Binge-worthy: The Buccaneers a frothy, fun American edition of Bridgerton
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(From left) Alisha Boe, Josie Totah, Kristine Froseth, Aubri Ibrag and Imogen Waterhouse in The Buccaneers.
PHOTO: APPLE TV+
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The Buccaneers
Apple TV+
3 stars
Picture the English period dramas Bridgerton (2020 to present) and Downton Abbey (2010 to 2015), but with a pop music soundtrack and Americans as the main characters.
This will give you some idea of what to expect from the frothy drama series The Buccaneers, which follows a group of American heiresses looking for husbands in 1870s England.
Here are three reasons to watch the eight-part series on Apple TV+.
1. Bridgerton: American edition
Based on an unfinished book by the late American novelist Edith Wharton, the show opens in New York during the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, when a booming economy has created plenty of new money.
On the other side of the pond, there are lots of English noblemen strapped for cash. So, when wealthy American socialite Conchita (Alisha Boe) gets engaged to English lord Richard (Josh Dylan), it seems a match made in heaven.
The social-climbing parents of her besties Nan (Kristine Froseth), Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse), Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) and Mable (Josie Totah) want the same for their daughters, so all head to London to find themselves English beaus.
One of these girls is not like the others, though. The fiercely independent Nan is uninterested in snagging an aristocratic husband and just wants to be with her friends.
Kristine Froseth plays Nan in The Buccaneers.
PHOTO: APPLE TV+
But she draws the attention of several intriguing prospects in London’s cut-throat social scene which, as in Bridgerton, is enlivened with a modern soundtrack and other anachronisms.
2. Culture-clash fun
The story hinges on the Anglo-American culture clash, which is facile but also kind of fun.
There is a curious mix of anglophilia and anglophobia here. The trappings of British high society sparkle, but the British characters are almost all snooty, uptight and conniving.
The Americans are walking cliches too, or as the show likes to say, “free-spirited”, which apparently means drinking too much, talking too loudly and busting out sexy dance moves at the drop of a hat.
3. Heartfelt moments between characters
Alisha Boe as Conchita and Josh Dylan as English lord Richard in The Buccaneers.
PHOTO: APPLE TV+
What gives The Buccaneers a bit of depth are the close bonds and emotionally honest conversations among a few of the characters, especially as their relationships evolve and they feel the sharp end of their social ambition.
Credit should be given for the attempt to portray a loving but troubled marriage, although the parallels being drawn between Conchita and Richard’s mixed-race union and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s feel a little cheap.
The show is a ton of fun to watch, regardless, not least because of Froseth’s winsome performance as Nan, whose uncertain fate makes you want The Buccaneers to return for a second season.
