The second installment (Book II) of North and South provides somewhat satisfying conclusion to the first installment (Book I). It deviates significantly from the book, especially in terms of historical events.
As with Book I, it spends a great deal of time on the melodrama. Melodrama sometimes pays off, such as when the couples reunite after extended duty. But things get pretty repetitive to a point where I just couldn't care much. It doesn't help that characters do not evolve. Heroes remain the same goodie two shoes. Villains remain just as hateful.
The only real saving grace is the Civil War. For an 80s miniseries, the war scenes look pretty great. While lacking cinematic grandeur of say, Glory, the war scenes look pretty authentic and expensive. Violence is understandably scaled down, but suggestive enough to be suspenseful and gory.
Book II ends with everything neatly tied up. If you decide not to watch Book III, which by all account is vastly inferior to the first two, your memory of North and South will stay positive.
Shout by nutmacBlockedParent2019-08-27T05:50:25Z— updated 2019-11-06T18:42:19Z
The second installment (Book II) of North and South provides somewhat satisfying conclusion to the first installment (Book I). It deviates significantly from the book, especially in terms of historical events.
As with Book I, it spends a great deal of time on the melodrama. Melodrama sometimes pays off, such as when the couples reunite after extended duty. But things get pretty repetitive to a point where I just couldn't care much. It doesn't help that characters do not evolve. Heroes remain the same goodie two shoes. Villains remain just as hateful.
The only real saving grace is the Civil War. For an 80s miniseries, the war scenes look pretty great. While lacking cinematic grandeur of say, Glory, the war scenes look pretty authentic and expensive. Violence is understandably scaled down, but suggestive enough to be suspenseful and gory.
Book II ends with everything neatly tied up. If you decide not to watch Book III, which by all account is vastly inferior to the first two, your memory of North and South will stay positive.
I, on the other hand, had to watch Book III....