REVIEW: ‘The Buccaneers’ Episode 7 — “First Footing”

Nan (Kristine Froseth) and Jinny’s (Imogen Waterhouse) mother, Patty (Christina Hendricks), arrives in time for New Year’s Eve in The Buccaneers Episode 7, “First Footing.” With her comes the reminder that the series would’ve been significantly more enjoyable in an alternative universe where the story was told from Patty’s point of view and led by the considerable charms and strengths of Hendricks’s performance. As relationships continue to crumble and revelations continue to be unearthed, Hendricks remains a single beacon of hope for the series and its promise, even if she’s only given a spare few moments to outshine all of her surroundings. 

The New Year’s Eve setting allows some lavish set designs and necessary frills to embellish the celebratory night. Still, the storyline is rather dour and overstuffed as the series races to the finish line. The Buccaneers Episode 7 sees the necessary if aggravating confrontation between Nan, Guy (Matthew Broome,) and Theo (Guy Remmers) as it finally comes to light that Theo hid Guy’s telegram from Nan. Guy further confuses things with his admission to being engaged to a woman he believes he can “grow to love.” Nan suffers the fallout of people learning of her true parentage and, expectedly, buckles under the pressure and judgemental stares. And, in a swift shift of tone, Richard confesses to his mother about the inappropriate relationship Mrs. Testvalley had with him when he was younger before he’d come of age and the realization that his mother knew all along but didn’t say anything. 

The last one is suitably distressing, even if it’s written to imply further the difference between the rich American characters and the English. The implication is that even though his mother knew he was being abused, even if he didn’t realize it at the time, she’d rather keep things quiet and sealed away rather than deal with his emotional fallout. It’s a delicately written scene for once, but it’s shoved into a storyline and a show that isn’t fully equipped to deal with it. 

The strongest revelation, though, comes, of course, from Patty after she verbalizes that she wants to choose for once what she wants in life, and that’s a divorce from her husband. In the best-written scene of the series, she tells him that no matter how small she was made to feel, she always made sure that her daughters stood tallest in the rooms, and now, due to that, she’s being allowed to see the view from the world from their shoulders as they embark in greater adventures. It’s one of the many reasons it would’ve been wonderful to see this world and this story from her point of view. We’ve seen plenty of well-told stories set in period dramas of young women finding love in a world riddled with expectations and judgment. What’s more exciting and even radical would be to see the generation above them — their mothers — and how they handle seeing women they raised have to set foot in the same treacherous waters they’ve already mastered staying afloat in. 

Unfortunately, we’re instead saddled with Nan as our protagonist, who remains the single worst aspect of the series due to inconsistent writing and a drab, lifeless performance from Froseth. Nothing in the writing has indicated a spark of why both Theo and Guy would fall for her other than plot continence. Theo and Guy even come to blow over their feelings for her in a scene that’s staged to be humorous but is instead cringe-inducing. 

The writing hasn’t convinced us why this group of young women or Theo and Guy are friends other than telling us they are. They’re friends of circumstance rather than actual bonds, and to fully engage in the show and their lives, we needed a thread of chemistry between any of them rather than the empty chasm that exists. There’s nothing to hold on to, no storyline to engage in, just a countdown until Nan inevitably chooses herself or one of her suitors (though the writing favors Guy.) 

The Buccaneers Episode 7 has its strongest moment to date, with a strong speech about what it means to finally choose oneself after a life of prioritizing others but can’t maintain that quality. With only an episode left to go and big decisions on the horizon, the series has placed too many stakes in the outcome of the romantic drama rather than strengthening the friendships and dynamics between other characters. The result is relationships we’re not invested in and characters whose personal plights are mere fodder for the necessary runtime. 

The Buccaneers Season 1 is out now on Apple TV+