acqueline (Cliche) is a beautiful 17th-century French woman who'd rather spar with swords with her brother than attend to feminine duties. However, when her brother is imprisoned and her father is murdered by one of Cardinal Mazarin's (Ironside) evil guards, she kills the guard and barely escapes with her life. Determined to free her brother, Jacqueline heads off to find him and takes the guise of a man.
Presenting herself as Jacques, she seeks out three of the most brash musketeers at the Musketeer military academy and attempts to join. D'Artagnan (Mehler), the son of the great D'Artagnan, is happy to test out the new applicant to the academy. However, when Jacques bests him, Musketeer Captain Duval (Boxleitner) quickly signs up the new recruit. D'Artagnan doesn't trust Jacques and shares his suspicions with his fellow young blades, Ramon (Zak Santiago), a Spanish poet who has been disowned by his aristocratic family, and Siroc (Mark Hildreth), an inventor who comes up with ludicrous inventions such as flying machines and submarines.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Mazarin approaches the 15-year-old future King Louis (Robbie Sheehan) in hopes of getting rid of the musketeers once and for all after a scuffle with other guards. However, the immature king has no intention of getting rid of his musketeers. Now if only he could get rid of the enormous pimple on his face, he might be happy.
The Cardinal lets Louis have his way for the moment. He has more important duties to attend to, such as being the head of a secret order called the Order of the Knights of Black Tabernacle. The villainous order likes to experiment on the prisoners in the dungeons, prisoners such as Jacqueline's brother.
Realizing that she may not have much time, Jacques follows guards taking her brother and another prisoner away in a wagon. D'Artagnan and the others follow Jacques to see what the new Musketeer could be up to. What the young warriors all discover is that evil forces are at work and that they may be the only ones who can stop Cardinal Marazin and his minions.
Serious moments need not apply
PAX's Young Blades is a bawdy comedy that mixes swashbuckling with the beginnings of science, fantasy, humor and modern-day references in the tradition of Hercules. The few serious moments are quickly dispatched in favor of action or humor or both, and overall it works on that level as an entertaining romp.
The series premiere, "Wanted," quickly gets to the point with its story and character introductions, leaving enough time to be playful with its material. While it's silly to think that anyone would believe the beautiful Karen Cliche is a man, that element plays well once the action starts. The musketeers are distinct and fresh characters, played by a bright cast that gets plenty of backup from character actors Ironside and Boxleitner.
Only the portrayal of the royals as buffoons, especially Robbie Sheehan as King Louis, comes off as ridiculous and out of keeping with the rest of the series. It makes you wonder what the musketeers are fighting for. The others in the world of Young Blades have the potential to become characters whom we might eventually care about. But Louis is nothing more than a caricature.
Much of the fun to be had in Young Blades comes from playing with modern-day knowledge. When inventor Siroc comes up with a flying machine that he believes might help save Jacques' brother, he explains how the thing works to D'Artagnan and then hands him some peanuts because it seems like a good idea. Of course, we quickly realize that the flying machine holds no real advantage in the rescue of the brother, but what the heck. It's a Jules Verne type idea that the writers wanted to play with, and it works as long as we don't take one second of the story seriously.
