pushing him towards, though Gillenormand would doubtless find Tholomyes sorts to be impossibly dull and classless. It’s a life Montparnasse is willing to kill for , literally. And it’s a nice damn life! --If you don’t mind being the absolute worst sort of person, a person who cares for nothing but image, and who lives at a self-imposed distance from everyone else; someone who helps no one and wouldn’t know where to start if they wanted to, but hurts a lot of people and never cares, because caring is ever so uncouth.

Hugo really does see idleness as massively dangerous, at best--a soul-destroying thing. It’s portrayed as an injustice that Valjean can’t get work , not just that he just can’t have food because Humans Need Food. Part of the wrong Tholomyes commits against Fantine is taking her away from the habit of work ; it’s an important part of her Hope Spot in M-sur-M that she gets to enjoy Honest Work again, and earning her living by labor. To force Idleness on to another, or lead them into a Lack Of Work, is treated in  Les Mis as a moral wrong. For working people to not have work available is a condemnation of the system!  Again, it’s not about money (though Hugo definitely thinks work should pay enough to live on), the work itself is treated as something essential. For someone to choose idleness for themselves by that logic is...what, practically moral self-harming?,and a kind of deep depravity.

(Hugo does not like this ideal of the dandy. He does like flâneurs, though! That’s definitely something I want to get into more later, given how often the two are conflated....)

Anyway, Montparnasse is damned by the exact vice that Marius saves himself by avoiding--a vice that is, in Hugo’s moral universe, a very  big deal (as I try and fail to reckon with here).  This makes Montparnasse the crucial Example A for Hugo’s insistence on the valorization of Marius’  decision to work through his poverty! Work redeems Marius from the dangers of Idleness--and for Hugo, those are real and desperate dangers, that really do lead to crime.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Even before the Gorbeau raid, Marius is always vulnerable to the damnation of Idleness. He’s prone to slip from thinking into daydreaming; he veers away from work when he thinks it might cut into his independence and Reverie Time. The narrative is not entirely negative about this with Marius, but it is  treated as a potential weakness-- something fine while, and only while, it’s kept in check by his habits of work and thought.

Because, post-Gorbeau mansion, Marius  really does  start to fall to the Demon of Idleness!  He stops working altogether; he goes into debt,  Gasp!; he loses the habit of work , he loses focus, he spirals into depressions and goes into pointless, directionless obsession with Cosette and starts spending all his time in The Field of The Lark, a field famous, though Marius doesn’t know it, for being the site of a murder .  Murder most Romantic, yet, committed over a passion. Marius is, at this point, symbolically mixing the role of lover and killer; as Montparnasse also does, rather less symbolically. 

And hey, why is Marius spiraling into The Hell of Idleness? 

Because of A Girl. Or rather, because of the Ideal Future he’s projecting off his interactions with that girl.  What was the Start of Darkness for Montparnasse, again? 

The first grisette who had said to him: “You are handsome!” had cast the stain of darkness into his heart, and had made a Cain of this Abel. (3.7.3, Hapgood)

Now obviously the grisette who complimented Montparnasse isn’t responsible for his murders, any more than Cosette is responsible for Marius pining his life away in The Field of Dramatic Murder Symbolism. I don’t think Hugo means to genuinely blame the women for the men’s behavior at all-- but both Marius and Montparnasse do  start their downward slide in pursuit of the elaborate head-canons about their own futures that a woman’s attention inadvertently sparked.

BUT WAIT !! THERE’S MORE! 

Marius and Montparnasse are both romantic interests for Eponine (and both are dead ends, with Marius representing a healthy future that she can’t have and Montparnasse representing the doomed future she doesn’t want). Both of them try (ineffectually) to act as guides and friends to Gavroche. Both of them do feel a certain duty to Thenardier, not so much for his own sake--neither of them owe him squat-- as because of an existing sense of duty to others. Both of them do  have a sense of loyalty to their friends, -- just as they share a potentially damning vice in Idleness, they both share a real virtue in their sense of loyalty and duty to comrades.  Note that this is a real  sense of duty and loyalty for Montparnasse as well as for Marius--he really does take a risk to free the rest of the Patron Minette!  But Montparnasse has given that loyalty to horrible people for a horrible cause. 

