It’s rare to use MiscelAna‘s space to speak negatively about content and I always find reasons to highlight quality, but with The Buccaneers, I gave up. The production of Apple TV Plus is a platform misstep, with expensive and pretentious content, empty and simply bad.

The series shamelessly builds on the successes of The Great and especially Bridgerton to ensure its space in period productions aimed at younger audiences. Pretentiously chose the book by a great American author, Edith Wharton, to reach the teen audience and may even reach the metric, but the content is almost laughable. The Buccaneers is far from being one of the most interesting works by the author, who left it unfinished, but it seemed irresistible to those who wrote with an eye on the algorithm as it had all the elements of the current drama of Meghan Markle and the Royal Family, another forcing of the story that skids and gets nowhere. The fault for this is believing that anachronism solves everything. It only got worse.

The heroine of the story, Nan Saint George, tells us in the first scene that she “never wanted to be a protagonist”, which is exactly the opposite of what we see. Literally, if Nan is in the scene she is always disheveled, with modernized clothes and a haircut, crying or suffering over something. She always has an opinion, an answer on the tip of her tongue. She doesn’t take offense at home and at any party – be it a wedding or even her own engagement celebration – she is locked in rooms leaving guests alone, entering and leaving rooms slamming the door, and interrupting dinners to talk about herself.

Nan’s drama would only be as dramatic as the original if The Buccaneers hadn’t transformed the story with modern, feminist, authentic characters. This is because, in the society of The Gilded Age, women were repressed and needed to get married to have a living and acceptance in society. With “so much competition”, they needed to be pure, quiet, and drama-free. Since Nan found out from her petty sister that she was actually illegitimate, there was a danger if the truth came out, especially since she was to be married to a Duke.

Behold, the man she loved first, Guy, ran away from her when he discovered her origin and the second man she loved, Theo, her fiancé, not only didn’t care but faced family and society to stay by her side. Still, Nan and the screenwriters decided to turn Theo into the antagonist, with Nan accusing him of being a liar (because he knew the truth and didn’t warn her that he did, “making her suffer by hiding it from him”, I know, it doesn’t make sense), destroying a relationship that the writers had made perfect until then. Inadmissible in any adult script, but apparently Nan is what the millennial generation likes to be: narcissistic, reckless, and lost. I understand that Guy is the one and Nan will choose him, but we don’t need to turn Theo into the wrong guy. She loves who she loves, but again, Nan has to be accountable for her choice so it’s easier trying to gaslight Theo so she “has a reason” to break with him.

Nan in the series is terrified when she finds out, but instead of keeping quiet, she acts as I described before: on the verge of a constant nervous breakdown. She gave so much attention that when the truth came out, no one even moved. The scene was ridiculous anyway. And it doesn’t stop there.

I know it sounds grumpy, but The Buccaneers, which already had a shallow foundation with dramas that no longer resonate with women today, was completely shaky when it transformed its protagonist’s personality into something she is not. There’s no way to empathize with Nan or root for her and Guy given what we see. Because there is nothing – not even conventions – that stops them from being together. Theo’s attitude, seen as manipulative, is not: in fact, he is trying to win the girl, be a good friend, and still be discreet. He will be sacrificed or will sacrifice himself so Nan can “be happy” with the guy who deceived and rejected her in the first place, but who is the good guy in the plot. Nan doesn’t deserve Theo.

I didn’t even bother to look at the other plots. Jinny and Lizzy continue right where they started, with Jinny now pregnant and unsure of how to get rid of her sociopathic husband. And Conchita and Richard deal with him being a sexual abuse survivor. Yes, the “romance” he had with Mrs. Testvalley when he was still a minor is rape, she was right to run away. But no one cares about him and Conchita, or anyone really. Not long before it ends, on my list, I wouldn’t even go back for a second chance. What suffering!

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