[6.3/10] Not loving this one out of the gate. The acting is all good enough and the production is solid, but the story and characters don’t do much for me. The show hints at some decent, if seemingly superficial, class conflict in industrial England, which could be an interesting throughline. But the titular conflict between the relaxed, bucolic,old-fashioned South, and the energetic, urbanized, modern North feels as stock as the romance between its two avatars here.
Rest assured, I’m not invested in the inevitable “enemies becomes lovers” tale being spun about Margeret and Thorton here. I joked to my wife that this feels like a 19th century version of the late 2000s Renee Zellwegger romcom New in Town, which is not a comparison anyone should want. There’s very interesting themes to be extracted from a proper Southern lady adjusting to a different type of society in the North, and Northern merchants reacting to the notions of the landed gentlemen class of the South, but everything about that contrast here is very loud and very blunt.
I also don’t really care for many, if any, of the characters. Margaret herself is bland and generic. Her dad is a fuddy duddy who created great hardship for his family over what seems like a matter of ego. Most of the rest of the cast is filled with stock characters with little to make them memorable.
The only exceptions are Mrs. Thornton, who is not someone I’d care to have tea with, but who’s at least interesting in her pride in her son’s work and in the area where she comes from, and the rabble-rousing organizer, Nicholas. Brendan Coyle brings a warmth and whimsy to the character, which helps win the day, but even his participation in the story seems pretty contrived when he turns out to be (1.) the guy who helps Margaret when she’s being accosted on the street (2.) the father of a worker at Thorton’s mill who Margaret runs into and (3.) the labor organizer who’ll undoubtedly become a thorn in Thorton’s side. Every story involves some level of convenience, but it’s enough to strain plausibility.
But the worst offender of all is Thorton himself. I understand what the show is going for here, trying to give Thorton legitimate flaws with his temper and introducing him with a beating of a poor worker over a cigar, only to try to show that he has a heart of gold and a tough backstory and even had a good reason for brutalizing that employee. The problem is that I don’t buy the second half of the equation, or at least I don’t think it erases the first.
Sure, I can accept that smoking in a cotton mill poses a lethal threat to the other workers and that this is the standard period piece “at first the protagonist hates her love interest and thinks he’s a jerk only to learn about his secret nobility and softer side” routine. But he’s also a mercenary owner who admits he only takes care of his workers because it’s a good investment, and even chews out another mill owner for the temerity of not standing with him against the workers demanding fair wages and trying to organize.
Plus, it ends with another beating of the same guy! Again, the show wants to try to make the brutality seem justified, between the guy’s smoking and his willingness to rat out his fellow mill-workers. But it only succeeds in making Smoky McGee seem crappy while still making Thorton seem like a violent asshole. I’ll admit to being a touch conflicted, because I like the idea of love interests who have genuine flaws and not just mild yet genteel prickliness that’s mistaken for something else. And yet, it’s really hard to root for anything involving him and Margaret here.
Likewise, Margaret’s slow discovery that things are different in the South is extraordinarily broad and didactic. The point is a fine one, and there’s a worthwhile story to be told about having to adjust to this way of life and what it would mean for someone raised with contrary environments and values, but there’s no depth to show’s approach to those ideas. Everything in this episode, from the broader thematic points to the romantic tension and clash of ideas, is just written on the screen.
Overall, this is a tough one for me to get into, but it’s watchable and the basics of it are fine enough.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-08T01:35:49Z
[6.3/10] Not loving this one out of the gate. The acting is all good enough and the production is solid, but the story and characters don’t do much for me. The show hints at some decent, if seemingly superficial, class conflict in industrial England, which could be an interesting throughline. But the titular conflict between the relaxed, bucolic,old-fashioned South, and the energetic, urbanized, modern North feels as stock as the romance between its two avatars here.
Rest assured, I’m not invested in the inevitable “enemies becomes lovers” tale being spun about Margeret and Thorton here. I joked to my wife that this feels like a 19th century version of the late 2000s Renee Zellwegger romcom New in Town, which is not a comparison anyone should want. There’s very interesting themes to be extracted from a proper Southern lady adjusting to a different type of society in the North, and Northern merchants reacting to the notions of the landed gentlemen class of the South, but everything about that contrast here is very loud and very blunt.
I also don’t really care for many, if any, of the characters. Margaret herself is bland and generic. Her dad is a fuddy duddy who created great hardship for his family over what seems like a matter of ego. Most of the rest of the cast is filled with stock characters with little to make them memorable.
The only exceptions are Mrs. Thornton, who is not someone I’d care to have tea with, but who’s at least interesting in her pride in her son’s work and in the area where she comes from, and the rabble-rousing organizer, Nicholas. Brendan Coyle brings a warmth and whimsy to the character, which helps win the day, but even his participation in the story seems pretty contrived when he turns out to be (1.) the guy who helps Margaret when she’s being accosted on the street (2.) the father of a worker at Thorton’s mill who Margaret runs into and (3.) the labor organizer who’ll undoubtedly become a thorn in Thorton’s side. Every story involves some level of convenience, but it’s enough to strain plausibility.
But the worst offender of all is Thorton himself. I understand what the show is going for here, trying to give Thorton legitimate flaws with his temper and introducing him with a beating of a poor worker over a cigar, only to try to show that he has a heart of gold and a tough backstory and even had a good reason for brutalizing that employee. The problem is that I don’t buy the second half of the equation, or at least I don’t think it erases the first.
Sure, I can accept that smoking in a cotton mill poses a lethal threat to the other workers and that this is the standard period piece “at first the protagonist hates her love interest and thinks he’s a jerk only to learn about his secret nobility and softer side” routine. But he’s also a mercenary owner who admits he only takes care of his workers because it’s a good investment, and even chews out another mill owner for the temerity of not standing with him against the workers demanding fair wages and trying to organize.
Plus, it ends with another beating of the same guy! Again, the show wants to try to make the brutality seem justified, between the guy’s smoking and his willingness to rat out his fellow mill-workers. But it only succeeds in making Smoky McGee seem crappy while still making Thorton seem like a violent asshole. I’ll admit to being a touch conflicted, because I like the idea of love interests who have genuine flaws and not just mild yet genteel prickliness that’s mistaken for something else. And yet, it’s really hard to root for anything involving him and Margaret here.
Likewise, Margaret’s slow discovery that things are different in the South is extraordinarily broad and didactic. The point is a fine one, and there’s a worthwhile story to be told about having to adjust to this way of life and what it would mean for someone raised with contrary environments and values, but there’s no depth to show’s approach to those ideas. Everything in this episode, from the broader thematic points to the romantic tension and clash of ideas, is just written on the screen.
Overall, this is a tough one for me to get into, but it’s watchable and the basics of it are fine enough.