A Long Island farmer bands together a group of childhood friends to form an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence.
The true strength of Turn, though, isn't in any awkward, abortive romance but in the pictures it paints of real people under pressure, sometimes doing the wrong things for the right reasons and having no way of knowing how it would all turn out.
It helps that the show is well-acted, and that everything from the fonts to the costumes to the camerawork are gorgeous. You may need a while to puzzle out what's happening on screen, but at least you can enjoy some lovely scenery.
While TURN: Washington's Spies does a great job with capturing the spirit of the time period, I still found myself struggling to fully connect with the characters.
Turn soon begins bogging down, even in the midst of its ongoing unsolved murder mystery and the subsequent capturing of Simcoe after the Colonials get their first big tip from the budding spy ring.
Just good enough to make you wish it were better. The story piques your curiosity, but it takes too long to gain traction. The characters are certainly functional, but they lack compelling quirks. The subject matter is worthy, but it just doesn't crackle.
