If the trailers and teasers for AMC's Revolutionary War spy drama Turn have grabbed your attention, the latest video is well worth the five minutes time it takes to watch, as it digs a bit deeper into the story and character history. Among the people featured in the video are executive producers Craig Silverstein and Barry Josephson, and stars Jamie Bell, Kevin McNally, Heather Lind and others. They discuss the setting of the story and the state of the country, as it relates to Setauket, Long Island.
As it's explained to us in the above video, Washington's army is in need of people on the inside to help them fight the British. Benjamin Tallmadge (Seth Numrich) gathers some of his friends from Setauket for a secret mission, including Jamie Bell's Abe Woodhull and Lind's Anna Strong. She and Abe have some noticeable chemistry and significant history, though Abe is married to someone else. That alone seems ripe for conflict. Then factor in Samuel Roukin's Lt. Simcoe, a British soldier with an eye for Anna. Judging by the way we see him gripping Anna's arm and later the creepy smile, added to the mention of him being "a bit of a psycho," I'm going to guess that's a situation that'll escalate at some point.
And there's plenty of room for escalation all around, with talk of secret missions, the birth of espionage and war. "This is not your grandfather, or even your father's revolutionary war show," co-executive producer Michael Taylor says near the end. Great stories never expire, but TV will continue to evolve in the way it tells those stories. We've seen AMC shows take varying approaches to storytelling, some to great success and some not so successful. All signs point to Turn being among the former camp, but that's probably more my optimism talking than anything, as I think this series looks great. But we'll have to wait and see how it goes when it starts airing April 6.
Based on Alexander Rose's book Washington's Spies, Turn tells the story of the first American spy ring and how a group of friends from Long Island helped turn the tide of the war in favor of the Rebels. Among the cast is Jamie Bell, Seth Numrich, Daniel Henshall, Heather Lind, Meegan Warner, Kevin McNally, Burn Gorman, Angus MacFadyen and JJ Felid.
Here's one of the recently released teasers for the series:
