The mess has officially begun with the third episode of The Buccaneers. It took so little for the mistakes to be made, and we finally realized that Nan, the unwilling protagonist, is actually quite manipulative. Weren’t we supposed to like her because of her pure, artsy ways? And since when did she complain about the attention not being on her at all times? These things felt a little jarring in her character, and we don’t know what to make of it. Otherwise, to correct an earlier opinion of ours, we did see the style of the episode, and it was indeed quite dashing. This is the recap of the third episode’s narrative.
Spoiler Alert
Do Conchita and Richard make up?
Conchita is leaving no stone unturned in making her marriage work. If a personality change is what it is going to take for her to make her place in Richard’s family, then that is exactly what Conchita would do. When Conchita shows up at the Duke’s castle, Richard is quite surprised at the difference in his wife’s behavior. All her friends are telling her that she is not her usual bright self, and Richard has also noticed it, but he cannot make up his mind whether he prefers that or his family’s acceptance of his wife. She doesn’t reply back to anyone, and Conchita’s mother-in-law even compliments Richard on ‘taming’ his wife. Conchita’s logic is that if she must be lonely, she would rather not be glowered at or gossiped about unkindly, as happens when she is her usual exuberant self.
The trick is working to an extent, but not for long. Jinny and James Seadown elope and get married. That happened in a rush, and the excuse given is that they did not want to cause a fuss about a wedding. Also, Seadown is acting in a very delightful way. He is sweet to Jinny and is constantly complimenting and protecting her. It probably helped that Lizzy is back in New York. When Jinny is introduced to her in-laws, she makes a particular comment that hurts Conchita. Jinny knew what she was doing, and while her focus was not on bringing Conchita down, she did not care if that happened if it placed her in high regard with her in-laws. Conchita is understandably upset by this betrayal, and even Richard cannot choose his words carefully, as he simply says that Jinny is different. Tired of it all, Conchita directly confronts her in-laws and their poor treatment of her. They have nothing much to say except that she must ‘fulfill her roles’ silently. Feeling quite hopeless, Conchita rushes out in the rain, and everyone is looking for her. We honestly believe that she was contemplating jumping off the cliff, but Richard finally stepped up as a husband. He acknowledged his family’s poor treatment of her and said that they could go to New York for a while. Conchita is more than happy, and her marriage finally has a new lease of life.
What is happening between Mabel and Honoria?
Mabel was right to call out Honoria and her family’s treatment of Jinny and Conchita when they were relying on the girls’ money for their sustenance. Honoria seemed to recognize this hypocrisy, and for a while, things between her and Mabel were tense. But at the ball, it all cools down when Mabel is dancing by herself, and the two are able to share a joke only they understand. The girls share a kiss that night, and finally, their feelings are out in the open.
What does Nan feel for Theo?
As expected, Nan had not answered Theo’s question in the previous episode, and then she came to know that he was a Duke. That was quite a shock for Nan, who was thinking that he was just an artist. But this halted engagement has gotten them an invitation to the castle, and Nan is considering her decision. According to her, she feels as if she can be herself, away from the trappings of her questionable identity, when she is with him. As for Theo, he tells her that marrying him would come with the responsibilities of an entirely different world. He tells her to consider it all and then give him an answer. We believe that Nan likes Theo. Even her mother-in-law is nice and seems to have taken a liking to her son’s choice. Therefore, the only thing that is in the way of Nan and Theo is the former’s parentage, and she is made aware of that when Guy comes to the castle.
Does Guy tell Theo the truth about Nan?
Theo and Guy have been best friends for years, and it has always been Guy’s job to scout and scan the potential matches for Theo. He was doing something similar with Nan, though we suspect that he may have fallen in love with her before. Guy knows Nan’s secret, and Nan hates that because Guy left her the morning after she told him everything. That has given Nan the impression that his love for her became unacceptable to him after knowing her truth. Since he is Theo’s oldest friend, he is obliged to tell him everything. Guy makes it very clear that Theo takes his duties as a Duke very seriously, even though he dislikes the title and the job. Therefore, Nan’s parentage would affect his standing in society, so knowing her truth is important. But Nan is not ready to take that step. She has certainly started falling for Theo and the life that she would have with him, which makes it impossible for her to step back from the matter, despite having the complete freedom to do so. Therefore, Nan makes her first mistake by telling Guy to tell the truth to Theo. She was supposed to be the one to do that, but she chose the easy way out, one that would allow her to play the victim.
At the end of The Buccaneers Episode 3, when Nan sees that Guy has chosen not to say anything to Theo, she is relieved. It is unfathomable to us that this woman placed such an important decision in someone else’s hands. She also had the audacity to fight with Conchita, who was trying to contain her life. Granted that Conchita’s troubles did not leave room for Nan to express her problems, who could have guessed that this could be Nan’s secret? Additionally, Conchita’s problems were not frivolous, and the girls had been telling her that she had ‘lost her light.’ Therefore, Nan should have been happy that Conchita was happy once again. Regardless, once Guy promises to keep Nan’s secret, Nan tells Theo that she will marry him. This was another time when she could have revealed the truth to him. After all, he had given her the space to ‘accept his context,’ and she should have returned the courtesy, especially when he stood to lose something by her truth. But Nan doesn’t do that. When she comes back to the castle, Mabel informs her that Guy had come back to Runnymede the morning after. Nan is shocked to hear that, and she now has no excuse to turn away from her feelings for him since he ended up doing the right thing in the end.
Final Thoughts
We doubt that Nan’s story is going to be the most interesting one. It is the other girls’ stories we are more interested in. Nan was right when she said that she shouldn’t have been the protagonist, but now that she is, we simply have to see what happens next.
