'Les Miserables' Episode 1 Recap: At the End of the Day

When news of a new Les Miserables adaptation broke last year, it’s doubtful that any of us immediately cheered. There are so many versions of this story out there, including an award-winning 2012 feature film with an all-star cast. We probably all assumed that if Hugo’s work still has anything interesting left to say, we’ve pretty much seen it already.

Well, Masterpiece is here to prove us all wrong about that. This sumptuous new take on Les Mis feels like something entirely different from its very first episode, fueled by an unexpectedly gritty realism and an honest eye toward the real world these characters inhabit. But it must be said early and often that those of us – cough cough yours truly cough – who possess an inordinate love for Cameron Mackintosh’s popular stage version of this story, well, we’ve got a bit of adjusting to do.

If you only know Hugo’s story from the musical adaptation, this new installment is going to feel very strange. (And not just because there’s no singing.) Its premiere episode is entirely comprised of events that occur before the story told in the musical kicks off, and which are primarily mentioned only in passing in the songs. Generally, this TV adaptation is better for it, particularly as the decision to explicitly show us the ways that Fantine’s dreamy idealism and the brutality Valjean faces shapes both of them is a good one. But by the time the episode closes, Marius and Cossette are still children, Valjean has just realized that he needs to change his life, and it’s only been a year since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo.