Turn has had some ups and downs in its brief run. That much is clear. However, that being said, this week’s episode was definitely an up. I normally find this show fascinating, but I could not stop saying to myself “this is fantastic” as the episode unfolded. I truly hope to see the episodes continue to unfold like this one, because it was the best one yet.
This week on Turn: Washington’s Spies: Time passes as Washington, amidst hardship at Valley Forge, faces the moral dilemma of pardoning Major Hewlett versus letting Abraham die. Hewlett and Abraham both continue to rot in their cells, dreaming of the same woman, and both receive unwelcome visitors.
I cannot express to you enough how riveted I was by this episode. Every criticism I have had of this show (however minor) fell by the wayside in this particular installment. The regular storytelling medium of the show went out the window and the one they used instead was absolutely fantastic. The writing was great, the episode’s direction had some beautifully crafted moments (Washington on his knees in the woods? Powerful!!), and all of the actors were on top of their game. This was perhaps Turn’s best installment to date, as it didn’t abandon its premise to become a show about George Washington and war, but rather used elements that were already in play to raise the stakes and make its story more compelling.
One of my biggest problems with the show thus far has been the lack of Washington. Consider me officially gratified. This episode made the perfect use of Washington as a character within the realm of the show. He’s simply a storytelling medium. They used him and the moral dilemma at hand to continue to tell the stories of Abraham and Hewlett in their cells. They broke out of their usual “Let’s check in on everyone” mold, and I loved every minute of it. I wish we could use Washington to tell every story. Just brilliant.
Everything Turn presented here was able to take the story in a fascinating direction. Major Hewlett attacked Simcoe and escaped from his unwarranted assault on the prison camp. Hewlett figured out that Simcoe was framing him for the atrocities. Abraham was nearly trapped into confession by a desperate prisoner. None of this will be found in a history book, but it was all framed by what was a brilliant storytelling medium. Washington simply worked through his dilemma with his servant, Billy Lee and, of course, with the ghost of his brother. If they could find a way to tell every story on this show this creatively, they would have no problem drawing in more viewers. It was gripping and riveting every second that it was on the screen.
The acting on this show is stellar, but everyone featured this week stepped it up about ten notches. Jamie Bell was brilliant as Abraham in prison. Ian Kahn (as always) deserves major props in his “turn” (ha!) as General Washington. Burn Gorman gave a riveting performance as Major Hewlett this week. Of course, Samuel Roukin is sickeningly twisted in his portrayal of Simcoe week in and week out, and Kevin McNally (albeit, briefly) grounded the episode into the larger scheme quite well, by filling Abraham in on his true love, Anna Strong. Every actor on this show has done some great work, but an episode like this really allows certain people to shine.
I was absolutely blown away by this episode. Every pacing issue and criticism I’ve had about Turn flew out the window swiftly as I was enthralled for the entire hour. Even some of my previously mentioned favorite elements (like Benedict Arnold) weren’t even missed. This episode proves that Turn can be what I constantly hope it to be, and I’m optimistic that it continue its momentum into its final three episodes of the season.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy this episode as much as I did? Let us know!
Turn: Washington’s Spies airs Mondays at 10/9c on AMC.
[Photo via AMC]
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“I cannot express to you enough how riveted
I was by this episode. Every criticism I have had of this show (however
minor) fell by the wayside in this particular installment. The regular storytelling medium of the show went out the window and the one they used instead was absolutely fantastic.”
That’s funny, because I’ve loved TURN from the beginning, and especially season 2. And this is about the EXACT opposite of what I think.
This episode was terrible, it was the first really bad episode in the series. It was the first time I was bored watching this show, and had to roll my eyes at how silly and over-the-top the writing was. Everything was super predictable (especially that scene in the woods…I literally guessed the words before they spoke them, because they were so painfully clichéd) and I just couldn’t take any of it seriously.
How can you say this is better writing than the rest of the series? The series is usually subtle, clever, witty… The writing is brilliant, and the acting as well.
This one episode was all useless drama, spread out over almost an entire episode… Overacting, cheesy lines, cheesy stories about “my brother who died of tuberculosis but gave me his watch to remind me that time is important” (seriously? You call that “good writing”?)… And even cheesier images of Anna’s eyes in the sky (probably the worst of all)…
The only bits that were good were the last 2 minutes with Simcoe and the Rangers.
Plus, I can’t believe people who call the show “slow” might have enjoyed this episode, as literally NOTHING happened except at the end. All that crisis around deciding Hewlett’s fate is now rendered useless, because there is no Hewlett left to trade with anyone.
No, really, I truly hope this is an exception in the series, because people who think THIS is good television should probably watch another show and let us TURN fans enjoy the real TURN for its usual brilliance.
Well, to be honest, it’s hard for something to keep me awake when I watch it late, but this episode did it for me. It was all, for me, about the storytelling medium they used. Sometimes, when you watch a lot of television, you long for a departure from the status quo. This was exactly what I wanted. I thought it was creative, and it still told us the exact same stuff.
I like the show a lot, but it IS slow, and for me, this episode FLEW by. Of course, all of this is my opinion, and I’m very grateful to you for reading my posts at all!!
Really, it’s amazing how I feel EXACTLY the reverse.
This was the first time I was bored while watching TURN. True, I was surprised when it was over, but not because I found it good. It was more of a “WHAT? That’s it? Really???” reaction.
“It was all, for me, about the storytelling medium they used.”
For me too, precisely, I thought the storytelling was terrible.
“Sometimes, when you watch a lot of television, you long for a departure from the status quo. This was exactly what I wanted. I thought it was creative, and it still told us the exact same stuff.”
That’s where I just cannot agree with you. The USUAL Turn, that you find “slow”, is a departure from the status quo. Precisely because it dares to be “slow”, subtle, and clever.
This episode… it was everything BUT creative. All the storytelling devices rested on super cheesy, stereotypical scenes. There was zero creativity, and zero subtlety in this episode.
How is super-imposing Anna’s eyes onto the sky to show that Edmund’s thinking of her “creative”? It’s the type of clichés you find in super-simplistic forms of storytelling. Not something I would expect to see in a show for grown-ups.
Same for the “characterization” of Washington. Using the figure of the “lost brother”, and having him pay tribute to his brother, having imaginary conversations about “how would you have handled this?” and so on… Only to find the big revelation (*irony*): “I am not my brother. I am ME”.
No, seriously, this isn’t creative in the slightest, this is the very definition of bad storytelling based on tired clichés. It felt more like fanfiction written by teenagers, than like the very clever show with witty writing that Turn usually is.
This seems to have been quite the polarizing episode. It wasn’t my favorite, but it’s certainly got people talking.
Did not love this episode. In fact, bored and fast-forwarded through half of it once I realized it was going to be nothing but tortured souls. No plot movement whatsoever except for Hewlett and Simcoe at the very end. However, I have to say I am loving Hewlett’s character arc this season from prim and clueless last season to the most decent person of all this season.
A spy thriller, even a period piece version, needs an edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride every now and then. I loved it. And I agree with the Hewlett character arc reference. The characters are all wonderfully multidimensional, with the notable, and entertainingly chilling, exception of Simcoe.