Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 4.
There’s a very throwaway scene in The Buccaneers‘ latest episode that, while not adding all that much to the plot, serves as a perfect encapsulation of what this week’s episode is about. While sitting on a bench, Blanche, the Dowager Duchess of Tintagel (Amelia Bullmore), and her beloved one-that-got-away, Hector Robinson (Greg Wise), discuss the endurance of their love and whether it would have resisted a long marriage. According to Blanche, things wouldn’t have looked so good for them if they had tied the knot back in the past. For the duchess, it is the fact that their blissful life has remained in the realm of fantasy that makes it all so appealing. Reality, you see, is much crueler than dreams.
It’s a scene that stands in sharp contrast to the one in which the runaway duchess, Nan (Kristine Froseth), and Guy (Matthew Broome) swear to love each other up until they turn 105. However, Nan isn’t the only one whose fantasies get crushed in “Ice Cream.” There are many fantasies at play in The Buccaneers, and Nan’s dream of living a life of adventure at Guy’s side isn’t even the biggest one of the bunch. There’s the aforementioned elderly love that has endured the test of time, but there’s also Jinny’s (Imogen Waterhouse) fantasy of escaping her abusive marriage in a world in which women have few to no rights, as well as Mabel’s (Josie Totah) illusion of having a romance with Honoria (Mia Threapleton) without the interference of a society that sees same-sex love as a deviation. Over the course of “Ice Cream,” all of these characters will realize that their deepest wants are nothing more than illusions.
‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2 Episode 4 Kicks Off Lizzy and Theo’s Affair
It’s a clever move by the show’s writers, and a subtlety that we don’t often see in a show that usually spells everything out loud to its audience. It’s right there on par with the scene in which Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag) toys with her loose engagement ring just after an intimate conversation with Theo (Guy Remmers). This new pairing still feels more than a little bit rushed, but, by God, if The Buccaneers isn’t going to see it through. In “Ice Cream,” Hector (Jacob Ifan) hosts a fundraiser and gets mad when Theo shows up all alone with a lot of cash to donate, basically stealing his thunder. This only serves to drive Lizzy further into the duke’s embrace, in a series of scenes that might have some chemistry but still feel very unwarranted. After a passionate kiss in the woods, the episode ends with Lizzy in Theo’s bed, kicking off an extramarital affair two weeks before her wedding.
But while this is probably the most scandalous event to take place in “Ice Cream,” it isn’t the most interesting to watch. That prize goes to Jinny’s crisis upon the arrival of Lord Seadown (Barney Fishwick) at her doorstep. This is a foreseeable consequence of Nan’s decision to leave Tintagel behind to look for her sister and Guy in Italy. It was obvious from the get-go that this was precisely Seadown’s plan when he told the Duke about his wife’s night with Guy. Thus, it is not shocking to see Seadown making promises that he certainly does not intend to keep in order to take Jinny back to England. What does bring out a gasp from viewers — or, at least, from this viewer — is seeing Jinny taking him up on his offer. OK, she’s not on the boat yet, but she is showing up at his hotel and sharing information about baby Freddie with him, which indicates that she might be thinking about taking him back.
Related
‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: The Truth Finally Comes Out About Nan and Guy
Relationships at Tintagel have never been more fraught.
Jinny has her reasons for doing so. For starters, as Seadown correctly points out, her life on the run sure is pretty hard. Not only does she miss the comforts of being a lady, but she also has to do without the help of the people that she loves the most, including her sister. Jinny also feels guilty for making Nan unhappy, forcing her to choose the aristocratic path just in order to keep her safe. Thus, when she sees Nan and Guy running around happy on the streets of Italy, she just can’t bring herself to force her sister to return home to a loveless marriage just so that she can protect her son.
‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2 Episode 4 Breaks Up Nan and Guy Once Again
Still, Nan is well aware of her duties towards her sister, even if it might not seem like it at first. After an awkward first encounter, she and Guy hit it off once again and go around having fun, breaking into weddings and telling each other sweet nothings before sleep. However, when Nan is confronted by a newspaper announcing her battle for women’s rights, she makes yet another hard choice, deciding to go back to England and resume being a duchess in order to create a better world for Jinny and Freddie. This upsets Guy a great deal, and, honestly, he’s kind of right. After all, it’s not so much the fact that Nan has decided to go home that enrages him, but the fact that she gave him a glimpse of what their life together could be like, treating what should’ve been an actual promise of eternal love as a mere holiday. Plot-wise, it also feels a little repetitive, as Nan had already relinquished her life with Guy in favor of Jinny. Did she really need to go through all of this again?
In a more interesting development, back in England, Mabel is starting to realize that it’s not just her mother who doesn’t respect her desires. Conchita (Alisha Boe) and Richard (Josh Dylan) have decided that they have no qualms taking the Elmsworth money to find a husband for the family’s youngest daughter, who is in no way interested in men. While Mabel doesn’t realize it at first, Honoria is quick to see that the game of badminton that Conchita and Richard invited her to means a lot more than just a little bit of sport. What they truly want is to pair off Mabel with a random boring lord, and Mabel isn’t having any of that. As soon as Honoria explains to her what’s going on, she confronts Conchita, who basically says she accepted Mrs. Elmsworth’s (Viss Elliot Safavi) business because she wants her daughter to have a comfortable life. It seems like their friendship is on the verge of collapse.
All in all, while there are many things happening on screen, “Ice Cream” doesn’t feel like a very eventful episode of The Buccaneers, especially considering the previous three. Nan’s story is more of the same, and Lizzy and Theo’s romance is still missing a certain oomph. Still, Mabel and Jinny’s plotlines make it all worth it. Jinny, in particular, has become a lot more fleshed out as a character through her response to being in an abusive relationship. “Ice Cream” really lets us see the extent of her pain and how much guilt she carries on her shoulders. Quite an achievement for a character who spent most of Season 1 being a mean girl.
The Buccaneers
Two particular storylines save an episode that feels mostly repetitive and uneventful.
- Release Date
-
November 8, 2023
- Network
-
Apple TV+
-
Kristine Froseth
Nan St. George
-
Alisha Boe
Conchita Closson
Pros & Cons
- The reappearance of Lord Seadown gives Jinny’s character some new colors.
- Blanche and Reede’s dialogue, as well as Lizzy’s toying with her ring, proves that ‘The Buccaneers’ can do subtlety when it wants to.
- Lizzy and Theo’s romance still feels unwarranted.
- Nan’s plot is just a rehash of what came before.
