'Marie Antoinette's' Third Episode Is Secretly a Slow Burn Romance
Marie Antoinette's third episode is essentially framed as a catfight, a face-off between the young Dauphine and the King's mistress Madame du Barry, as they struggle to determine who's more powerful within the world of the French court. And, granted, we do get a fair bit of that, as Antoinette mulishly refuses to acknowledge a woman she feels manipulated her desperate need for friendship, and du Barry essentially blackmails the King into forcing his granddaughter-in-law to relent.
But the hour also turns out to be something much more surprising (and exciting): A slow burn love story.
No, not between du Barry and Antoinette, though I'm sure some viewers might wonder, given the series trailers that have repeatedly highlighted an out-of-context kiss between the pair. Instead, "Pick a Princess" goes out of its way to add depth and layers to the slowly developing relationship between Louis the Dauphin of France and his new wife. (Who, as we all know, he still hasn't even managed to speak to yet, let alone bed.) Reader, I did not expect to be ardently shipping the royal couple who will meet a grisly end together on the gallows of the French Revolution, but here I am. And I rather suspect I'm not alone.
