Mid-2000s indie references aside,that’s exactly whatThe Buccaneers is all about:“scummy” Americans scandalising uptight British aristocracy,the clashing of the old world and the new,and how money is a social passport that only sometimes transcends rigid class divides.
The first episode introduces us to a group of wealthy young women from New York who visit London in the 1870s,ostensibly to enter the competitive marriage market there. For lovers ofDownton Abbey this might seem like a familiar tale. We’re often reminded that Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) married American debutante Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) because she had the kind of new money that would rescue his struggling estate,whereas Cora’s family were chasing the prestige of a British aristocratic title.
The injection of American wealth into British society is what ancient families needed:the money to keep their peerage alive. But they’re also allergic to everything the Americans seem to represent:individualism and an ignorance,or outright rejection,of concrete social norms.
The first episode sees free-spirited Nan (Kristine Frøseth,whom you might recognise fromLooking for Alaska, and her well-behaved but determined sister Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) attend the wedding of their close and extremely exuberant friend Conchita (Alisha Boe,13 Reasons Why) to an English lord. Conchita is the first in their crew to get married and the pressure is on for the others to find an upper-crust suitor in the upper crust to improve their standing.
There are family secrets,one harboured by Nan and Jinny’s mother,played byMad Men’s Christina Hendricks. There are affairs,mistaken identities,sibling rivalry and,naturally,a duke in disguise.
LikeBridgerton,The Buccaneers features a diverse cast that period dramas often lack. It adds a vital layer to the story:Conchita’s in-laws criticise her for being “too much” in language that she knows is racially coded. Her white sister-in-law is praised for her restraint,but Conchita is routinely told she is abrasive and uncomfortably different.