TURN is a Revolutionary War series now in its third season on AMC. Seasons one and two are available on Netflix. The story focuses on a group of spies working for George Washington. It is based on a book by Alexander Rose entitled, Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. The story is centered in Setauket, New York, and begins in October of 1776, shortly after the British recaptured New York City, Long Island, and Staten Island. The story is well told, well acted, and engaging, although I was not overly familiar with any of the actors. A couple of them are vaguely familiar but I don't think any of them are stars. But then, I seldom remember the names of actors. Looking further, I see that the chief protagonist in the series began his acting career playing Billy Elliot in the 2000 movie by that name, which I did see. He was in several other shows as well, but only one or two that I have watched. He's an adult now, of course, so I didn't recognize him.
I am watching the second season now. For some reason, they decided to portray George Washington as a mad man, which is not the picture we have of him from any reliable source. It's still an interesting series, and it might be that the book upon which the series was based did the same thing.
Interestingly, what they do at one point is, rather than depicting Washington on his knees in prayer, as he was known to have been often during the Revolutionary War, they have him on his knees talking to a hallucination of some British officer who had once been his mentor. He is in a prayer pose, but he's talking to a hallucination rather than to God, and it is the hallucination that tells him to cross the Delaware on Christmas Eve and claim victory.
Hmm, I was actually excited about this when I first heard of it a few years back. When I saw the thread and read your first post about the first two seasons being available on Netflix, I thought perhaps I'd check it out, but now I'm not sure, since it sounds as if the book may just be one unsubstantiated opinion or fantasy, and not what is generally known of the man from documented history.
It seems pretty accurate as far as I can tell from things that I have read, except for that one part, as if either the author of the book or the producers of the movie had an objection to portraying the man as being prayerful, and would rather have us believe that he was hallucinating.
Yes, I am well aware that there are those who will insist that everyone involved with the founding of this county was anything but a Christian. Obama would have us believe that the Muslims founded the nation. My point was that this was the premise of this series, albeit only a small part of it. The series did, by the way, portray him on his knees.
I'm glad you pointed it out @Ken Anderson. I'd rather know that up front, because it makes me question the intention of the producers/directors, as well as the book, which I will most likely not read. Of course they have a right to their opinion, but I don't have to subject myself to it. I am tired of that attitude (anything but Christian), and would rather spend my time and attention on other things, despite originally being interested in this series.
Okay, they have completed the series, so I re-watched the ones I'd already seen from Season one through four, and it's an excellent series.
Available on Netflix, I enjoyed this series so much that I just finished watching the entire thing again. If you haven't seen it, and have any interest in the American Revolutionary War, I recommend it highly.