The Buccaneers Recap ‘Get Her Out’: Where Theo finds out his wife and mother's secret
- Cherish
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
In the third episode of the second season of The Buccaneers, currently airing on Apple TV+, Nan flees, Lizzy gets engaged, and this recap gets just a tiny bit ranty.
The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 3 Recap and Review
Nan is the main character of The Buccaneers, she is the heroine, but her every decision, her every action, does not need to be heroic. Part of the joy of watching female-centred stories is seeing female characters embody whole personalities — the good, the frustrating, even wine-sipping Cersei-esque level of evil. When a story takes away a female character’s agency to preserve her in-world purity of intention, it inflicts a foundational damage on the story. She becomes a character upon which things happen (passive) rather than a character who makes things happen (active). Even Nan’s midnight flight to Guy (an active choice, finally) lost some of its young love passionate charm, given that this is Nan’s nth time to change her mind about Guy and Theo, and the show still tried to paint her as the trapped (who broke free) rather than the primary driver of the trapping (who fled because her sin was exposed).
Narratively, there is nothing wrong with Nan choosing to marry Theo for his title. Marrying a Duke she liked but did not love made sense in the 1870s where the story was set, and especially given her young age. That the show tried to steer clear of Nan’s perfectly understandable choice to marry for social advantage by writing her as forced to marry him by his mother (who knew she bedded his best friend the night before the wedding) was a baffling move. Theo was a handsome young aristocrat, he had plenty of chances to marry. As Theo himself pointed out in this very episode, the humiliation of not marrying Nan would have lasted a day, the humiliation of having married her after she cuckolded him would last a lifetime. The writing of the Dowager Duchess’s choice did not make sense story, character, or time period wise because it seemed like a choice that was made solely to keep Nan pure of intention, selfless, heroic, as though it were not acceptable for a female main character to grasp power and act on ambition. And now, Theo’s fury at his mother seemed designed to give the Dowager Duchess a chance to revisit an old love. I am excited to see the storyline between the Dowager Duchess and Dr. Reede Robinson, but the way we got there was clumsy.
And that is how I would describe the narrative execution of this beautifully filmed episode — clumsy, with moments of nostalgia-tinged poignancy that lifted it all too briefly. The event of the episode was Lizzy’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream themed birthday party held on the grounds of Tintagel Castle. It was an event that kept up the pretence that everything was fine between the ducal couple, though Theo has not been home since Nan was forced to admit that she married him for his title, to protect her sister, who fled with Guy, whom she bedded the night before their wedding.
Theo returned in time for the party, and told his mother he wanted Nan out. The Dowager Duchess could accept that, but after Nan had provided an heir. Theo danced with Nan, kissed her as though opening up for a reconciliation, but he could not do it. He could not deceive her the way she deceived him. He told her they could not divorce but they could separate, after they had the longed-for heir. Nan immediately knew this was his mother talking.
Good for her. But why did this shock her? She and Theo have been having sex for months. Did she not think that could result in pregnancy? Nan was portrayed as the smart one to Jinny’s beauty. Did she not understand that part of her job as Duchess was to ensure the continuation of the Tintagel line? If she meant to only carry a child conceived out of love, then why did she marry Theo, whom she did not love? Their marriage was a business transaction from her end from the beginning. Why act shocked now that he was treating it in the same manner that she entered it? To be clear, I am not hating on Nan the character, I am calling out the writing that doesn’t own the character’s choices, the same writing which I have praised many times in past episodes, and which I know could do so much better than this.
Nan declared that the Tintagel line would end with her and Theo, then searched the Dowager Duchess’s quarters until she found Guy and Jinny’s address. Lizzy came to her to tell her about her engagement with Hector, but of course Nan’s mind was on her flight. Seeing that her friend had once more settled on Guy, Lizzy told her about his letter, which she burnt without reading. Lizzy supported Nan’s flight for love.
In last episode’s recap, I wrote how I was fine with the setting up of a potential Lizzy Theo pairing, which I thought would happen later in the season, because surely given Lizzy’s history and how much strength it took for her to recover all whilst having her abuser Seadown around, there would be just care in pacing this part of the story. Nope. Theo decided to mess with Lizzy’s head right after her engagement, and branded Hector as unworthy of her. Then, once he found out Nan was forced by his mother to marry him, rather than her making a conscious decision to marry him though she did not love him (oh wait she did that too, unless we’re completely erasing all of the first season), he suddenly tried to take back what he said to Lizzy. You know what, #TeamHector. That proposal was so lovely, and Lizzy looked really happy.
Lizzy’s mother came to England to witness her engagement, and as happy as she was over her daughter marrying a rising politician, she remained concerned about Mabel, to the point where she offered Conchita double her usual fee to find Mabel a husband. I can’t be upset over the potential dramatic conflict, but as a fan, I feel a bit protective of Mabel and Honoria, who managed to build a cocoon of happiness for themselves. Honoria looked especially lovely in this episode.
Conchita and Richard’s Cora problem were resolved in large part because Cora saw that the two of them were truly in love, and were not trapped in a marriage of convenience that Cora feared for herself. Conchita was becoming increasingly convinced that they truly could make this consulting service work.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Jinny found a friend in Paloma, whom she took home with her when she decided to cook for Guy. It was nice to see them happy, but the person raised to never waste food in me cringed at the food fight.
And what of the Dowager Duchess and Hector’s father Dr. Robinson? When the kids were being messy, the older ones were reminiscing and revisiting long buried affections. Their scenes together that alluded to past passions were this episode’s strongest. Yes, including and especially the one where they danced to Good Luck Babe! By Chappell Roan; I can’t be the only one thoroughly charmed by Greg Wise in that scene.
I appreciate The Buccaneers for its female-centred storytelling. I just wish it had more trust that its viewers can handle a complex lead. It’s okay for the main character to be at fault sometimes. It’s okay for her to be ambitious. It’s okay for her to want. Now that Nan is on her way to Guy, I hope we can move forward. Let Nan own her choices, and let’s have a good, dramatic show around those choices, and her friends’ as well. Flawed heroines for the win, let’s go!
Rating: B-
Strays
🌸Richard’s expression when Conchita told Cora she may be ‘a teeny bit older’ than her was precious.
🌸Dowager Duchess: ‘How maddening of you to age quite so gracefully.’ Dr. Robinson: ‘I assure you my knees tell a different story.’
Episode Title: Get Her Out
Episode Writers: Katherine Jakeways, Roanne Bardsley
Episode Director: Charlie Manton
Original Air Date: July 2, 2025