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The Buccaneers Season 2 wastes no time giving fans exactly what they want: the introduction of Leighton Meester‘s mysterious “Nell” to the Apple TV+ show.
**Spoilers for The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 1 “The Duchess of Tintagel,” now streaming on Apple TV+**
The Buccaneers Season 1 ended with the shocking tease that Nan St. George’s (Kristine Frøseth) birth mother wasn’t just alive, but waiting at Tintagel Castle to meet her daughter. Within the first five minutes of The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 1 “The Duchess of Tintagel,” we not only get the confirmation that Leighton Meester is playing Nan’s biological mom, but also an explanation for why Colonel Tracy St. George (Adam James) and wife Patti (Christina Hendricks) lied so much about her.
Nell, it turns out, isn’t just Nan’s real mom. She’s also Patti’s younger sister!
We learn that after Patti gave birth to Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse), she seemingly fell into what we’d identify today as postpartum depression. Nell was staying with the St. Georges and an affair blossomed between the younger, happier, sister and the Colonel. Because Nell was unmarried, and would be tarred by the scandal of being a single mother, Patti adopted Nan as her own. Meaning, when the newly married Duchess meets Nell, she’s simply introduced as her aunt.
Buccaneers star Christina Hendricks told DECIDER that she and Meester were able to deepen Patti and Nell’s relationship thanks to all “the stuff that isn’t in the script.”
“It’s sort of a luxury. You don’t always have rehearsal time and you don’t have time to have these discussions,” Hendricks said, “but we were able to fill in the gaps of their history together.”
“When would they have split? When would this argument have happened? When was the last time they saw each other? Where was Nell in that time? What was her life looking like?” she added. “So by the time we all came on set, the history was in our minds, even if the audience didn’t quite know.”
Photo: Apple TV+The audience can nonetheless intuit a larger, more complex relationship between the two sisters — as can Nan. Nan doesn’t know that Nell is her real mother, but she soon confides in her. There’s an unspoken affinity between these two women even if their real relationship is still being kept a secret from Nan.
“I definitely think it was helpful having several conversations with Leighton beforehand. She jumped right in to our chats about the dynamics about who we all were and what we meant to each other,” Buccaneers star Kristine Frøseth told DECIDER. “I mean, the creatives, they wrote it so beautifully and it was all there. So it was just really being present with Leighton and feeling like we understood the scene together.”
By the end of The Buccaneers Season 2 Episode 1 “The Duchess of Tintagel,” Patti has decided to divorce the philandering Tracy once and for all. She figures that with Nan’s new standing as a Duchess, she might have a champion in the court of public opinion. Patti also realizes now that her younger sister might have been somewhat of a victim of Tracy. The two sisters reconnect, just when Patti needs support the most.
“I think Patti has always looked to others in her life, her children or her husband. Her pouring her affection and her doting on others enriched her life and fulfilled her life,” Hendricks said. “Now her husband’s going away and her children are married and away. I feel like it’s hopefully not a crutch, but a way for her to sort of pour her love onto someone else again.”
“But I think that Nell is very challenging towards Patti so I don’t think she’s gonna just let her just get away with sort of not looking at herself and her own needs and stuff.”
We’d hardly expect any character played by Leighton Meester to let another get away with anything.
The Buccaneers Season 2 premiere is now streaming on Apple TV+.
English (US)