'The Count of Monte Cristo' Recap: Episode 3

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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Having escaped from the Chateau d’If, Edmond is careful to evade patrols searching for him and steal into a farmhouse to take and change into some different clothes. He is shocked to see his face in a mirror after 15 years of imprisonment.

In Marseille, he learns that his father has died – and apparently, so has he: his own tombstone sits next to his father’s. He then visits the home of Mercédès, his erstwhile fiancée, and learns that she has married and moved to Paris. 

He’s still wary of guards, but when a prisoner they are escorting through the streets runs for it and is chased by a soldier, Edmond knocks the guard out and frees the prisoner. The prisoner then follows Edmond as he stows away on a cart under a cloth. Edmond learns from Jacopo, his fellow traveler, that he is an Italian smuggler and has a boat moored off the coast. Edmond joins Jacopo and his cousin, the mute Ettore, on the boat, promising to use his skill as a sailor to guide them home to Talamone.

When they near Talamone, however, Edmond insists that the weather is about to change and stops at the island of Monte Cristo for safety. He tells Jacopo and Ettore to guard the ship and build a fire while he looks for food – actually, treasure. He tries to follow the Abbé Faria’s map but can’t find a “rabbit rock.” Jacopo eventually finds him and insists that they continue on to Talamone – the weather is calm. As they sail away from the island, Edmond notices a pair of rocks that look like rabbit ears.

In Talamone, he learns that the boat they sailed on belongs to Jacopo’s uncle, but Jacopo has his own small fishing boat. After a feast, he refuses the offer of a room and sleeps under the stars.

He wakes early to take Jacopo’s boat. Back on Monte Cristo, he orients himself with the rabbit rocks and finds a tunnel blocked by boulders. Inside is a cavern with trunks full of treasure – just like the Abbé promised.

He uses the money to buy a horse and fine clothes, then goes to a church to confess to a priest that he wants vengeance – a scene we saw in the first episode. The priest unsuccessfully warns him against revenge. 

Edmond sends a letter to Jacopo, who is illiterate and must have it read to him. Edmond has bought Jacopo’s family two boats and three houses, and sent a stack of money. In return, Jacopo must come to Marseille and meet Edmond, dressed as a gentleman.

In the meantime, Edmond checks in on his former employer, learning that Morrel’s business is on the verge of collapse due to debts. All three of Morrel’s ships sank, including the Pharaon on which Edmond once sailed. Only the Pharoan’s crew was saved. 

Jacopo meets Edmond, who explains his sudden wealth by saying that he received a handsome inheritance. He then enlists Jacopo into his service, making him promise not to ever reveal his secrets, and explains his time in prison and desire for revenge. 

Villefort, the prosecutor who sent Edmond to the Chateau d’If, is now the chief prosecutor in Paris. Edmond wants to find the file on himself in Marseille, but Jacopo is illiterate. So Edmond himself goes in, claiming a false identity and an acquaintance with Villefort to get the archivist to show him his file. The archivist mentions that Morrel continually asked for it but was always refused. 

In his file, Edmond finds the letter Danglars and Fernand wrote and sent to Villefort implicating Edmond as a Bonapartist. There’s a stamp on it from Caderousse’s inn. Edmond takes all his files and replaces them in the folder with a newspaper.

Assuming the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond goes with Jacopo to Caderousse’s inn but learns that Caderousse sold it years ago and bought an inn in the country. Edmond and Jacopo go there, Jacopo menacingly brandishing a pistol. Edmond shows Caderousse the letter and asks if he recognizes him. Caderousse says he didn’t write the letter but that those who did will kill him if he reveals them. Edmond says he’ll kill Caderousse if he doesn’t.

When Caderousse reveals that he tried to stop Danglars and Fernand, Edmond tells him he will pay for doing nothing to prevent Edmond’s imprisonment. But Caderousse says he looked after Edmond’s father along with Morrel, showing the purse Morrel gave Edmond on his wedding night as proof. Edmond’s father lived off the money in it until it ran out; then Morrel and Caderousse took care of him. 

Edmond understands why Danglars wanted his downfall, but not Fernand – until Caderousse reveals that Fernand married Mercédès after she thought Edmond was dead. She was told Edmond died by suicide. Fernand is now the Count de Morcerf, a politician in Paris, while Danglars is a successful banker there. 

Caderousse wants to redeem himself; he has lived with his guilt for 15 years. Edmond asks him to go to Paris and learn everything he can about Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort, in return for lodging and a salary. Edmond wants to know all of Villefort’s victims, and any useful information about all three men, including their bank records. He wants to bring them down without them even realizing it. 

But Edmond also recognizes those who have helped him. He sends Jacopo with a thick stack of money to the farmhouse from which he stole clothes upon escaping from prison. And he pays off all of Morrel’s debts, collecting the receipts in the purse he once received from Morrel and sending Jacopo to give it to Morrel’s daughter. But that’s not all that’s in the purse: there’s also a diamond and a letter urging Morrel to use it to replace the Pharaon. The change of fortune comes as Morrel was contemplating suicide.

Jacopo asks Edmond why they don’t just kill the men responsible for ruining Edmond’s life. That would be letting them off too easy, Edmond replies. He wants his vengeance on them to equal their crime.