Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Buccaneers season 2 episode 8.The Buccaneersseason 2 has come to an end with a perfectly dramatic finale. Episode 8 centers on Nan’s end-of-season ball, which is masquerade-themed. She and Theo both plan to make announcements at midnight, but only one of them will get there first.
Meanwhile, Jinny, Conchita, and Mabel rally around Lizzy after a news article threatens to expose her relationship with Theo. Elsewhere, Nan seeks her mother’s advice on a life-changing decision.
The Buccaneers Nails Its Perfect Tone With The Finale
Episode 8 Strikes The Ideal Balance Of Drama & Fun
For much of season 2,The Buccaneershas struggled with its tone. With so many dark, heavy storylines,it lost a lot of the lightness that made season 1 so watchable.
Luckily, the finale rectifies this. It’s not afraid to embrace some of the soapiness the show has steered away from this season, serving up plenty of dramatic bombshells. While there’s still an overreliance on secrets to fuel the plot, in this episode, it’s fun rather than frustrating.
The masquerade is a neat set piece thatThe Buccaneersmakes the most of, from the montage of Nan sending out the invites to the tense countdown to midnight. There are also a couple of nice bits of levity, especially Mabel’s hilariously out-of-nowhere kiss that confirms men are not for her.
The finale leans into the soapiness with a few cliffhangers, and it’s admirable thatThe Buccaneersdoesn’t play it safe in that regard, even though season 3 isn’t confirmed.
The Episode Solidifies Nan As The MVP Of Season 2
She’s Become One Of The Buccaneers’ Most Sympathetic Characters
Nan didn’t totally resonate with me in season 1, but that changed this year. She really becameThe Buccaneers' most interesting and valuable characteras she did everything she could to take care of those around her, often at the expense of her own happiness.
It’s part of the reason why my favorite scene of the episode, where Nan tells her mom she’s pregnant, works so well. It’s one of the only times this season where Nan fully lets her guard down in front of someone else, with the weight of playing a caretaker for so long finally too much to bear.
It makes for a great moment of catharsis at the end, with Nan running through the mist away from Tintagel with a well-deserved grin on her face. Considering her journey this season, it’s far more satisfying than revealing her news to the world.
If there’s one negative to how much Nan has stood out this season, it’s that it’s oftentimes come at the expense of Lizzy and Theo. While his announcement at the masquerade is meant to be a grand gesture, solidifying him and Lizzy as one of the show’s biggest romances, it doesn’t hit the way it should.
All through the season,I’ve struggled to get on board with them as a couple, and my feelings are largely the same after the finale. Theo certainly had moments of charm in season 1, but there weren’t many to be found this season. Much as I like Lizzy, it made it hard for me to understand what she sees in him.
The Finale Rightly Puts The Focus On The Friendship Between The Buccaneers
However, It Doesn’t Shy Away From How Complicated The Girls’ Lives Have Become
Throughout the season, I’ve noted how much I’ve missed the scenes with all five girls together. We don’t get one in the finale, which is a shame, but there are plenty of welcome moments between some of them.
The show smartly furthers Jinny and Conchita’s sister bond, with Conchita insisting Jinny and Freddy continue living at her house, despite the family’s financial issues. Jinny, Conchita, and Mabel also support Lizzy by essentially serving as decoys for the rumor mill, reasoning that if none of them talk about it, there will be no way to figure out Lizzy is the one who had the affair.
While Nan and Lizzy’s conversations are understandably a little more complicated, the two are far more concerned about each other than they are Theo, which is highlighted perfectly through Nan’s line about the girls and their friendship being the true love story. WhileThe Buccaneersmay have lost sight of that at times this season, it certainly brings it back in the finale.
