Apple TV+’s sumptuous period drama The Buccaneers is back for a triumphant second season, and its second episode delivers an emotionally fraught hour that reminds us that this series has transformed from being Bridgerton’s straight man into a nuanced exploration of feminine rebellion within Gilded Age society. The Weight of a Crown” (Season 2, Episode 2) skillfully ramps up tensions from the premiere and adds out-of-the-blue new complications for our favorite American heiresses negotiating the minefield of British aristocracy.
An Entangling Web of Secrets and Lies
We catch up with Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) for the first time in full crisis mode, since her forced marriage to the dominator Lord James (Barney Fishwick). Waterhouse gives her best performance to date as the woman in question, who vacillates from desperate rebellion to petrified terror, notably, in a chilling scene where she risks everything to secretly see her erstwhile lover Richard (a returning Josh Dylan). The cinematography here is gorgeous, and director Susanna White employs tight close-ups and flickering gaslight to evoke a mood of breathless peril.
Nan (Kristine Frøseth), meanwhile, helps to uncover her discomfort as Duchess of Tintagel, with Frøseth’s face alone telling vast volumes about her character’s inner turmoil. A wrenching scene involves a senior employee, Guy (Matthew Broome), catching her eavesdropping when she’s left alone in their shared apartment, exposing fissures in their already shaky marriage. Broome keeps peeling back the layers in Guy, who is perhaps more emotionally complicated than his icy exterior makes him appear.
Conchita’s Triumphant Stand
It has a real showstopper of a performance from Alisha Boe as Conchita, who goes toe-to-toe with her ex-husband in a battle at the courthouse that deserves an Emmy. Director White glorifies this as a literal trial by fire, the light spilling through stained-glass windows as Conchita battles not just for her fortune, but her personhood. The writing is sharp here, and Conchita’s defiant “I can be bought but never tamed!” speech becomes another round-hammered crowd favourite.
Supporting Players Take the Spotlight
This episode does miraculous things with characters whose emotional lives have been secondary:
Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) goes through a quiet rebellion, and her cheering about Conchita is a significant break from her usual obedience.
Mia Threapleton is a standout as Honoria, whose facade of the perfect marriage belies the opposite reality.
The arrival of Lady Linton (a deliciously catty Fenella Woolgar) as a fresh antagonist to society hints at some juicy possible conflicts to come.
Themes That Echo Past the Time Setting
What makes The Buccaneers truly magical is how it exploits its 1870s setting to scrutinise surprisingly timeless concerns:
The Prison of Privilege – How being born rich makes it impossible for you to have a choice in life. They are American girls whose wealth can’t buy their freedom in a society that sees women as commodities.
Performing vs being – Many characters are constantly at odds with performing or putting on a mask for public consumption vs. their true selves
The Price Rebelliousness – Rebellion is not free, not just monetarily, but ostracization or physical threat can also be consequences for small acts of defiance
Technical Brilliance
The production values remain fantastic, with special mention going to:
The counterposed color palettes (hot golds for the American scenes, cool blues for the British ones)
A thrilling ball sequence where the camera dances with the dancers
Tasteful nonsense employment of anachronistic music as motivational thump music
The Verdict
‘The Weight of a Crown’ is The Buccaneers at its best – emotionally forthright, visually lush, full of scandal to power a dozen society papers. Though the episode’s relentless momentum sometimes threatens to steamroll the more intimate character moments, the performances (Boe and Waterhouse in particular) are terrific, and the writing is caustic.
