'The Count of Monte Cristo' Recap: Episode 6

The Count of Monte Cristo airs Sundays at 9:00 pm on WTTW and is available to stream. Recap the previous and following episodes.
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Edmond once again invites his enemies to his country house, this time to meet a friend from Rome whom he has promised to introduce to Parisian society. The “Count of Spada” – really the brigand leader Vampa – is a very wealthy man, he says, having found treasure buried by a distant ancestor. Of course, this is actually a version of Edmond’s story. The ever-greedy Danglars and his wife Hermine are enticed by Spada, especially when they learn that he is seeking a wife in Paris. 

Villefort’s wife Heloise leaves the dinner to freshen up and is surreptitiously followed by Haydee, the woman Edmond has bought out of slavery and brought to Paris. After the guests leave, Haydee reports to Edmond that Heloise visited his chemistry room and may have taken something. 

Danglars visits Edmond later to inform him that he is increasing the interest rate on Edmond’s deposit, simply out of generosity, of course. He then inquires about the count of Spada. Edmond informs him that Spada is interested in opera. Danglars’ daughter Eugenia sings. The banker says she is not all that attached to her prospective fiancé, Fernand and Mercédès’ son Albert.

Danglars drops by a salon where he knows he can find Spada and Edmond, towing Eugenia and her singing teacher to the piano to perform an aria. Spada pretends to be enrapt. But Danglars also gets him to talk business. Edmond and Spada visit Danglars’ home later to invest in passenger rail, but once again Spada is distracted by Eugenia’s singing from another room. Danglars encourages him to go listen and enter unannounced. He does so to find Eugenia kissing her female singing teacher.

Albert arrives to see Eugenia for a prearranged date, but Danglars brusquely tells him Eugenia is indisposed. Albert leaves, confused.

Max is still encouraging Valentine not to go through with her prearranged marriage, telling her that he will be waiting outside her house with a carriage in which to run away the next morning. It’s her last chance; that evening Valentine’s engagement contract to Franz will be signed. 

Her marchioness grandmother – the mother of Villefort’s first wife, Valentine’s mother – has grumpily traveled from Marseille to witness the signing. It was Valentine’s grandfather’s last wish that his family be united to Franz’s. The marchioness hates Villefort’s second wife, Heloise, and has left everything in her will to Valentine. 

Heloise wants that fortune for her own son, Edward. She offers Valentine a way out of a marriage she doesn’t want: Valentine could enter a convent. But that would remit her inheritance to her father and through him his male heir, Edward, as Valentine recognizes. 

Fortunately for Valentine, Edmond also wants to stop this advantageous marriage in order to harm Villefort. He sets Caderousse to researching a way to stop it, then visits Villefort’s father Noirtier – who communicates only via eye movements because of a debilitating stroke – while Villefort and Heloise are gone. He tells Noirtier that Valentine is being forced into a marriage – but Noirtier can stop it.

Before the contract is signed, Noirtier summons Franz to read a letter he has dictated. It is a confession that Noirtier killed Franz’s father. Back when Napoleon made a bid to reclaim power, Noirtier thought incorrectly that Franz’s father was a Bonapartist and not a royalist and invited him to a meeting about Napoleon’s plans. But Noirtier realized that Franz’s father’s loyalties had not changed and followed him. When the man went straight to the king’s palace, Noirtier challenged him to a duel and killed him to prevent him from revealing the plans.

Villefort realizes that this must be true but tries to convince Franz it is all a delusion. But Franz refuses to marry into the family of the man who killed his father.

As Valentine prepares to bring tea to her grandmother that evening, Heloise stops her and poisons the tea with the brucine she took from Edmond’s house. Valentine unknowingly serves the marchioness the poisoned tea. The marchioness is dead in the morning. The doctor quickly diagnoses the cause, and all blame points to Valentine, who prepared and brought the tea. When the police arrive to bring Valentine to prison, Villefort asks them to give his daughter preferential treatment.

Villefort also continues to investigate Edmond. His inspector has followed Jacopo to visit Caderousse several times and learned that Caderousse spends most of his time researching Villefort, Danglars, and Fernand in the library. 

Haydee comes to Edmond late at night – he sleeps so little his servants worry about him – and asks what is to be done about Fernand, whom she has confirmed is her father’s killer. Edmond is awaiting a reply from the sultan, but promises that Fernand will be exposed and disgraced. When Haydee says that will also harm Albert and Mercédès, Edmond dismisses her concern: they have profited from Fernand’s evil-doing. 

Edmond sends Mercédès earrings with a note that simply says “in gratitude.” She is shocked by the gift, but Albert assures her Edmond is simply generous. Fernand is less forgiving when he sees her wearing them and learns their source. I see how you interact with Edmond, he jealously tells his wife, slapping her when she refuses to return the earrings.

Mercédès summons Edmond to a park, where he accidentally calls her Mercédès, to her surprise. She returns the earrings, telling him that she likes them but her husband doesn’t. Edmond notices the bruise on her face and guesses its source.

She asks him if he has ever been in love. He responds, once – but she moved on because she thought I was dead. And they are both different people now. He then pointedly looks at the pocket watch she gave him all those years ago, letting her see it. He must leave.

She apologizes for the earrings, then cries and pulls her collar off as he leaves her. Out of sight, he sinks against a wall and fortifies himself with a drug.