'The Buccaneers' Season 1 Recap: All You Need To Know Before Season 2

The Buccaneers on AppleTV is like if Bridgerton was American and very sad. The TV show is set in the Gilded Age and is about 5 young women who have basically come into new money and are trying to fit into New York society. The show primarily focuses on Nan and Jinny, the St. George sisters, essentially the Jo and Amy of this story. Then there’s Mabel and Lizzy Elmsworth, another pair of sisters who are really good friends with the St. Georges. Finally, there’s Conchita, their Black friend, who is the reason they all get to travel to England, where they plan on meeting the loves of their lives. The Buccaneers, on the surface, may seem like a show about finding love and attending debutante balls, but it reminds us that not much has changed in all these years, especially when it comes to the treatment of women. The show begins with Conchita’s wedding about to happen and her groom missing. Will the groom show up? How will things turn out? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

What Happens With Conchita? 

Conchita’s wedding almost doesn’t happen because Richard feels like his family won’t accept the modern American woman, and he’s not wrong, but Nan convinces him to marry Conchita because he loves her dearly. Conchita’s already pregnant, but she hasn’t told Richard because she doesn’t want him to marry her just because of that. Suddenly, months have passed, and Conchita is heavily pregnant, sad, and lonely in London. It seems the Richard she married was a phenomenon that occurs only in America, because when he’s with family, he’s a whole other person. Conchita starts to wither like a flower in autumn, and only her friends can revive her. But even that isn’t enough. Conchita has to give birth by herself as Nan is sent off to a different city because she’s coming in the way of her sister’s happiness. 

Conchita becomes depleted after moving to London, but she’s determined to keep Richard and her alive. After she’s given birth to her daughter, Minnie, she plans a trip to the countryside, where she hopes things will be more fun and free, like in America. This is exactly what happens, because Richard is staying next door with some friends of his. While they’re out there, their love is more passionate; it’s back to how it used to be, but Conchita overhears Richard say that there’s a difference between women and wives. What she doesn’t hear him say is that he’s in love with her still and wants her to stay the same. Conchita instead decides to change herself and become a quiet woman to fit in with her in-laws. 

Later, they get past this misunderstanding, but there’s another massive issue here. It turns out that the governess, Testvalley, has been sexually abusing Richard ever since she came into the household, and his parents knew about it but didn’t even talk to their son about it. They simply got Testvalley to leave. This time around, it’s actually Honoria who sides with her brother and sends Testvalley away. She even tries to talk to her elder brother about it, showing him that she’s there for him. Now, as an adult, when Richard tries to tell his mom about his past, rather than comforting him, she asks if Testvalley is asking for money, as if none of what happened affected him at all. This is the last straw for Richard, and he essentially decides then to split from his family for good. On the other hand, though, Conchita gets a letter from her family stating that her dad made a bad investment, so now they’re broke. But Richard is okay with this because it means the three of them can now have a truly new start. However, at the end of the show, Richard learns that his dad is super sick. His dad asks him to take over his responsibilities now because his sister and mother will depend on him. I suppose Richard will take what he gets because he can decide how the household runs, no? Conchita will get to be Lady Brightlingsea. 

Is Mabel Getting Married? 

Mabel is the queer friend of the group. She’s not exactly subtle about it, but somehow none of the girls have realized it, not even her sister. Mabel and Honoria catch feelings for each other, but Mabel goes back to New York, where her mom catches her with one of the maids. This confuses her and makes her feel ashamed, because her mother doesn’t say anything or actually react to the situation. When Mabel goes back to London, she and Honoria get physical, but she runs away in fear. Their relationship is a little bit on and off, but finally Mabel devises a plan to stay back with Honoria. This involves getting married to Miles, who is the kind of man who will “let her be,” and she’ll do the same. But, even in a marriage of convenience, there are responsibilities, and Mabel realizes later that she’s not ready to take them on. Mabel decides to call off the engagement and tells Honoria that they should try to make it work, and they’ll create a world of their own. This is a brave move, and Mabel’s only got the strength to do this because her sister told her she had nothing to be ashamed of when she came out to her, but how long will this fairy tale really last? We’ll have to wait to find out. 

What Happens to Lizzy? 

