HBO Gentleman Jack

I finished this series last night. In summation: Episode 1 starts slow. Episodes 2 to 5 get going and generally maintain interest. Episodes 6 to 8 are a run-on sentence with not much happening but foreshadowing of what might go wrong. Maybe the entire second series will be on outing the pig farmer for killing his father. They keep foreshadowing this but doing nothing.

If the centrality of lesbianism itself is enough for you, your opinion doesn’t mean anything. However, if you’re not put off by the abundant PG-13 scenes of lesbians kissing and touching, then there is some interest here.

For the most part, Suranne Jones’ performance is wasted on subpar material. Sophie Rundle is terrific as Ann Walker until they draw out the basket-case plot too much.

Episode 8 has three good scenes in it. The rest is pointless filler. There’s the engaging scene of Anne Lister meeting the queen of Denmark. Then there is the short scene of her returning home in a rush because of her mother’s (aunt’s?….I forget) illness. Finally, they do end it well with a reuniting of Anne and Ann who kinda-sorta sneak in a Sacramental private wedding when they take Communion together at church.

What much of this series lacked was meaning. In the entire episode eight, there were but three scenes that offered something. Much of the rest of the last three episodes offered very little. It was just noise.

Many of the characters are left floating and ill-defined. For example, Joe Armstrong plays Samuel Washington who Anne hires as a sort of foreman of her estate. This is a situation where a meritocracy arises. Samuel is a nobody by Anne recognizes in him a talent to help manage her complex estate. But Samuel only ever remains a wafer-thin character. There is no character development. He's not given much to do.

The same with Anne's sister, Marian, played capably by Gemma Whelan. We seen hints here and there where this character could move beyond just the nagging and eternally disappointed sister. There’s a minor reconciliation of sorts between the two at one point which is a very good scene. But does Anne give her any duties or responsibilities to show sisterly trust and respect? None that we can see.

From the producers' point of view, it’s apparent that they thought all they had to do was show a lesbian character in a strong role and audiences would bend over backward in praise. Probably Suranne Jones does her best work in the last episode because they move her, for a brief moment, beyond a black-garbed man-woman lesbian automaton and made her a real person.

In fact, it took until the last episode or two until Anne’s uncle, Jeremy Lister, started being developed beyond just a doddering forever-napping old man. It becomes apparent he’s much more capable than it seems. But this comes far too late to be woven into the plot.

Perhaps the problems stem from the diary of Anne Lister upon which this series is based. Maybe it’s just that inconsequential of a real story beyond the lesbianism. But I would guess this dramatic recreation is heavily embellished anyway just to fill-out an eight-episode series. They just needed more interesting embelishment, to keep the plot moving, and to develop the characters.