The Buccaneers Complicates Its Fairy Tale Ending With an Unexpected Twist

Lest there be any doubt about where The Buccaneers falls on the fantasy-versus-realism spectrum, the closing music cue in the Season 1 finale offers a clear indication of the show's priorities. As Nan St. George (Kristine Frøseth) and Theo, Duke of Tintagel (Guy Remmers) stand at the altar on their wedding day, an occasion billed as "the wedding of the season," if not the century, Taylor Swift's "Long Live" rings out.

The song, from Swift's 2010 album "Speak Now" is a celebratory anthem about two people on top of the world — "the kings and the queens" — and "the magic [they] made" together, which the singer promises "will be remembered" regardless of whether "fate should step in" and separate them. "Long Live" isn't explicitly a love song, but it paints a rosy picture of a past relationship, and any doubts or nagging anxieties are ignored in favor of a fairy tale ending "fighting dragons" under the "kingdom lights."

Until the final act of the finale, The Buccaneers follows Swift's lead. One by one, the women around Nan get their happy ending, in large part because they choose to disregard the expectations and social mores of 1870s polite society, and instead seek out happiness on their own terms.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Mabel Elmsworth (Josie Totah) and Honoria Marable (Mia Threapleton). Since they first exchanged heated glances while cooped up in a closet during a game of sardines — The Buccaneers is not a show preoccupied with silly things like subtlety — Mabel and Honoria have been open about their feelings for one another, sharing rain-soaked kisses and a passionate day of sex by the fire in an isolated boathouse. But even as their relationship has deepened, they've remained realistic about the personal and systemic obstacles they will face if they come out as a couple, prompting Mabel to arrange an engagement of convenience to friend Miles Dawnley (Shobhit Piasa), who wants nothing more than a partner who will leave him alone.

But Honoria is no longer satisfied with a life in the shadows, and she refuses to support Mabel's impending marriage. In the finale, Mabel comes to the same realization: She comes out to her sister Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag), who responds as warmly and positively as one could hope, breaks things off with Miles, and, standing on a balcony overlooking the sea, professes her love for Honoria. Though she acknowledges that, as a lesbian couple in 19th-century England, they won't get the pomp and circumstance of a lavish wedding — "We won't get any of their world, not really, not in the way we deserve" — Mabel assures Honoria that their love will conquer all. "Perhaps if we can be brave, we can make our own world. And maybe it will be better," she says. With a tender look and a hug (notably, the women don't kiss in this scene), their previous concerns are wiped away, as if they hardly mattered in the first place.

Mrs. St. George (Christina Hendricks) ends the season in a similar place. After a lifetime spent cleaning up after her vile husband Tracy (Adam James), the New York City socialite does the next-best thing to outright killing him: She declares her intention to file for divorce. Mrs. St. George has flirted with this idea in the past, but her reluctance to lose her status and power in New York society won out over her disdain for her husband; now, though, with Nan on the verge of marrying a duke, she has more "options and invitations" than she could ever hope for. Viewers even get the satisfaction of watching Mrs. St. George read Tracy for filth in one of The Buccaneers' many girl-power moments. "I have never been enough for you," she tells him. "But what has changed is you are no longer enough for me."

Hendricks' powerful matriarch is correct that she returns to New York a different woman, with different freedoms, but she seems to be forgetting a key detail: Nan may be a duchess, but she's still the product of one of Tracy's affairs. With the scandal out in the open — and with Nan's birth mother, whose identity remains a secret, making a surprise appearance at the wedding — Mrs. St. George will likely find that asserting her independence is more difficult than she imagined.

Conchita Closson's (Alisha Boe) journey is less straightforwardly optimistic, but for the most part, creator Katherine Jakeways, who wrote the episode, keeps the fantasy alive. For the entire season, Conchita has found herself on the receiving end of her in-laws' hostility, but in the finale, her husband Lord Richard Marable (Josh Dylan) finally stands up to his parents, insisting that he's "severing ties" with them, financial and otherwise. (That said, things become more complicated when Richard's father reveals he has just weeks to live and tells his son "it's time to step up" to manage the family's estate.)

For a brief moment, the young couple wonder aloud about how they will survive — Conchita has just learned that her father, who was bankrolling their lifestyle, has lost his entire fortune — but like Mabel, Richard insists that as long as they have each other, nothing else matters. While Richard's "no money, no ties, just us" is a romantic sentiment, it comes from a place of immense privilege: Only people who've always had money assume that they'll be fine without it. It also ignores the matter of Conchita's race, which was mentioned at various points in the season, but ultimately sidelined in favor of a more general examination of why Conchita is so "different" from Richard's family and the British aristocracy.

And then there's Jinny St. George (Imogen Waterhouse), whose fate becomes linked to her sister Nan's, despite their season-long conflict. Over the past few episodes, Jinny has slowly realized that her new husband, Lord James Seadown (Barney Fishwick), is as much of a monster as Honoria and Lizzy made him out to be months prior, but given his violent behavior, she's terrified of letting anyone know about the abuse. That changes the night before Nan's wedding, when Seadown slaps Jinny (for not telling him about her pregnancy, no less) and, unsure of what else to do, she turns to Nan for help.

Thanks to Nan's quick thinking, Jinny ends up in a carriage heading to a boat that will take her far, far away from Seadown. It's the best possible conclusion for Jinny: She successfully escapes her abusive husband, and she will be able to raise her child in a safe, loving environment, albeit an unfamiliar one. There are plenty of financial details to work out, of course, and Seadown will undoubtedly leave no stone unturned looking for her, but for now, Jinny is in a better place than she's been since meeting Seadown in the premiere. Plus, watching Seadown slowly realize that Jinny won't be walking down the aisle with the other bridesmaids makes for one of the finale's most gratifying moments, as is his fruitless attempt to chase after the carriage while the powerful chorus of "Long Live" drowns out his yells.

But Jinny's happy ending comes at the expense of Nan, who marries Theo — a man she feels strongly about, but by no means loves — in order to give her sister enough time to get away with Guy Thwarte (Matthew Broome), the man of Nan's dreams. As Theo's mother (Amelia Bullmore) explains to Mrs. St. George, the union to Theo, however unhappy it may be, ensures Jinny's safety: "Nan and Jinny leaving together would be just two powerless young girls," she says. "But as a duchess, Nan has absolute power to protect her sister, her whole family."

Nan's sacrifice doesn't just leave her stuck in a marriage to a man who remains devoted to "the institution" and all it represents, despite his claims to the contrary. It also denies the audience what they really want, and what The Buccaneers has been building toward: for Nan to be with Guy, her one true love. The two have overcome many obstacles, including Guy's initial scheme to marry Nan for her money and his intercepted love letter, but through it all, it's been clear that they're meant for one another — even Theo can see it. Nan getting in the carriage with Jinny and Guy and adventuring around the world would have been the perfect fairy tale ending to a season that otherwise played it fast and loose with reality, right up until the closing credits.

Instead, The Buccaneers leaves the audience with something far messier, and as a result, more compelling. Marrying Nan and Theo prevents the period drama from drifting off into la-la-land, as it ensures the main storyline maintains its tension, even as the supporting characters embrace the show's fantastical framing and ride off into the sunset. Should Apple TV+ renew The Buccaneers for Season 2, it also gives the show room to grow as Nan reckons with the consequences of her decision. Fairy tales, after all, end when the strong-willed hero fulfills their quest and wins their lover's heart, but by putting more distance between Nan and Guy than ever before, Jakeways keeps this one alive a little longer.

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.