❤️ “The Buccaneers” isn’t Bridgerton 2.0
Huzzah for that. It's its own invention.
The Buccaneers is playing on Apple TV+
Grade: B+ (Highly entertaining, show’s lead is marvelous, and yay for friendship love)
Created by: Katherine Jakeways / Produced by: Beth Willis
Episodes 1-4 were viewed at the time of this review.
The Buccaneers is a joyful addition to the post-Bridgerton love story category that transposes its cast of young female characters into the upwardly mobile society of the late 1800s in a transatlantic setting that alternates between England and New York City. It’s like The Gilded Age on Max if that show included a Dickinson worthy femme glow-up and had an England to speak of. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t, but the Downton Abbey of it all with the upstairs/downstairs social class divisions is well intact and in this case it’s rich NYC people with new money and poorer British people with old money. And for the record, it’s no coincidence that Julian Fellowes is the creator of both The Gilded Age and Downton Abbey.
Incidentally, The Buccaneers puts its rather stale and snooty Brits on notice which is also kind of fun to watch. In this instance, the British landowners with estates and titles don’t appreciate having to lower themselves by marrying wealthy American heiresses, but one needs the money and the other has no agency. The families in both situations stand to gain the most in these financial transactions where young girls are paraded like “cattle” to vie for the attention and affections of suitable mates.
Where I find some fault with The Buccaneers is its insistence on exposing its audience to the repetitive class and cultural divides and the tensions that arise from the differences. The British snobbery is tiresome and there’s a level of victimhood too, on the part of the Americans which I can understand while simultaneously holding the thought that it doesn’t really serve the women in the long run. There’s a focus on the isms (of which there are many, as you might imagine) but to some extent, to the detriment of authentic relationship storytelling. The Buccaneers, though, seems aware enough of itself to not fall completely into this trap which in another series might render it shallow and preachy.
Love, Actually
It’s been a bit of a drought year for romance of the Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters’ variety. Definition: Period dramas that typically feature a strong, cerebrally-minded female lead bucking the conventions and limitations of society, willfully trying to strike out on her own and lean into her power, however small. There’s of course a love story attached to these stories. However, as The Buccaneers also reminds its viewers, life’s pleasure can also be found beyond romantic love. It’s the platonic love for your siblings, your parents, and in the case of Nan, the main character, her chosen family of friends that can be a primary agent in self-fulfillment and actualization.
“Girls are taught that if a story isn’t a love story, it’s a tragedy” - Nan
“Well we have us. And what if this is our love story?” - Lizzie, her friend
A Primer
The standard textbook Regency onscreen romance these days has been reimagined and transformed by well-known showrunner Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Bridgerton) and her algorithm is one that is generally followed because it’s wildly successful. As this year’s Shondaland romance Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story reminds us with its themes of arranged marriage, beautiful actors in grand costumes, dancing or not to classical instrumental versions of pop songs, and heroines in full possession of their sexual power, this story form has evolved into pure escape fantasy. One trigger-warning storyline in particular from Bridgerton S1, involving a non-consensual sex scene had me checking my decision to continue watching the show. I did.
However, in the case of Queen Charlotte, there’s evidence that sometimes the sum of the parts doesn’t always add up to a masterpiece. It couldn’t hold a candle to Bridgerton, season 2, and Kate’s (the female lead) more outspoken and mature performance as she navigated her love story with restraint and a level of thoughtfulness, highly attuned to her love for her sister, for example, even though she falls in love with her sister’s fiance. It’s complicated.
And Some Plot(z) Stuff
In The Buccaneers, the posse of jet-setting girls at its center achieve to great effect an upgrade to the Shonda Rhimes’ recipe. Sure, their main purpose is to be married off to rich British dudes, but it’s the work that’s done under this premise that makes the biggest splash. The focus on the female performances and relationships trump the rest of the stories, even with the love triangle between Nan, penniless Guy and the rich duke, Theo. That nonsense is secondary, albeit also delightful. The empathetic, trailblazing Nan (Kristine Froseth) gets the most airtime, thankfully. That said, I’m also enjoying performances by the smart and sexy Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) and Lizzy’s queer and quiet sister Mabel (Josie Totah).
There are others that are less of a draw in the friends and family department, namely Nan’s beautiful and convention-abiding sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse, Suki’s sister) and the drama queen/newly married duchess or heiress Conchita (Alisha Boe). Conchita is the energy vampire friend that literally sucks the happy out of every event and makes every moment about herself, especially when it’s someone else’s turn to shine, like when Nan is being introduced as the fiancee of a duke and formally coming out to society at a formal ball. Jinny bounces back from a being a petty sister at the jump and does the work to restore her relationship with Nan, but her poor choice in a marriage partner is not going to help her be a better person.
All of these girls, who are on the brink of becoming women, are not of the ilk of a Louisa May Alcott novel at first glance. They are savvier and more aware of the world, but it’s possible to make a comparison between Jo March and Nan St. George. Both are swimming upstream in a world that will never value them in the ways they want to be admired for - their intelligence, their diplomacy, and ability to contribute to society in ways that typically valued in men, versus women. They aren’t performative in the ways that women are often esteemed. There’s also a bit of Beth in Nan in her loyalty to her friends and devoted sister qualities. It’s a nice upgrade since Jo and Beth are my favorite Little Women.
Mad Men’s Joan is still a Knockout and a Standout
Christina Hendricks plays Mrs. St George, a powerhouse of a woman who is the matriarch of the St. George family, mother to Nan and Jinny and wife to the unfaithful Colonel (Adam James). She wasn’t much utilized in the first few episodes but finally got her Emmy-worthy moment in the 4th episode, “Homecoming,” where she hosts a party for her daughters - Jinny and her husband, the evil creep Lord James Seadown who in previous episodes prior to marriage, sexually debases Lizzy and traumatizes her through his continued gaslighting of the offense. Nan’s new fiance is the toast of Manhattan, because he’s a duke and this is more than a Lord. He’s also boring. So there’s that. In the end though, it’s Nan and her mother’s heartwarming connection and their ability to work through a challenge together while the party is taking place in real time that make this a revelatory episode. Watching Froseth’s Nan and Hendricks’ Mrs. really see one another, talk it out, and love hard is beautiful and unexpected.
A New Direction / Alternate Fan Fiction Ending
Episode 4 convinced me that we need a spinoff with Hendricks and Froseth. It can be called We’ll Take Manhattan. They can own a publishing empire or not. They can play cards all day or write a gossip column a la Lady Whistledown. Mabel and Lizzie will move in and contribute by supplying endless news. They will all join a suffrage movement, convinced that the only way to make change happen is to have women be able to vote. Guy will be permitted to visit and in time he and Nan will fall in love after a long courting (a friendship to lovers trope). The rest of the people can stay in England.
And they all live happier every after.