'The Count of Monte Cristo' Goes to "The Ball"
Despite still getting almost nothing in the way of character development, Edmond still manages to keep multiple revenge plots spinning in (surprisingly) enjoyable fashion.
As it kicks off the back half of its season, The Count of Monte Cristo seems to have accidentally stumbled upon an important realization: This show is a lot easier to enjoy when its lead character isn't so much a character at all, but more a force of nature.
This is perhaps unfortunate for those of us who, however fruitlessly, had hoped that the titular Count might evolve into something more than a cardboard revenge Terminator, or that star Sam Claflin might get the chance to display more range than he's been allowed to do thus far. Five episodes in, that now seems fairly unlikely to happen, but "The Ball" finally has enough scheming and overt manipulation to be something close to fun.
If you're curious about how Edmond managed to amass such a truly outrageous amount of potential blackmail material, or how he's learned to do things like manipulate world markets to impact his enemies, or negotiate with sultans for the purchase one of their slaves — given that the man couldn't read before he met Abbé Faria — well, you won't find those answers here.
What "The Ball" does have going for it, though, is that it's the first time where the Count's ridiculously plotted machinations are enjoyable to watch.
