The Buccaneers brought Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton’s final and unfinished novel to the small screen in an eight-episode first season. Like its characters, the show only got more confident with every episode. Through fun takes on 1870s costuming, gorgeous locations, a spectacular soundtrack, swoon-worthy romance, and complicated female friendships, The Buccaneers left its mark among period dramas.
So, while it can fill the void left behind after a season of Netflix’s Bridgerton or HBO’s The Gilded Age, The Buccaneers, created by Katherine Jakeways, is creatively deep and visually stunning in its own right. It stars Kristine Frøseth as Nan St. George, Alisha Boe as Conchita Closson, Josie Totah as Mabel Elmsworth, Aubri Ibrag as Lizzy Elmsworth, and Imogen Waterhouse as Jinny St. George as the titular group of friends.
The Apple TV+ series has already been renewed for Season 2, so now is the best time to catch up on the Gilded Age period drama. But if you need a little extra convincing, here are five reasons you should watch The Buccaneers:
1. The Costumes
As much as the script, direction, and performances tell The Buccaneers’s story, fashion is a crucial storytelling element, too. “There’s a whole world within costume that lends itself to period,” costume designer Kate Carin told Vogue. It’s why the jewel-toned, light-weight costumes Nan, Conchita, Mabel, Jinny, and Lizzy wear in New York City clash with the cool-tones, heavier fabrics of aristocratic England. Those distinctions speak to characters, their societies, the time periods in which they exist, as well as interpersonal relationships.
For instance, fashion elevates individual arcs on The Buccaneers, too.
Nan uses fashion to create a more gender-neutral silhouette outside high-brow settings where she is encouraged to be confined by corsets and uncomfortable shoes. Hence, the girls’ costumes are so relaxed on The Buccaneers 1×02, “Women or Wives,” when they are (mostly) free and unsupervised. Meanwhile, Jinny’s storyline sees costuming used as a restrictive weapon by Seadown as his abusive behavior escalates. Alternatively, there’s also the way that the characters (and countries) influence each other for the better, as seen in the vibrant colors added to Honroia’s fashion as she and Mabel grow closer.
Because fashion matters to the characters, it should matter to the audience – no matter if it’s a period drama. The Buccaneers’s costume designers set out to pull viewers into the fashion, too. “For me, period drama definitely has a place, absolutely, but I think to make it relatable to a younger audience, you need to bring something that’s going to buy them in, whatever that is. You need to make it translatable and relatable,” Carin told Harper’s BAZAAR Australia. These brief insights only scratch the surface. There is so much story to unpack just from watching a character’s fashion journey throughout the first season.
2. The Locations
From the second The Buccaneers introduces Theo, the Duke of Tintagel, on a cliff overlooking the sea, there’s no denying that the Apple TV+ show scouted some breathtaking locations in Scotland for its debut season. Tatler interviewed Jakeways about the stately settings, revealing that the spires of the Ardverikie Estate were used on 1×06, “It’s Christmas,” the parkland of Carolside House became the backdrop for the Runnymede shenanigans in 1×02, “Women or Wives,” and more.
“We wanted to keep the audience on its toes, give them a treat each week, with the girls having an entirely new experience in an entirely new world,” executive producer Beth Willis told The Herald (Scotland). That sentiment is especially great for connecting the audience and the buccaneers. Their new experiences are also that of the audience.
Ultimately, all the storied places this piece references help sell the fantasy of The Buccaneers as a period drama for everyone. It helps transport the viewer into the characters’ shoes and their world. Like the costumes, these locations and sets build a strong foundation that the Apple TV+ series can expand upon in its second season.
3. The Soundtrack
The Buccaneers’s trailer featuring Olivia Rodrigo’s “all-american bitch” foreshadowed how impressive its soundtrack would be, and its first season did not disappoint. Whether it be the flashy title sequence set to Emily Kokal’s “North American Scum (feat. Miya Folick)” or Taylor Swift’s “Nothing New (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” in the first episode, The Buccaneers makes the soundtrack a character on the show. Like the best teen dramas, this show punctuates coming-of-age experiences with perfect tracks.
