Ep#2 Rub-a-dub Sub

[Gabrielle]

You can talk about this episode here.

[jeantre16]

HELP! I have a question. Does anyone know the name of the smelly cheese that Ramon is eating in this ep? I keep hearing Val de Blue, but when I look it up as a "cheese name" nothing comes up. This is the only ep that I do not have captioning for. So if anyone has the name and the spelling, please let me know. (karma to anyone who does!)

Thanks!
JeanTre16

[Gabrielle]

I turned on my captioning on my tape and the spelling that popped up was "Val De Bleu". I went searching on some sites and nothing popped up. When I was about to give up I saw a Spanish cheese named "Valdeón Blue". Now I'm wondering if thats not the cheese. No idea at all really. I wonder if there is someone that we can ask.

[jeantre16]

Thanks for checking that out, Gabrielle. That's the spelling I ended up using--Val de Blue.

I am curious about that Spanish cheese you mentioned. Ramon is Spanish, and Louis had a lot of Spanish influence from Anne. It would make sense. I wonder where the script writers got it? The captioning may have not gotten the spelling exactly right. I've seen that happen a lot. The key question is whether or not Valdeon Blue ... smells badly.

Anon may have some clue on historically labled cheeses.

Thanks again, Gabrielle!

[vigilanti]

Most blue cheese smells pretty rank if you get close enough to it.

[kristanci]

I think they should call it green cheese ^^ My stupid thought for the day haha. ;p

[potc166]

that name would work for the cheese

[ladydartagnan]

Haha, reminds me of this song a woman I knew a long time ago used to randomly sing, when she was trying to direct a play and she thought no one was listening to her. Something about a little man made of bleu cheese or something... hmm...

[queengwen]

This episode is prob one of the lesser ones of my list, but it was good. Some good lines.

[sue]

I'm pretty sure that the name of the cheese was made up. I checked all possible variations of the way he pronounced it, and nothing comes up. It could, possibly, be something that no longer exists, but I think attributing the writers with having done that much research is a real stretch. I like to think it's something like Cambozola...blue, stinky and sticky. Fits the bill, anyway, even though it's a modern Italian cheese, it's probably pretty similar.

I have found a Spanish Blue cheese, but Honestly, it was the WORST thing I ever tasted!!! And I have never before met a cheese I didn't like! (also, not terribly sticky, but definitely stinky)

[siroc]

As much as I love Siroc, Rub-a-Dub Sub has to be my least favorite YB episode. The main plot with d'Artagnan and Jacqueline and the extortionists is so ridiculous that it’s not even funny and just makes me cringe. The subplot with Siroc, Ramon, Duval, and the sub is better, but not by much.

Where to start? The cart chase is at the beginning is extremely gratuitous, but at least it shuts d'Artagnan up. The use of stunt people is quite obvious, and the intercutting is really, really badly done. And … the baby pees on d'Artagnan. Wow.

In the first scene with the sub the dialogue seems very stilted. “Sub-aquatic chamber.” And watch Ramon eat smelly cheese.

And the hot springs. D'Artagnan’s dialogue seems written just to establish the story for the viewers who missed Wanted. And to get Jacqueline naked. Come to think of it, that’s the entire purpose of this scene.

And … hyperventilating dressmakers. And two thugs with the worst lines and the worst delivery in the entire show. Watching them hurts. As does watching d'Artagnan take off his shirt (but not his boots) to jump in the river. Is this the episode where Jacqueline gets to stand around and watch d'Artagnan do heroic things? First the cart, now the drowning girl.

In the next scene, Duval provides exposition to us and to the snorting dressmaker. Who wants a life of crime if you have to have a nickname like Snout or Fishface? And we learn that silk is spun by worms. And that you can fall in a river, nearly drown, but come out with perfect make-up.

My next question: if the Captain of the Musketeers knows that the Dark Woods Gang frequents the Hanging Tree Tavern, why have the Musketeers not staked the place out before this and apprehended them? Perhaps because the tavern appears to also be frequented by scary hippy prostitutes.

