‘The Buccaneers’ Creator Katherine Jakeways and Star Christina Hendricks Break Down That Nail-Biter Finale

Apple TV+'s The Buccaneers is like if Bridgerton and Pride and Prejudice (2005 version) got together and said, hey, you know what we need? Some Americans. The show is based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel of the same name, and it follows a group of American heiresses who decide that the best way to secure their place in society is to head over to England to catch themselves a duke (or some other fancy title). Naturally, chaos ensues, and the straight-laced English are horrified by the way-too-casual Americans, but marry them anyways for their money.

The series finale, which dropped on Apple TV+ today, culminates the way all the best finales do: with a wedding. Nan St. George is torn between her betrothed, Theo, and her lover, Guy. And if things weren't complicated enough, she also finds out that her sister is being abused by her husband. And her parents are getting divorced. There's a lot happening!

Series creator Katherine Jakeways and star Christina Hendricks hopped on Zoom with Cosmopolitan to chat through all the massive cliffhangers and what audiences can expect for a potential season 2.

Katherine, tell me about tackling this finale from a writing perspective. A wedding is such a fun way to end a season.

KJ: We love a wedding. The wedding at the end of this series only happens about a third of the way through the book the series is based on, actually. Very quickly in the book, Nan marries the Duke, which is great because we wanted to focus on that first bit that's so well written by Edith Wharton. The drama of a wedding and the romance of a wedding, it's a useful finale.

Christina, tell me about Mrs. St. George's headspace going into the finale. There's a lot going on!

CH: Mrs. St. George has really gone from one extreme to the other. Everything is about protecting her daughters. And even though it started out with finding them the perfect husbands and being accepted in society, as soon as all that was yanked away, it really just becomes about her family and her daughters and making sure that they have the strength to be who they are.

Mrs. St. George also decides she'd rather be divorced than deal with her husband's ongoing shenanigans, but she is relying on her daughter to do that, which puts the pressure on Nan. How do you think she feels about being reliant on her daughter in this way?

CH: I don't think it sits super well with her. Even though we've taken a modern take on this story, we're still talking about the late 1800s and divorce is just an outrageous choice. So she is still aware of where she stands and what it takes to get to a safe place again. I think it's probably terrifying to her and it puts tons of pressure on her daughter. But she also knows that's the reality of where she's at.

Ginny finally confronts Nan and tells her about the abuse that's happening in her relationship. As a viewer, I wanted to like scream at these two girls, go tell your mom what is happening! Why do you think they didn't?

CH: Part of this story is about them taking on the role of being a wife and a woman, and that you can't just always go to your mom. What's so interesting about this story is that these really are young, fresh girls, right? They haven't been women very long and they're taking on adult responsibilities and making this huge shift in their life. They're practicing being adults. There probably will be a reveal to the mother, but there's also some protection of their mother.

It's easy to forget that back then women got married at maybe 19 or 20, maybe 21.

CH: Exactly. And they lived a very girlish life up until that moment. These are all women with money, who have had people taking care of them. And now all of a sudden, it's their role to sort of emotionally take care of a man and emotionally take care of themselves.

I want to fast forward to the climactic wedding scene and the plan to smuggle Jinny out. So just to confirm, did the Dowager Duchess orchestrate this whole thing and strike a deal with Nan?

KJ: Exactly that. When they come back into the bedroom hand in hand, and the Dowager is sitting on Nan's bed, she immediately knows what's going on. She has a bit of a sixth sense. It breaks her heart because Guy's almost like her son. The Dowager is in on the plan and they're going to try and get Jinny out and the distraction of the wedding is going to be the only way that Seadown's going to let Jinny out of his sight. The Dowager is very much in on the plan, although Theo doesn't know that.

Christina, tell me about the moment where you tell the Dowager that Nan isn't coming to the wedding and then realizes she's been in the dark.

CH: That was a tricky scene because we had to get a lot of information in a very short amount of time. But it's also incredibly interesting to have two mothers that think they know their children so well. And for them to say, Oh, wait, she knows something more about my kids than I even know. And it's a bit of a shock. And then how long do you have as as the person performing that, as me playing Mrs. St. George, to process that before we're running back out to see them walking down the aisle? And then also realize that my other daughter is not there, and that she's with child?

