Spoiler-free review:
Rating out of 10: 10/10
Likes: how much obvious care went into this tv show, costume, sets (as much as they built new ones), casting choices and the vast majority (but not all) of liberties taken for narrative, and the way it handles the nuance and wrongdoing that exists on both the patriot and English side that we are rightfully still struggling with now.
Critiques: the handling of some aspects of George Washington, both the man and the real-life historical figure, I think they could’ve done more to address the slavery conundrum and moral problem. Also… for all its abundance of subtext which is understandable for the 2010s… it could still be queerer without stepping into anachronistic or decentring the Culper Ring’s friendship as the driving force, also… Anna Strong (the character and historical figure) could’ve been given more nuance and adjacency. Also, I could nitpick historically inaccurate things here and there if I wanted, but I will not.
Spoiler review:
TURN: Washington’s Spies (2014 – 2017), is an American period drama originally airing on AMC and AMC+ following the story of The Culper Ring (America’s first spy ring) following with about the average number of liberties taken for a period drama the Culper Spy Ring and their wins and losses, ups and downs, tracking more or less the American war of independence (known to some as simply the American Revolution) from 1776 to 1781.
I love this show, I will be exceedingly honest. Despite, as every piece of media and art is it is a product of its time it is evident the people in the writer’s room cared deeply about the period they are depicting and its nuances and just overall feelings without being morbidly depressing or overly forgiving of the wrongs of the period in question. It helps that the AMC writer’s room had the author of Washington’s Spies – Alexander Rose (doctorate in politics/current events) and somewhat historian) in the writer’s room. This is easily my favourite War of Independence period drama/TV series, with John Adams (HBO) and Liberty’s Kids behind only by a margin. It is also the only 18th-century period drama I know from the 2010s with a semblance of LGBTQ+ subtext, and it does (albeit imperfectly) try its best to address the issue of slavery and humanize the black and First Nations populations in the colonies at the time. But, perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t treat George Washington as a sanctified figure or even a good person. Lastly, it is still the only War of Independence live-action period drama TV series to feature English (redcoats) and loyalist characters as both sympathetic and primary and secondary protagonists. In short, I don’t understand why so few even know of this TV show I certainly didn’t until a year ago, and whilst this show has a small cult following on platforms like Instagram and Tumblr. I believe we should ask for this kind of intellectual work put into our media to have media (like TURN) that presents nuance and asks (but doesn’t answer for you) tough questions and sets one on a path to looking into history, historiography and the stories that have shaped the past and the stories we must reckon with now.
“You have to know the past to understand the present.” – Carl Sagan
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