I think we’re all looking for the next thing to watch while we work, clean, walk on the treadmill. I gave Apple+’s The Buccaneers a shot, not knowing much about it. Based on what I did know, it should have ticked every box I enjoy. I am a fan of giving every project a solid shot (heck, I even enjoyed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Unfortunately, I couldn’t even finish the first season of The Buccaneers.
The Pros
I’m a fan of a slightly anachronistic period piece. Using modern songs, or period takes on modern songs – I have enjoyed Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte’s play with modern music to tell the story. Even some of the more modern spins on costuming. A Knight’s Tale is one of my favorite comfort movies. The Buccaneers does have anachronistic touches.
I’m also a fan of colorblind casting. Having a woman of color as Conchita makes sense. It further adds to the othering of her within Richard’s very white proper British family. (In a way that might make sense to modern viewers, compared to people looking down on them just because they’re new money)
Christina Hendricks. Look, I will watch anything that she’s been in, because she’s an incredible actress. I’ve loved her since Firefly, but especially since Mad Men.
The Cons
The Buccaneers is massively inconsistent with where it becomes anachronistic. Some of the characters wear more accurate Gilded Age/Victorian dress. Some don’t. Christina Hendricks looks like she should be on The Gilded Age – but Nan constantly looks out of place. It’s as though the show doesn’t trust us to see her more modern tastes and dreams through her actions – so they give her a bob that they give up on styling and have her shun the entire historic silhouette (and indeed, her dresses become more and more like the entireity of Reign, another show that became modern fashion in a period setting).
It mostly feels like they didn’t set any rules about how the anachronism works. A Knight’s Tale used modern music, and some modern fashion touches. But kept the world largely medieval. Bridgerton simplifies some of the fashion, introduces a world where Black people can be in the same society, and we hear regency versions of popular songs.
Nan is insufferable, personality wise. We’re supposed to see her as a forward thinker. In the story, they made her an illegitimate child raised by the wife. Which does raise the stakes for her (it could ruin her and her family if it got out – also why it makes no sense why they made this change). However, when her sister Jinny tells her the truth out of jealous, she immeidately decides her mother never really loved her and lashes out. Despite the fact that to everyone else, her mother favors Nan.
More Cons
Nan ends up in a bit of a love triangle. But there’s no chemistry with either man, and mostly Nan ends up coming off as though she picked a man and then immediately regretted her decision.
The entire friend group in The Buccaneers (other than Mabel and Lizzy) are just…. horrible. Most of the subplots are based on misunderstandings that could have been resolved with one conversation. Or letting someone else finish a single sentence.
Then other deviations from the book it’s based on, seem as though they were made simply to add a plot twist. Not to add anything to any particular character. (Miss Testvalley, if you’re curious which character I’m talking about)
The Buccaneers: Why I dropped it
The list of the cons is the short list of why I stopped watching. It’s based on Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel – and the series seems to have taken the loosest inspiration from the story. Wharton is the anti-Auston. In her works, women’s spirits are broken by the expectations of society. There are no happy endings. I didn’t expect for everyone to have a happy ending, but most of the twists are executed in a way that it feels too contrived.
I was prepared for some pain and heartbreak, but perhaps I’m too old. The Buccaneers just felt like a music video that went on for far too long.