Carême ‘Confession’: The Heir
- Cherish
- Jun 4
- 5 min read
Carême Season 1 Episode 7 Recap and Review
Birth and babies were the throughline of this episode that left me feeling not quite sure how much of what I saw was real and not just part of a plot to be revealed in the finale next week. The first baby-related news was Antonin finding his birth certificate amongst Bailly’s things. It showed that he was born at the Hōtel de Galliffet, but apparently neither the name of his mother nor his father was indicated there. He confronted Liliane, repository of the house’s secrets, and though Liliane acknowledged that she knew his mother (she found out via the medallion she gave Talleyrand), she did not know who his father was.
Why did Antonin’s mind immediately jump to Talleyrand being his father? The Hōtel de Galliffet had a full staff, it would not have been unusual for babies to have been born there. Yet, Antonin pretty much went through the episode with this assumption that Talleyrand was his father. He even implied this to the Pope, during that confession that at this time I am not yet convinced was just a confession. The Pope all but absolved him should he choose to go through murdering Talleyrand.
Hortense suffered from a difficult childbirth, in the episode’s second baby-related news. She went to the Hōtel de Galliffet to welcome the Pope and went into labour. The male doctors could not help her, so Catherine brought in the midwife who delivered her daughter Charlotte. It turned out that the baby was in breech. The midwife tried, but she could not turn the baby; Josephine needed to choose between the life of her daughter or the life of the child who, if male, would be Napoleon’s heir.
Josephine was having a rather rotten day. Talleyrand had managed to convince her husband that she should not be crowned empress. Whilst Talleyrand tried to reason that he simply did not want the Pope to have an excuse not to crown Napoleon, it soon became clear that he was already thinking of Napoleon after Josephine. He said Napoleon needed a woman who could offer him an alliance, and a descendant. Hortense was pregnant but they did not know yet if it would be a boy. Josephine declared there would be no coronation without her.
She meant that. When the Pope arrived and rejected the veritable feast Antonin and his kitchen prepared, it was Josephine who escorted him down to the chapel. Afterwards, the Pope declared that he could not crown a man living in sin with his mistress. Bonaparte and Josephine only had a civil marriage, they were not married in the eyes of the church. Talleyrand thought Josephine was manipulating the Pope; if she and Napoleon had a church wedding, then Bonaparte would not be able to divorce her without the Pope’s consent.
The words that came out of Talleyrand’s mouth were very harsh, and it was surprising that a diplomat, a political animal like him would lose control in that manner in front of the Pope. Josephine did, too, she said she was in prison during the Terrors, the only way to get out was pregnancy so she begged the guards then had an abortion; the hardships she endured was why she was not intimidated by Talleyrand’s schemes. She declared this with the Pope beside her, the same Pope she was trying to convince the crown her Empress.
The emotional outburst was a setup for the Sophie’s choice Josephine faced. Talleyrand couched her choices as being a mother or an empress, and Josephine chose to save her daughter. Note that at this time, they did not yet know if the baby were a boy or a girl; if it were a girl, then Napoleon would not have had an heir anyway.
Agathe asked Antonin for laudanum to help Hortense, and when she handed the potion, the midwife noticed her small hands. Agathe was able to turn the baby, who was a boy, and Hortense was saved.
Remember back in Episode 4 when Charles was worried about Talleyrand’s possible reaction to his secret with Hortense, and Antonin said he probably already knew and would not mind having his grandson be first in line to the throne? Apparently, Talleyrand did not know. Antonin persuaded him to bury the hatchet with Josephine and have her crowned Empress; Talleyrand’s blood would now ascend to the throne one day anyway. It was heavily implied that Antonin was pushing for the coronation to happen so he could murder Talleyrand there. I am not yet buying that this is indeed the case.
Talleyrand stopped the Pope from leaving by selling a rapprochement with Josephine, and asked him to celebrate her wedding to Napoleon. He also offered for France to refund him the cost of the church properties Talleyrand sold during the revolution. The Pope stayed, and the wedding pushed through.
Talleyrand was able to save the coronation, and he was not unhappy that his blood was now in line to the throne, but he was furious at his son Charles, and berated him harshly. Imagine what Josephine would have done had she knew. Charles could have cost them their lives.
But Josephine already knew. She saw Charles and Hortense with the baby; their connection was obvious. Meanwhile, Charles was angry at Antonin for betraying his secret.
Agathe, too, now had a secret, in the episode’s third baby-related news. Agathe and Antonin were sleeping together, but Agathe assured him that she did not expect anything from him. So, when Henriette returned (what’s with the ring?), Antonin had no problem falling back into bed with her. After the midwife noticed and told Agathe that she was pregnant, Agathe went to see Antonin, and found the former ex-lovers back in each other’s arms.
To be honest, I’m not in love with this episode, but it set up what it needed to set up and I am looking forward to the payoff of the finale. One final thing – the fact that Fouché was not in this episode served to underline how much he added to the show’s entertainment value. Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of him in the finale. Till next week!
Rating: B-
Strays
🧑🍳Antonin was still drinking heavily. The show better address this at some point.
🧑🍳Antonin searched for, and took, the medallion with his mother’s image. Did no one notice the broken mirror?
🧑🍳The Pope had a lot of grudges against Talleyrand, amongst which was that the priests were now ordinary civil servants. He said he endured so French Catholics could live their faith without hindrance.
🧑🍳There was a rapprochement between Catherine and Josephine as well.