Jamestown: A Retrospective
There is no doubt that BBC knows how to do historical fiction. They’ve made money hand over fist with shows like Downton Abbey and Poldark and have recently directed their attention to the New World with 2017’s premiere of Jamestown. Let’s check in and see just what it’s all about.
Virginia. 1619. The settlers of Jamestown have been there for several years and now a boatload (literally) of women have arrived to help turn the settlement of lonely and angry men into a settlement of potential rapists. It’s a scary notion that many of the women on the ship have sailed across the ocean to meet the men that have purchased them as wives. Some of them work out well. Most do not. The town drunk buys himself a lovely bride. One of the Sharrow brothers buys himself one, as well, and quickly works towards losing her. A third lady shows up to marry the scribe to the Governor and instantly begins her rise to the top of the political totem pole.
Things happen in Jamestown like they might in a soap opera. That isn’t to say that it’s unwatchable because some people dearly love those bits of trash and Jamestown is anything but boring. A number of the characters are vying for power within the settlement while others are merely trying to survive in a foreign landscape. The Sharrow brothers always somehow find themselves in the thick of the drama as they acquire land, trade with the local Natives, and generally become the center of attention for the show.
The show moves forward with more political maneuvering than you would ever want in a show about the founding of the first English colony. The dealings with the Pamunkey tribe get downright testy and the arrival of slaves drives a wedge further into the settlement that you just know won’t end well. One thing that Jamestown does well is show just how shakey the peace was in the early years of the settlement. There was a daily life filled with the hypocritical notion that “free people” and slave labor could work side by side peacefully. Sound familiar?
The series leans much more on fiction than it does on the historical portion but that doesn’t make the show any less entertaining. You’ll learn to like some of the characters and hate most of the others. Many tend to act like they’re living in 2019 instead of 1619. The ladies of the show drive most of the story, wield much of the power, and cause more of the chaos than any amount of pirating or Indian raids. In the end, I enjoyed the show and felt that it probably could have used a couple of more seasons to flesh out some of the story. If you watch it you’ll find that Season 3 could have easily been titled; “The quest to end all storylines”. If you’re looking for a solid show that combines mad drama with an often over looked part of history then Jamestown might be for you.