And if there were an award for worst disguises in the history of espionage, I think the fake moustaches would win. Jacqueline looks more like a girl wearing it than she does without. But d'Artagnan is called Little Worm and gets shoved. This makes me happy. The thugs’ lines do not. They make me want to strangle both the actors and the writers.

In the Café, Ramon’s coffee has worn off, and he has sunk to rhyming “husk” and “mollusk.” A dark day for rhapsody. And for the deaf. Everywhere. But Ramon is very dashing, even though Giselle only cares about d'Artagnan. Like every other OFC is Paris, it seems.

The butcher who cannot sing and has a thing for piglets lassoes two of the best Musketeers and ties them up in complicated ways. And the deaf guy is not deaf. But he has run out of tiny brooms, it seems. And more horrible dialog from the thugs, whom Mazarin apparently needs to do his dirty work. And d'Artagnan, who is happily tied to Jacqueline.

How ironic that my least favorite episode should contain my favorite line in the series, which some of you can guess easily. It is this:

Jacqueline: If I wanted someone, which I don’t, it certainly wouldn’t be someone flippant like you. It would be someone serious.

This line fed my fertile imagination, and the rest is Someone Serious.

Meanwhile on the river bank, Louis’s courtiers have cooked up an elaborate plan involving a snorkel, a picnic basket, and a fake duck, all to make the king think he can fish. Wow. Mazarin should hire them to concoct his dastardly plans. The Musketeers would be gone in a month. And Louis can’t fish, but he sure can aim. The king should take up hunting.

The next scene raises one overwhelming question: if the butcher tied d'Artagnan and Jacqueline up, how did they get his money? Why did he let them keep it. And why, for all love, does the thug have to smell the money? Does it smell of bacon? Are his olfactory senses so finely tuned that he can tell instantly where the money came from? But Jacqueline does get to hit “Wiggly Worm” again. I laugh.

And Siroc is back! And he’s being manly and commanding and inventive. And Ramon is annoying him with the cheese. And Giselle is annoying him with looking for d'Artagnan. Actually, she’s annoying pretty much everyone. Even Captain Duval, who has heard a rumor that Mazarin will try to arrest d'Artagnan and Jacqueline. Where does he hear these rumors? These very detailed rumors.

I’m also puzzled by Siroc’s outburst, although it is cute to hear him yell, “Henri, that cheesemonger!” But why, when Duval is the one who suggested the underwater expedition? This conversation, while funny, just goes in circles.

And we’re back to Groucho and Harpo Are Detectives. But not for long. The sub is here, with really bad special effects and annoying performances from … everyone. Even Siroc. But not for long. Louis is also annoying, but he’s annoying Mazarin, so that’s okay. Meanwhile, underwater, everyone has stopped being annoying except Ramon’s cheese.

D'Artagnan’ s Cunning Plan involves violence, with grunting and moves that would not be out of place in the WWE. But they win, and there is a funny bit with the anchor. Meanwhile, back in the sub. Siroc is cute and inventive and Ramon’s cheese is no longer quite so annoying. Except when everyone says its name in unison, then cackles.

On the bank, we listen to Barge-Waiting music and find out how many bandages you need when a duck explodes near your head. We learn from Louis that the best way to discover whether a person is a thief is to ask them. Louis learns from Siroc that “sub-aquatic” means it goes under water. Ramon’s cheese is annoying again to everyone but Louis and Ramon. And the mollusks. It’s a party!!

There is an obvious dénouement scene, in which d'Artagnan is exceedingly annoying, and Jacqueline is annoyed. And then a two-minute scene with more terrible dialog from the two thugs. Why? And we end on that note.

*Siroc packs up the vitriolic sarcasm until another day*

[sue]

How can anyone really add anything to your comments?

I think there are a couple of good lines, and, although I prefer the D'Artagnan/Jacqueline pairing, I appreciate Siroc's cuteness much in this episode.

I agree that D'Artagnan's speech at the hot springs is completely stilted, but I think they did that on purpose, to annoy...not you...but Jacqueline.