Also-- while they do  both have a  real sense of loyalty to their groups (groups where they are the junior members), they are also both prone to getting distracted from those friends and their goals by romantic interests-- Marius may be far more serious in his love for Cosette than Montparnasse in his flirting with Eponine, but they do both have this tendency to romantic distraction! That Marius, at the barricade, overcomes his to take his post again , while Montparnasse toooootally flubs his role in P-M’s Gorbeau scheme because it’s Flirting Time, is another manifestation of the Curse of Idleness, really. 

So yeah: Two dark-haired fresh-faced young Romantic beauty types, sharing in common a (potentially) Fatal Flaw and a (potentially) saving Core Virtue, sharing similar relationships to their relative social groups and  to specific characters. Both Very Good At Violence; both set into a new course of life by the sudden awareness of their potential future, prompted by a woman’s attention. --And I didn’t even get into the importance they both put on presentation (though in very different ways, again reflecting their crucial divergence)!   

Montparnasse is who Marius might easily have become if he’d been willing to Coast on his money and status-- oh, Marius would have been a murderer in the way Tholomyes and Bamatabois are murderers, then, not likely the hands-on style Montparnasse has (though then again, Marius is  prone to passionate overreaction...) .  But, as the narrative links between Montparnasse and those two emphasize, it’s really not such a great difference.  Montparnasse is the shadow haunting Marius, a reminder of why his dedication to work and independence is so crucial. And the ways Montparnasse and Marius diverge from each other are a constant, complicated combo of choices and circumstances changing very similar people into two utterly different lives. 

[pilferingapples]

Episode 5a: Green Finch and Cosette Bird

Not gonna try to Chronology this bc despite my best efforts I have NO idea what time span this is all supposed to be covering, like if it’s weeks or months or, as it appears to be, all happening in one Really Busy Week 

Before I get into it: As always , major props for the Props people, and the set design team on this show. Whatever my other issues about the series, I’ve loved the look of the places, and there’s some real nice touches in every scene. They make rewatching it all worth it just for the visuals. 

...More mixed feelings under the cut, but I did enjoy some things besides the setting!:

HELLO HELLFONT MY OLD FRIEND , what can I say,  it’s becoming a familiar (type)face , any friend in a storm

-I really enjoy this opening-- setting up that the people in Paris really ARE at about ready to riot and everyone really is angry, it’s not just Those Kids in A Bar Somewhere. It feels very A Few Pages of History, (4.1 , for those wondering!) and I’m glad it’s being given some time. 

-I am ALSO Highly Entertained that all this deep rooted and widespread social unrest is juxtaposed with flyers of THAT DASTARDLY VALJEAN. I’m sure to this Javert they’re exactly the same thing-- and I mean I am SURE because Javert tells us so directly: 

Rivet or Rivette or whatever: Uh boss we have intel on an attempt at overthrowing the government and I mean Parisians actually do that not infrequently of late so IDK  but I think we have bigger issues than your Nemeship 

Javert, Verbatim:  THERE IS NO. LARGER. ISSUE. MAN, Mark My Words, Where Ever You Find Unrest, HE Will Be At The Very Heart Of It 

THIS IS THE BEST THING THIS JAVERT HAS EVER SAID but it’s just gonna get better and I am SO here for Hilariously Overinvested In One Rando Thief Javert, he’s got basically nothing to do with Javerts Past and I do not CARE, this is hilarious

