‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: “A Whole Love”

We’re more than halfway through The Buccaneers Season 2 and we’ve finally arrived at this season’s high society wedding: that of Lizzy and Hector. There’s only one slight problem—Lizzy is having an affair with Theo, who is still technically married to her best friend Nan, who comes crashing back into their lives in “A Whole Love” (Season 2, Episode 5). Lizzy and Theo are post-coital in his private painting quarters just days before her wedding. He asks her to stay a few days, which escalates to her telling her not to marry Hector because Theo is falling in love with Lizzy. She doesn’t get a chance to answer before they hear Nan’s voice, which visibly shakes Lizzy. 

But Nan hasn’t arrived in the hopes of getting her husband back. She has fully come clean about her feelings for Guy and instead, sees her marriage as one of convenience and power, which can help her get the upper hand with James Seadown. Nan suggests that she’ll stay at the castle to show a united front until the bill is passed for Jinny to come home; afterwards, they can live separate lives without announcing their separation. Theo is gleeful about this because it means he still has a chance with Lizzy, and he uses his deal with Nan at the first opportunity he has. When Nan tells him she’s going to London for a party Conchita is hosting for Lizzy, Theo suggests he come along. After all, they’re supposed to be a public-facing couple, aren’t they?

Before they head off to London, Nan notices a stray earring on the stair that gives her pause. She doesn’t recognize it as her own and likely isn’t the Dowager’s, but as of now, Nan has no leads—and her best friend Lizzy is probably the last person she thinks would be sneaking around the castle while she’s been gone. For now, Nan pockets it for safe-keeping, but it’ll surely be a piece of the puzzle if—and more likely, when—Nan discovers their affair later this season. 

In London, Lizzy is feeling uneasy about her impending nuptials, which her sister Mabel picks up on. After witnessing their odd behavior in last week’s episode, Mabel guesses correctly about Lizzy’s involvement with Theo but reminds her that the excitement tied to creeping around with someone will eventually fade, and that Hector offers her a much more stable union. Lizzy continues going through the motions of her engagement, but Theo’s arrival with Nan throws her for a loop. He asks to meet her privately, then intimately clutches her fingers like a pinky promise. And of course, she goes. She’s angry with Theo for coming and even when he explains the deal he’s made with Nan, Lizzy correctly reads through the lines. A life with Theo means a life of hiding, of not being chosen openly, of being a mistress—and that’s not something that she wants. 

The night before the wedding, four of the five buccaneers have one last sleepover before Lizzy becomes a married woman. Nan admits that the time in Italy with Guy felt wrong, like she was living someone else’s life. They console her and Lizzy apologizes to Nan for both withholding the letter and eventually pushing her to go, and even though Nan doesn’t know yet, her apology is certainly also speaking to the predicament with Theo. 

When the wedding day arrives, it seems like Lizzy has made her decision. She looks solemn in the carriage, but she’s in the carriage, seemingly ready to say “I do” to Hector. But not if Theo has anything to do with it! After moping near the water, a happy couple walking by gives him the inspiration to run after his true love. He arrives sweaty at the church and manages to stop Lizzy, even if just for a moment, before she enters. Theo makes one last plea that is surprisingly progressive and romantic—acknowledging her concerns about being with him, Theo doesn’t exactly push her to choose him. Instead, he tells her to choose herself and not settle for only half of the love and passion she deserves. (This is now a Theo stan account??) This understandably flusters her and when Lizzy walks back to the church, she’s noticeably overwhelmed about what to do next. 

Hector is blissfully unaware of his wife-to-be’s impending cold feet, and his father Reede is living in a whirlwind love story of his own. As he’s straightening his son’s suit and giving him a last minute pep talk, Reede’s long lost love Blanche a.k.a. The Dowager appears. She tells him that Nan is back, meaning she’s relieved of her duties. Now is their time, she says, and they finally kiss. At least someone is getting a happy ending.

After the events of last week’s episode, Conchita apologizes to Mabel for going along with Mabel’s scheme. Mabel is understanding and assures Conchita that if she ever wanted to marry a Lord, she’d surely enlist Conchita’s services. But beyond that, Mabel is upset that her mother’s only goal has been to “fix” her. Without explicitly telling Conchita that she’s queer, she admits that she doesn’t want what other girls want and isn’t sure if she even wants marriage, but Mabel’s mom can’t seem to accept this. Mabel’s mom overhears her daughter’s confession and looks upset.

Simultaneously, Mabel feels like her romance with Honoria might be coming to an end. Reede makes an offhand remark about Honoria going to Provence, France to become a teacher, and even though Honoria waves it off as a silly pipe dream, Mabel realizes that her girlfriend wants to experience more. In a private moment before giving a speech at the wedding, Mabel tells Honoria to go have adventures and work out who she is. She doubles down on this in her speech, saying the equivalent of “it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.” 

We don’t get a definitive answer about the status of Mabel and Honoria’s relationship in this episode, but we do get some uplifting closure between Mabel and her mom. Subtly addressing what she overheard earlier, her mom tells Mabel to never give up, to keep discovering places and things in the world. “Disappointment mustn’t stop you from living,” she tells her daughter, and it’s exactly what Mabel needed to hear.

Over in Italy, Paloma lets herself into Guy and Jinny’s apartment alone, which worries Guy as he assumed Jinny was out with their local friend. In an outburst, Paloma defends Jinny and accuses Guy of doing whatever he wants, referring to Nan, causing Guy to exasperatedly admit the real reason that they’re in Italy. Paloma apologizes and after Jinny returns, she and Guy go out drinking. 

Guy’s worrying wasn’t for nothing—Jinny was, in fact, meeting with James. He says he wants to win back her trust and that he is open to “small steps” with the ultimate goal of bringing Jinny and Freddie back to England. He even acknowledges Guy’s sacrifice, saying all of the right things to bring Jinny back into his fold. 

Jinny goes to see him a second time while Paloma and Guy are out drinking, but this time James’s mask slips. He’s purchased boat tickets for Thursday, rushing Jinny into returning to a life of submission. She sees the cracks in his facade, especially when he tells her that he “chose her,” even though he could’ve chosen other girls. “Like Lizzy?” Jinny asks, letting it be known that she knows about his inappropriate behavior with her friend. Jinny leaves him hastily, but this surely won’t be the last confrontation between them.

Guy and Paloma wake up in bed together the next morning confused but thrilled about their blackout hook-up. (Paloma, especially, is happy to find out that Guy is good in bed, contrary to what she believed Jinny had said when she said she didn’t enjoy sex.) Guy, who is clearly ready to move on from Nan, tells Paloma that he’d like to see her again. She is giddy about this development until she notices a ring on her finger—a drunk decision that further complicates the many messy love entanglements of the series. 

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, Vulture and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.