Your heart breaks for Mrs. St. George because she's going to bat for her daughter and then she realizes she doesn't know the whole picture. It really comes through how devastated she is in the moment.

CH: She realizes that someone else knows something dramatic about her daughter. We also wanted to make sure that the confrontation between the two mothers was not, even though it felt slightly aggressive towards one another, that it was just two mothers trying to be the best mothers that they could. This woman just put me in my place, but she also revealed some very important information to me. So I'm also grateful to her. There's a lot of layers in that.

KJ: It's sort of horrifying for Mrs. St. George, because she thinks she's this wonderful mother, and as mothers, we all feel like we know what's going on with our children. And actually, there's so much going on that she hasn't spotted.

Nan and Guy have this moment where he's telling Nan he loves her, but he's not pleading with her to come with. It seems like they've come to an agreement. What do you imagine the conversation between them to have been like?

KJ: Guy knows that for Nan the love story of her life is her sister and her friends. Her sister needs her and she will absolutely do whatever it takes to get her sister to safety and Guy knows that. He wants to help Jinny. Also, the Dowager has discovered them and the Dowager has absolutely said, this is what's happening, here's how we're going to solve this. And it suits the Dowager's agenda, of course, because what she really wants is for Nan to walk down that aisle to be the Duchess. If Jinny hadn't turned up in the night and asked for help, our assumption is that Nan and Guy would have disappeared. She's told Guy that he's the love of her life. Were you Team Guy or Team Theo generally?

I'm Team Theo personally but Nan needs to be Team Guy, in my opinion. What about you?

KJ: We talked so much about that in the writers room, how both of them are completely viable options and I love it. I'd always said Team Guy, but that was before we filmed it. The Duke character is very much the bad option in the book, but we wanted to make it much more even. I think they're both pretty good options.

Christina, Team Guy or Team Theo?

CH: I've never thought about it in that way. I'm undecided. And I think that's where we leave off in this finale. I need to see more from both of them to win my sweet Nan's heart.

Do you think Theo is relieved to see Nan actually walking down the aisle or is it like The Graduate where they realize what they've just done?

KJ: He didn't think she was going to show up. She's late. Everybody's whispering and going, where's Nan? He's absolutely known that she's been having second thoughts. He hasn't known for certain what's been going on with her and Guy, but he knows that something's been going on. So when she turns up, it's bittersweet for him, isn't it? Because it's yes, she's chosen me. But it's not unadulterated joy. He's as trapped as anybody else. There was a time that he thought he and Nan could be really happy, but nobody wants to marry somebody who, for the last few weeks, has barely been able to look at you.

CH: There was some fast decision-making on everyone's part there. It's a great cliffhanger because you think, well, wait a minute, are they plotting to be together? Are they about to scam the Duke? Or was this truly made out of love? There is a little bit of like, what have we just done?

Let's talk about the big cliffhanger at the end. We, as viewers, don't know who Nan's mother is, but Christina, did you ask to know ahead of time, or is this a mystery even to you?

CH: This is a mystery to all of us in the cast. We all have speculated. I know for certain that they did certain things so that we would all speculate, and I think they are keeping that option open for a minute.

What's your theory? Do you have one that you're willing to share?

CH: I've had many theories. But I have a feeling that any theories that I had, they will have already changed from the end of the season. I wouldn't even pretend to know what what the end result is going to be. The fact that she's present in England is something interesting.

Okay, Katherine, what can you share?

KJ: I can say that for Nan's real mom to turn up on the day of the wedding and when her whole family's already in such turmoil is worst case scenario. The Dowager has worked too hard to make today happen to let anything spoil it, and Nan believes the lie that her birth mother is dead, never to return. So let's hope Mrs. St. George, who's dreaded this day for 19 years, can keep the surprise guest and Nan as far away from each other as possible.

Christina, what are your hopes and dreams for your character in a potential season 2?

CH: I'm excited to find out who the mother is. But I do hope that we don't find out too quickly. I hope Mrs. St. George lets her hair down and goes out and finds some young, beautiful man to frolic with and live her girlhood years again. I want Mrs. St. George to have a hot girl summer.

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