- Cutting over to Valjean and Cosette, with Cosette nursing his really oozy arm wound! I am NOT satisfied with Valjean’s “well I had to go back to the Thenardiers for  Reasons” line at ALL, especially not when Cosette was so clearly retraumatized.  I would accept a Scheme on his end, a moral argument, ANYTHING, but she’s just like “so this is awful” and he’s all “but Cosette, REASONS” . Also not satisfied with Cosette denouncing people as Evil! or Valjean signing off on it! I understand why she’s saying it from a Watsonian perspective but the show has chosen to set this up, to have the characters most associated  with redemption and recovery ready to directly condemn. This Cosette is infinitely more judgemental, and I can see why, because holy smokes this Valjean. And this is a fairly brief moment in the show but it’s just off for what this story and these characters represent.

- Meanwhile, in Some Cafe I Guess, Enjolras has some terrible lines about the upcoming revolution that make it seem like this has been a pickup game planned since all of last week and I have horrible foreshadowing of Fandom Arguments to Come. 

Also: this is not the fandom I think we are if we can’t just Nominate some Remaining Amis out of this mess of extras! I’ll go first; I nominate the bearded guy in the corner during Enjolras’ speech about Lamarque (at ~~4:43) for Bahorel, and the dark-haired guy in front of him for Joly.

-I love how grim the women’s prison is; also, Mme T trying to be as good a mother as she knows how to be even here.  (Also I know they probably should NOT be in the same prison together, but this is one of those condensations that I Get)

- I’m sure a lot of people are gonna hate it, but I actually really appreciate that this Marius is rather cold and unpleasant to Eponine post-Gorbeau, when she’s taking him to see Cosette. That is  canon!  He’s quite rude and even physically rough with her when he sees her again!  It’s an important aspect of his character; he gets caught up with his current Only Thing In The World and treats other people around him badly, it’s a running thing! Heck, this Marius is still  kinder to Eponine post-Gorbeau than his book counterpart.  I feel awful for Eponine, of course, but then I absolutely should. This is a Good Bit.  

-Thenardier escapes from prison by pretending to have Died of Dysentery--er, cholera! If they’re not gonna have Gav and the whole Escape By Night scene, this is actually a pretty clever, quick way to get Thenardier out, and build in the info about the cholera epidemic. I can never be exactly glad to lose Gavroche Scenes, but this was a pretty good way to abridge that! 

- Valjean’s arm  is better! So it’s been Some Vague Time! So he’s leaving for Mysterious Valjean Purposes (money), with a blithe “Cosette stay here, it’s safe but also don’t leave the house until I get back, also you can’t come with me because it’s dangerous, but don’t worry it’s TOTALLY safe.” If this Valjean were more the warm, loving character he should be, this might just seem awkward and badly phrased; with all that’s happened between them already and all that comes next, this just seems manipulative and cruel.

-Vajlean goes out into the streets and sees ...a drawing that doesn’t really look like him! On a wanted poster! So he tears it down. Javert’s Valjeany Sense Activates and his eyes open in his office when Valjean tears down the poster Who Knows Where. This delights me. DELIGHTS. This Javert is a hilarious parody of all Javerts and I officially love it.

-I also like Thenardier and...Montparnasse?-- and someone else..?why is this scene so dark --  in the sewers, and the cut from that to Cosette. Nice way to stress the actual real danger that Valjean’s left her in, also: good Cat Scare before Marius happens. (yeah and also Thenardier seems to be Leader of the Patron Minette, which is never my Fave Choice for an adaptation to make, but it makes sense, especially as breakneck as things are moving 

-Toussaint’s Cheerful Doomy Dooms of Doom while Valjean leaves her and Cosette to do his Secret Valjean Thing; since Enjolras has banned romantics from the barricade, guess we gotta take our cheerful death talk where we can! (also, totally canon!)