While everybody talks about Jinny being the most beautiful, in truth Lizzy is just as stunning. So, when Richard’s brother James comes around to choose a bride, both Lizzy and Jinny try to impress him. But James is an evil man who just wants to humiliate Lizzy. He doesn’t want to marry her; it’s more like he wants to have some fun before he settles with the woman who will fit societal standards, i.e., Jinny. James makes Lizzy strip down in front of him in a bedroom, doesn’t touch her, and then sends a servant to tell her he’s gone. Lizzy is entirely devastated and humiliated by this situation, so she returns to New York, but she comes back strong. She decides that the shame is not her burden to carry; it’s James’. Plus, she notices how he treats Jinny and knows she needs to be there for her friend. In a moment of vulnerability, Lizzy tells Guy that she was made to feel ashamed by a man. I suppose it helps when it’s an almost stranger to get it out of your system. I think telling him really helps Lizzy fully understand that she did nothing wrong. Eventually, she tells Jinny what he did, but Jinny chooses to side with James instead.

Does Jinny Escape? 

Jinny and James “elope” and get married because he doesn’t want some sort of grand event. He wants to control Jinny, and he isolates her from all of her friends and family. Jinny doesn’t really understand what he’s doing to her until it’s a bit too late. She also pushes her friends away by siding with James every chance she gets. She calls Conchita a peacock so that she can appeal to James’ parents, but Conchita later calls them out for accepting Jinny only because she’s blonde and blue-eyed. The double standards can not be missed. But Jinny starts to feel claustrophobic and afraid when she realizes she’s pregnant and there’s no way out for her. Later, Jinny ends up falling unconscious with all the stress, and James learns from Miles, the doctor, that she’s pregnant. When she wakes up, he gets so furious that she hadn’t told him that he hits her. Jinny finally decides to go to Nan and tell her what happened, but they get caught while trying to run away. 

In the final act of the show, Guy takes Jinny and leaves, because two girls can’t look after each other and a baby. Jinny feels awful for ruining all of their lives, but she has no choice but to get away from James with their unborn child. 

Who Does Nan Love? 

Nan’s the girl who doesn’t care about love or finding the perfect match. She’s the intelligent one, so everyone believes she can make it on her own, but Guy sets his eyes on Nan the second he sees her climb down a wall during Conchita’s wedding. Later, she meets Theo, the Duke of Tintagel, but she doesn’t know who he is, so she acts like her normal self, free and vocal, which intrigues him. Of course, there’s a love triangle, and to make matters worse, Theo and Guy are besties. Guy was looking for a rich bride to solve all his problems after his mom died, but he likes Nan so much that he throws all of that out of the window. Meanwhile, Theo wants someone to support him as the Duke, and who better than an intellectual like Nan, whom he has fallen for so deeply? 

At the beginning of the show, Jinny’s mad at Nan for being attractive and tells her that she’s an illegitimate child. If Nan didn’t know this, she could’ve married anyone and been happy, but now she’s got no identity, and she fears her life is forever ruined. But she tells Guy about it, and he runs away, which is when Theo swoops in and makes a proposal. Many moons and misunderstandings later, Nan learns of Guy’s feelings for her and that Theo already knew that she was an illegitimate child. In many ways, Nan is essentially a toy between the two men, who are playing a game of ego. But while Guy fell for her first, Theo proposed first, and now the whole world knows the Duke is marrying a woman born out of wedlock, so he chooses to step back. In the middle of all this, Theo tries to set Guy up with Jean, and he does try to move on, but he’s too in love with Nan. He decides to run away, and the night before the wedding, he climbs into Nan’s window. She agrees to run away with him, but that’s when Jinny shows up at her room, making her panic. Jinny and Nan’s mum decides to get divorced after Nan’s wedding because, as the mother of a duchess, nobody will question her, and she’ll be safe and happy by herself. Their dad has always been a horrible husband. 

At the end of The Buccaneers season 1, Theo and Nan’s mothers have a conversation about Nan wanting to run away. The duchess tells Nan’s mom that Nan’s a smart girl and she’ll do anything to protect her sister. The duchess already knows everything. Nan’s mother realizes that she’s choosing to get married for her sake, and she may never be happy, just like her. But to make matters worse, Nan’s dad tells his wife that Nan’s mom is at the wedding. He’d told Nan that she’s dead, so there’s yet another lie that she’s going to have to deal with. Now, I don’t know about you, but I thought Nan’s mom would be Testvalley, but maybe it’s a new character we’ve not met yet. We’ll just have to watch season 2 to find out. 

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