My apologies, first off, for the timeliness of this review. Some Monday nights put you in bed at 9:30 and that’s just the way it goes. However, this wasn’t the type of Turn: Washington’s Spies episode that would’ve kept me awake. Don’t get me wrong, because “Hearts and Minds” was magnificently acted and an interesting, well-told story. Just not an action-packed one.
This week on Turn: Washington’s Spies: Anna begs for Abraham’s mercy for Hewlett, but he does not budge. Ben is taken in by a widow, who nurses him back to health. Benedict Arnold is suspicious of Andre and Peggy, but moves forward anyway with becoming a British agent. Abraham points out a discrepancy to Judge Woodhull.
Ultimately, this week was a giant story about love. Benedict loves Peggy, who loves John Andre, who returns her love. Abraham loves Anna, who is about to marry someone else, for the second time. Ben may or may not have feelings for the widow who picks him up. The love lives of each character are explored with such depth and realism that the whole episode is spent on these three stories, and how they affect our characters, both internally and externally.
There was a lot of great stuff happening, but the best performance in the episode was Seth Numrich’s, playing Benjamin Tallmadge’s journey back to health, and love story (however brief) with the widow who nursed him back to (relative) health, to perfection. My favorite bit was easily the speech about America being “our” country. She’s not a loyalist, but Washington’s men killing her husband was an excellent twist. Numrich has played Tallmadge well for some time, but Season 3 hasn’t given him much chance to shine until this episode, and he really rose to the occasion.
I realize that this episode was about relationships, and what they mean for each character. However, the absence of some of the more, shall we say, bubbly personalities was felt. An entire episode without Rogers, Simcoe, or even Caleb Brewster (until the VERY end) gives the show a very different tone. Those characters bring excitement into each scene they’re in, and their absence dealt the show a strange blow.
Perhaps the most interesting story of all of them is Abraham and Anna’s story. If it were still Season 2, I would tell you that this story revolves around Anna and Abraham’s romance. But, I don’t think that’s true anymore. In particular, Abraham’s wife was given a meatier role, and frankly become a much more interesting character. That’s put the show in a unique position, because Anna seems like a “true love” for Abraham, but as Mary has become 100% more compelling than she was before (huge credit to Meegan Warner for that), does Anna leave and never come back? What role does she play on the show from here on out? That letter to Abraham sure felt like a goodbye to me.
I thought this episode was good, but not quite up to the level of the previous few. Some of the season’s strongest players were absent entirely, and others, like Owain Yeoman’s gripping, conflicted Benedict Arnold, were relegated to smaller roles. It’s always been tough for Turn to recognize its strengths as a show, but the more it goes on, the more that concern fades.
What did you guys think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know!
Turn: Washington’s Spies airs Mondays at 10/9c on AMC
Visitor Rating: 5 Stars
Visitor Rating: 4 Stars
Visitor Rating: 2 Stars