The first season bookends Nan, Conchita, Jinny, Lizzy, and Mabel’s journeys with Taylor Swift songs, beginning with the previously mentioned one and ending in 1×08, “Wedding of the Season,” with “Long Live (Taylor’s Version).” Gracie Abrams’s “Cedar” plays when Jinny reels from realizing she’s pregnant with Seadown’s child during 1×07, “First Footing.” The Buccaneers even finds musical motifs for supporting characters like Patricia St. George, who transforms alongside “Suburban House (feat. Lana Del Rey)” by Holly Macve from 1×04, “Homecoming,” to the season’s penultimate episode.
Like Bridgerton, The Buccaneers uses modern songs in its period drama with great effect. Though certain stories – or elements within them – are specific to the Gilded Age and wouldn’t come about (at least the same way) in 2024, there are universal arcs and themes across the timelines. Characters experiencing first loves and heartbreaks, strains in friendships and families, feeling financial burdens, and coping with toxic authority figures and their behaviors are just a few examples. The soundtrack tying popular artists’ music to those storylines significantly enhances the show’s relatability with a modern audience.
4. The Romance
The Buccaneers will grab attention with its central love triangle featuring Theo, the Duke of Tintagel, Nan St. George, and Guy Thwarte. It’s one of the more prominent parts of the show’s trailer. Rightfully so, too, considering Nan is torn between two best friends. But by the time it becomes clear that one side tugs on Nan’s heartstrings a little harder, the period drama will have revealed its hand of entertaining and emotional romances.
Without spoiling what awaits them in the first season’s eight episodes, Conchita and Richard’s relationship is one of the most complex on the show. Their journey to where Season 1 leaves them is filled with intense, which is to say the very, very least, ups and downs. Conchita faces racism and unfair treatment from most of Richard’s family, and Richard unpacks a childhood of trauma. Still, The Buccaneers keeps a fine focus on the strengths of their romance, making them one of the best couples on the show.
Another of The Buccaneers‘s great romances is between Mabel Elmsworth and Honoria Marable. The first few episodes only tease what’s to come between them, but by 1×05, “Failed Betrayal,” the pairing gets more depth through more screen time. Their exchanges range from deeply endearing to utterly heartbreaking throughout the debut season. That journey makes where Season 1 leaves them so earned – and beautifully portrayed by Josie Totah and Mia Threapleton. Essentially, this show has no shortage of epic romances.
5. The Buccaneers
What would The Buccaneers be without the titular quintet? Absolutely nothing!
The Apple TV+ drama succeeds because the five characters at its heart are inextricably linked even when forces inside and outside their control pull them apart. It does wonders that the cast has such great chemistry, too. The Buccaneers is unafraid to let these young women make messy mistakes and weird choices. Some of the things they do and say to each other are brutal. They know how to cut deep into each other’s hearts and minds, but they know exactly how to piece it together. They know how and when to lift each other up.
Nan and Conchita can point out their insecurities but come together to discuss what plagues their hearts. Lizzy becomes brave for herself and, in turn, her best friend, Jinny, and Lizzy does what she can to protect Jinny from an abusive man. Mabel and Lizzy aren’t sisters in the show’s periphery. Instead, The Buccaneers carves space for their life-changing heart-to-hearts. The same applies to Nan and Jinny. Their relationship becomes fractured, but when it becomes evident that life-saving measures are required, they will set aside any qualms to make whatever sacrifice is necessary – without a second thought.
These young women are forces of nature. It’s no wonder they take England by storm! They are wonderfully nuanced characters who always put each other first at the end of the day. Season 1’s cliffhanger and twists leave one wondering how that will manifest in Season 2, but there’s never a doubt that Nan, Conchita, Jinny, Lizzy, and Mabel won’t handle whatever comes next together. That alone is a great reason to watch The Buccaneers.
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The Buccaneers Season 1 is streaming on Apple TV+ now!