‘The Buccaneers’ Is a Fabulously Frothy CW-Style Soap

There are times when I watch The Gilded Age, a show I’m obsessed with despite it being pretty bad, and wonder what it might look like if we kept all the ridiculousness and costumes and gorgeous settings, but invested in things like consistent plot and characterization. Thank goodness The Buccaneers is here for us on AppleTV+ to show us we can have a frothy good time without sacrificing too much quality.

The Buccaneers is the unfinished final novel by Edith Wharton, and with that comes a pedigree of respected fiction like The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. In this story, we watch Gilded Age gals from New York travel to England to meet and marry some hot land-owning gentry. The Americans in this time and place are rich but un-prestigious and the English gentry are all prestige, but no money. Wisely, The Buccaneers sees this set-up of teens on the marriage track for what it is and appears to take cues from that classic home of primetime teen soap operas, the CW. As it should be! I appreciate it when period pieces take the Marie Antoinette approach of using anachronistic elements to give access points to current-day viewers, particularly younger ones. This was most directly evoked by the CW series Reign which was about the young life and times of Queen Mary Stuart, but wondered what that might look like if everyone was super hot (including Nostradamus, who almost certainly was not there) and wore printed gowns from H&M. The primary antagonist of Reign was Catherine d’Medici as played by Anne of Green Gables herself!

The CW-ness of the whole affair jumps out as soon as the credits of each episode roll in which you watch steely ivy wind its way around budding blooms and attempt to strangle them before the flowers open in riotous color, all set to a great cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “North American Scum.” It’s a frankly brilliant choice that communicates the arch approach to the material and also foreshadows the loud American/reserved Brit dynamic that unfolds over the series. Similarly to Reign, the clothes are anachronistic, but they’re styled in period-appropriate ways that they don’t jump out quite as obviously. The story takes place in Victorian England, but the young women we follow are from Gilded Age New York. The difference in fashion serves to illustrate how American culture remixed Victorian trends, as it did to some extent in real life. Did this include a Victorian take on the biker jacket (seen below, center)? No, but I appreciate touches like these that allow the show to have some fun.

The structure of episodes on The Buccaneers echoes the CW classic that re-ignited the primetime teen soap in the early 2000s, Gossip Girl. Both shows deal with the dramas of teens in love and the haves and have-nots and they employ similar methods to balance their rotating ensembles. Each character’s conflict is set up in each episode, usually within each character’s overarching subplot. Then we watch the characters have their (mis)adventures before everyone meets up at a party. The parties facilitate the glory moments of seeing each character in a fabulous new outfit, but they also facilitate high drama. The show takes the conflicts it’s been building each episode and brings them to a very watchable head. What better place to fight with your best friends than at a party where everyone looks amazing and there are drinks you can throw at each other? On this front, The Buccaneers delivers in spades. Our characters being teens with hormones and bad ideas excuse all kinds of melodrama. Here is just a smattering of fabulously dramatic things the show offers up:

• One of the hot guys involved in a love triangle is named Guy Thwarte. In the novel, the name is Thwaite, so hat-tip to whoever made this call.


• There are of course balls on balls on balls on balls. In virtually every ball scene, every extra is dressed in neutral colors and every main character wears more saturated jewel tones. Unless the character is a man, then he’s wearing a tux that’s mostly identical to every other man’s tux. The only two men who slightly subvert this are, of course, the hottest and most plot-relevant of the dudes.


• During a scene, one of our main gals gives what can only be described as a Victorian lap dance to a man before he stands up and they just bump and grind.


• Much comedy is made of the obvious villain Lady Brightlingsea’s name. It’s pronounced throughout the show as “Brittlesea” because GET IT?! She’s brittle! I searched high and low for confirmation on this pronunciation, but it might be from the book?
• During a game of Sardines, one lady discovers another lady hiding in a closet (haaaaa) and while they hide together, a sapphic romance blooms! Later they meet to make out when the heteros are fighting. That one of the women is played by Josie Totah is a cherry on top.


• During a fight between two characters, one of them apologizes. The response: “Well, you’re only my half-sister, so maybe you’re only HALF-SORRY.” Chef’s kiss.

The Buccaneers could’ve been many things, but I’m happy they chose this anachronistic CW angle with the material. It’s not a very deep show and it’s awfully predictable, but it works fabulously as a splashy, sudsy good time. If there were one CW move this show could use, I’d say it’s Gossip Girl’s penchant for string quartet covers of modern-day music.

If you like a bit of fun with your history or even just love CW soap opera candy, I really can’t suggest The Buccaneers strongly enough.