-okay, you know what, I really like Cosette’s scenes in the garden. This Cosette is doing a great job of selling me on her Extremely Young-ness. She seems young enough and unworldly enough that a Magic Boyfriend sneaking in without her noticing is Cool and Exciting and Magical instead of super unnerving.  She’s adorable. And there is really excellent framing here with the flowers and the lighting and all. It does  feel like a fairy tale, which, it really should; this is Cosette’s fairy tale romance and I’m happy for her.

...Unfortunately this Valjean is rather too much the part of the Ogre Parent and I wish Marius would just take her away.  Uhg. (also I haaaate this bgm. HAAAATE. I am not talking about it much and I know it’s probably just me but it is so obtrusive to me!) 

- Gavroche shows up, robbin’ all the randos and giving bread to a couple of genuinely unrelated street kids! I...am having such mixed feelings! I love this actor; this actor has Gavroche absolutely DOWN and I am accepting him into my heart entirely but...like...why is  this  part of the story  here,  why is there so much emphasis on him being a thief, why does he just leave the momes instead of trying to take them in, why is this show trying to make it visually clear that these aren’t his brothers? this is just..it’s the thing that keeps happening where there are a bunch of changes for no apparent reason and they don’t add up to anything new but they also aren’t the Original Thing and I can’t figure out what the point of those alterations really are (though this scene, with the extra thieving and reduced generosity, grand-total steals some of Gavroche’s heroism).  The actor is amazing but GIVE HIM HIS FULL BIT. 

- back to Definitely Some Cafe (it’s really well done, I just have no idea what cafe it is ? It’s full of workers, maybe this is supposed to be the Corinth?)  and a brief, foolish moment on my part of hoping there’ll be more discussion of why the rebellion is happening is Destroyed and turned to  “you rich students can go back to your families in the country but--”  THIS IS THE GHOST OF MY ASKBOX FUTURE AND I HATE IT , OH SPIRITS;  WHAT MAY I DO TO TURN THIS NIGHTMARE ASIDE

-...why isn’t this worker just...Feuilly...why are none of the workers Feuilly...

-P.sure my Joly HC is here 

either that or he’s BBC’s Merlin which might explain some things

- Awkwardness of Lost Historical Context aside, this Enjolras is growing on me (like a scruffy beard!) . He’s intense and physically affectionate and I like that in an Enjolras; I just think it’s weird that he’s hanging out with what are apparently random students who haven’t committed to the revolution frigging yet , but you know! Whatever!  

- ...I am currently kind of on the fence about this but...if they’re not gonna give the whole arc with Grantaire As Symbol of the Apathetic Bourgeois being Converted the time it needs, I ...think?  ..what they’re doing here might be a serviceable substitute?  He’s very obviously Not Got The Revolution Fever and is Doing It For His Friends, and he’s obviously super uncomfortable about it.  I like this take on that so far better than some versions I’ve seen. 

ATM, gotta say, the Amis Scene is bugging me the least. If it weren’t for the absolutely bizarre nonsense last week, I would be Pretty Okay with the Amis stuff?? WEIRD BUT TRUE.  Or maybe just a sign of how some adaptations have totally destroyed my expectations here to the point where “Enjolras isn’t actually Dracula” is Okay With Me. ANYWAY I’LL TAKE IT, A MOMENT OF LIKABLE CHARACTERIZATION. 

-The Revolutionary conversation segues with a cut to the Royalist Salon and Gillenormand, who  is NOT likeable and I’m not sure why we get this scene Here In Particular?  A contrast to the revolutionaries, I guess? But this Gillenormand continues to be very very  accurate. 

