Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Buccaneers season 2, episode 1.The Buccaneersis back with a jam-packed first episode that starts the season on a high. The season 1 finale saw Nan (Kristine Froseth) make the selfless decision to marry Theo (Guy Remmers), giving her sister, Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse), time to escape her abusive husband. Making Nan’s choice even more heartbreaking, her true love, Guy (Matthew Broome), accompanied Jinny into hiding, meaning that he and Nan may never see each other again.
Elsewhere in the finale, Conchita (Alisha Boe) and Richard (Josh Dylan) found solid ground in their marriage despite his controlling family, and Mable (Josie Totah) ended her engagement in favor of her relationship with Honoria (Mia Threapleton). Nan and Jinny’s father, Tracy (Adam James), told their mother, Patti (Christina Hendricks), that Nan’s biological mother is at the wedding after her parentage was a major part of the first season.
The Buccaneers Season 2 Wastes No Time Resuming The Story, Which Largely Works
The Episode Covers A Lot Of Ground, But The First Moments Are A Bit Jarring
The Buccaneersseason 2picks up just moments after Nan’s wedding ceremony, quickly dropping us into the reception and the immediate aftermath of her sacrifice for Jinny. While it’s admirable that the show doesn’t try to pile on the exposition, I’ll admitthe first ten minutes or so were pretty jarring for meas I tried to remember exactly what happened at the end of the season.
With just eight episodes in season 2,The Buccaneerssmartly recognizes that it can’t afford to waste a lot of time.
Beyond that, though,the decision to pick things up so quickly allows the episode to cover a lot of ground and, by the end, sets up a pretty clear status quo for the rest of the season. With just eight episodes in season 2,The Buccaneerssmartly recognizes that it can’t afford to waste a lot of time.
Some Unexpected Relationship Dynamics Are A Highlight Of The Episode
Leighton Meester Is Perfectly Cast As Nan’s Biological Mother
Leighton Meester’s Nell, Patti’s sister, who also happens to be Nan’s biological mother, has a lot to do in this episode, and her scenes wound up being my favorite.Meester perfectly plays the moment where Nell sees Nan for the first timein many years, but I was even more impressed by the show’s take on Nell’s relationship with Patti. It’s clear there’s a lot of anger from both of them, which was a bit unexpected, and there’s a surprising amount of nuance in how they discuss Nell’s relationship with Tracy.
I also didn’t expect to enjoy Nan’s relationship with the Dowager Duchess (Amelia Bullmore) as much as I did in this episode. The Dowager is one ofThe Buccaneers' more complicated characters, and that extends to her relationship with Nan. They don’t see eye to eye on everything — made clear by Nan defying her and wearing red at the end of the episode — but there’s a mutual respect there that I enjoyed, and it feels very different from Nan’s relationship with Patti.
With So Much Focus On Nan, There’s Not Much Time For Her Friends
Though The Other Buccaneers Have Less To Do, Having A Clear Focal Point Makes The Episode Stronger Overall
Of Nan’s friends,Conchita gets arguably the meatiest storyline, and it’s great to see her play such a key role in trying to save the family’s finances. Cora Merrigan (Maria Almeida) and her mother are a fun addition, and Cora provides a nice echo to the Buccaneers last season. In this episode, I also like Lizzy and Hector (Jacob Ifan) a lot; they have a nice chemistry that’s easy to root for.
Keeping the focus largely on Nan, her parentage, and the ramifications of her decision to marry Theo gives the episode a solid focus and helps successfully kick offThe Buccaneersseason 2.
The Buccaneersseason 2 episodes release on Wednesdays through August 6 on Apple TV+.
