Perhaps inspired by the success that FX has had with the 1980s-set ‘The Americans’, AMC premiered a new series earlier this week that takes retro spy action to another level entirely. ‘Turn’ is an espionage drama set during the American Revolutionary War. With such an intriguing setting, the premise alone has enormous potential. Can the show actually live up?
Jamie Bell stars as Abraham Woodhull, a poor farmer whose rural New York town is a garrison for Redcoat soldiers. Abe is not political and only wants to support his wife and young son (and maybe also the barmaid who was a childhood love that he still holds a torch for), but struggles to make ends meet under the oppressive British regime. Especially problematic is one particular obnoxious Redcoat captain named Simcoe who likes to wave his dick around and bully the locals, and whose unmistakable rapey vibe threatens that barmaid.
When a friend suggests that he could make a lot more money if he smuggled his cabbage across the bay to New York City to sell on the black market, Abe resists at first. He doesn’t want any trouble. However, one night he gets desperate enough and makes the crossing by boat. Unfortunately, on the way back he’s caught by the Continental Militia, who arrest and waterboard him. Eventually, it’s revealed that their captain is actually a former friend of Abe’s, and in fact his buddy on the black market set him up to get captured. The Militia wants to recruit Abe to smuggle intel to and from the city. He refuses, but his old friend lets him go anyway.
Arriving back in town, Abe thinks he has a brilliant idea to bloody himself up and claim that he was mugged. His timing couldn’t possibly be worse. While he was gone, a Redcoat captain (not Simcoe) was murdered, and Abe (owing to his disappearance) is the chief suspect. The bloody face he gave himself really makes him look guilty.
Abe is brought before the chief authority in town, Major Hewlett, a stick-up-his-ass law and order man. Abe tells him a story that’s about half true. He claims that he was captured, beaten and robbed by the Continental Militia. Hewlett is skeptical. Abe’s father, a politically-connected British sympathizer, manages to talk Hewlett into letting Abe off, on the condition that he publicly swear an oath of loyalty to the British Empire.
Abe doesn’t much get along with his father, and doesn’t like being used. When the situation with Simcoe and the barmaid looks particularly dire, he makes up his mind for what he has to do. When the Major requires that he give up the identities of the Militia men who captured him, Abe feeds him a bunch of fake names. Later, he sneaks into the Major’s quarters and steals a coded message along with its cipher cover sheet. After he delivers these to the Militia, this sets in motion a plan whereby Simcoe and his Redcoat regiment are led into an ambush, and Simcoe is captured by the Militia. Abe will become one of America’s first spies.
Based on the 90-minute pilot episode, the show has strong production values and good performances from most of the cast, but I have to say that I didn’t find it as compelling as I’d expected. Abe doesn’t strike me as a dynamic enough character to carry the concept. I might have preferred the story to focus on professional soldiers and spies. I’m also disappointed in the cartoonishly villainous Simcoe and the soap opera aspects of that storyline.
Still, the series has potential. I will probably watch again to see how it develops.