- At The House In The Garden, Valjean is back! Cosette comes to hug him! He apparently WAS worried that she wouldn’t be safe so what was with the reassurances earlier like she was being a stupid child! And most important

WHY DOES VALJEAN HAVE A BACK LACING WAISTCOAT  WHY DID HE WEAR THAT ON HIS TRIP AWAY  WHO LACED HIM UP WHILE HE WAS GONE  AAAAAAAAH 

okay I’m okay

- wait NO I’m NOT because now it’s time for the Patron Minette to come in and not-rob this place and the show completely destroys Eponine’s moment as the guardian of Marius and Cosette’s happiness!  Instead of her getting to intimidate a bunch of grown armed men into retreat, she’s attacked, threatened, and ultimately rendered  passive, her moment of heroism rendered null when no one comes to her scream, and her role in saving the Valjean house and all in the garden replaced by an actual dog.  I am really pretty furious about this! But the Character Destruction Of Eponine deserves its own post so Moving On FOR NOW...

- ...also are you telling me THIS hyper paranoid, aggressive JVJ doesn’t notice or react to screams and barking dogs 

- holy moly even kneeling Marius is almost as tall as Cosette, that’s not relevant to anything but it’s entertaining to me; it’s also Very Cute to have him comforting her by making himself smaller than her, when they’re both freaking out about her imminent maybe-move. 

- Valjean having a conversation with Eponine instead of just getting her note to move is not inherently The Worst! But the way he treats her just reinforces how cold and uncaring he is. There’s no compassion in him for a poor abused girl who could almost have been his daughter, no concern for how she might be faring, not even an awkward “hey be careful”.  Is it understandable? Yeah, sure. A lot of selfish focus is Understandable and human. But it’s not admirable, it’s not kind, it’s not the actions or attitude of a man who’s learned kindness towards the world through love, or who tries to put others first to the point that it would kill him. It makes sense, for some characters-- but it’s just not Valjean. 

-NICOLETTE IS THE HERO THIS ADAPTATION NEEDS and she’s SO happy to announce that Marius is back to talk to his awful awful Grandpa!

- The whole scene with Marius asking Gillenormand  for permission to marry is very satisfyingly awful and I have no complaints. It’s a bit abbreviated, and I wonder if people who don’t know the era will totally get that this is a question of needing adult legal approval?  but it’s not shortened beyond the amount that Adaptational Space might suggest. I’d take this little scene as a good illustration of the Gillenormand/Marius dynamic for anyone. Also: is that the Yellow Prisoner-Crafted Wallpaper???  BBC Set Design People, you’re the BEST

- I know I’ve already given kudos to the props and set people but I LOVE this little bachelor apartment that Marius and Courfeyrac are sharing, this is so great?? I’ve seen sketches from the era that look so much like this!  Give me a  moment to squeak happily about this place-- the low roof! The clothesline! The clutter! I love it! (@ about 30:00) 

- I HATE EVERYTHING ENJOLRAS  SAYS HERE THOUGH, even if I intend to meme out No Romantic Daydreamers to the FULLEST 

-Cutting back to Valjean and Cosette’s house, I also hate that Cosette defense-flinches when she wakes up! It’s been eight years! That should not still be her auto-reflex if she’s come to feel safe and loved!  My heart! 

Valjean tells her they have to move today. Valjean does NOT tell her where they’re going. Valjean gives her an hour to pack--and Cosette has to run out and ask Toussaint what the address will be and has to LIE TO TOUSSAINT about why she needs it. Valjean, there are secrets you might feel a need to keep from your daughter. WHERE SHE LIVES should not be one of them. “I’m taking you to an address no one knows and also you can’t have it ahead of time” is what kidnappers do! Watching Cosette write her note and move (terrible bgm and all) is breaking my heart--she is so alone in this house--no one is on her side, no one is there to listen to her, no one is really considering her feelings or giving her any explanations, she’s being moved around like a pet. The abuse is less florid than with the Thenardiers, but it’s still there, and I want to cry. 

The scene goes from soldiers marching outside the window of the new apartment to the funeral. Aaaand that seems like a good place to break this giant review in two. 

Randoming Fandoming:

-I’m pretty sure that at around 6:14 a woman and kid in modern clothes just wander in the background behind Marius! This is not a Complaint, these things happen to any production, but it’s fun to have spotted?