And that "sharpshooting baby"...HOW did he, all swaddled as a baby should have been in those days, and as he clearly was, manage to shoot out a stream of pee like that!!!
You know, babies don't shoot out like that, even when you get the diaper off! (I have plenty of experience there)

I have to agree on the bad disguises. HOW could even the idiotic Snout and Fishface NOT have noticed? And I laugh out loud, after all the times I have seen them, every time Jacques knocks over D'Artagnan....LOVE the line: "You are really pushing it," he delivers under his breath after, like, the fifth time she hits him.

I must say, however, that one would expect a dressmaker to have better fitting dresses than Gabrielle Rose wore in that one.
Even with the lacing, her gowns fit her like burlap sacks. But, as for teaching US about silkworms...I don't think that was the point, I think it was to show how uncultured Jacqueline was, having been raised on a farm, and wearing nothing but homespun wool all her life, not to mention that silk was still a fairly rare commodity in Europe in the 17th Century.

Hmmm. Oh, one other thing...is this where I can rant about the horrible wigs they put on D'Artangnan? The hair, both in this episode (especially on the Barge, where you could SEE that it was a wig) and the first episode, are so horrible as to be laughable. Worse than the wierd little queue they put on him, that you could see the short trimmed hair underneath. WHY couldn't they have spent a few dollars and done that up right?

AND I caught the one and only continuity problem I have ever seen on the show: AFTER Jacques opens the bag and pulls out the plastic coins (oh, yeah, couldn't they have at least used a special sound effect to make it SOUND like gold coins? Where did they get those, anyway? Oriental Trading?) the next shot shows the bag tied up.

[kristanci]

I remember reading something in Tobias' interview about the quality of the series. Because of budget, they did not have the proper amount of time to prepare the episodes and whatnot. What usually takes 7-8 days per episode, they only had 5 or 6. Doesn't sound like much, but if you've ever done short films or just perfected video memoirs, it takes an ungodly amount of time to get it where you want.

Unfortunately, the series was significantly held back. But you know, even though there are moments where you just raise an eyebrow and ask "huh?" I think they just wanted to go the silly route and have a good time. If they had the money to truly make each scene look authentic 17th century France (costumes, labor, and all), they probably would be spending well over a million for each ep.

On another note: I don't really pay attention to d'Artagnan's hair. Can't seem to get past the handsome face XD

[thedaringhattrick]

I also never noticed d'Artagnan's hair. Mind, I immediately accepted, right from the get-go, that this whole production was low-budget and let the power of my imagination fill in whatever discrepencies that would otherwise prevent me from happily sitting crossed-legged and cross-armed behind the fourth wall. Sitting and scrutinizing literature all day makes you appreciate a bit of mindless entertainment---and thus colors you much more forgiving when it's your favourite show that's toeing (or delivering) the campy line(s).

Still, I will say one thing: Rub a Dub Sub is definitely not an episode I would recommend to anyone watching YB for the first time. The prominence of Ramon's precious val de bleu in this episode may indeed have some symbolical significance here. And goodness knows, most people have a hard time getting past first impressions.

By the way, anyone see the extended scene with Snout and Fish-Face in the dungeons? Can anyone tell me what the heck that was all about?

[jeantre16]

Siroc, tell us how you really feel. lol ^_^

This was the first episode I saw. Obviously, it was enough to hook me. Why? Confession, I love cheesy shows it reminded me so much of Young Riders. D'Artagnan and Jacqueline reminded me of the Lou/Kid relationship. I was intrigued and had to watch more of the series. The male/female banter of d'Artagnan/Jacqueline amused me. I cringed at the bad wigs and disguises, but the characters/acting kept me coming back for more. In fact, the show only got better each passing week. It's sad that many shows are determined by the first few episodes. If YB had started stronger, it may have had a better future. But then the PAX/i issues ...

I love light comedies. There's a lot of violent drama on TV today and Young Blades was a nice change. When I re-watch Louis in this ep, I see his brilliance. He plays off Mazarin, acting the fool, but he gets his way. Louis has a strong will that even Mazarin cannot check. Love that oyster scene. lol