Mabel and Honoria’s romance in Season 2 of “The Buccaneers” continues to bring queer joy to the screen amid the show’s intense drama and complicated romantic entanglements.
“The Buccaneers” is a romantic romp through 1870s London, told through the lens of a rambunctious group of American girls. Season 1, which premiered in November 2023, introduced viewers to Mabel Elmsworth (Josie Totah), a fun-loving young woman uninterested in conforming to society’s β and her mother’s β ambitions of seeing her married off.
After Mabel’s friend Conchita (Alisha Boe) marries English Lord Richard Marable (Josh Dylan), the friends all leave for London and face an immediate culture clash. The difference between the group of Americans and the English nobles they meet is exemplified by their early interactions with Richard’s sister, Honoria (Mia Threapleton). But what starts as a resigned tolerance between Mabel and Honoria blooms into a sweet but secret love.
Totah tells TODAY.com that show creator Katherine Jakeways “wanted to tell a story that felt joyous and still truthful.”
“She very much felt like she had seen a lot of gay stories that were traumatic,” Totah says.
But that doesn’t mean “The Buccaneers” ignores all historical realities for queer women.
“I didn’t want to ignore the fact that the time period inhibited them from fully being themselves,” Totah adds.
In Season 1, Mabel reveals her attraction to women in an emotional conversation with sister Lizzy (Aubri Ibrag). She tells her sister she “tried to be like” her and recounts what happened after their mom walked in on Mabel with a maid.
“She looked at me like I was a monster,” Mabel says.
But Lizzy replies, “How can love ever be wrong? If that’s what gives you butterflies, then you are exactly who you’re supposed to be.”
In the Season 1 finale, Mabel decides not to actually marry Miles, whom she planned to wed in order to stay in England. In a grand declaration, she tells Honoria that while they may never get to be together publicly, “we can make our own world.”
The trailer for Season 2, which fittingly features Chappell Roan’s queer anthem “Good Luck Babe,” previewed what’s ahead for Mabel and Honoria’s relationship, including surreptitiously holding hands at a ball and plenty of steamy makeout sessions.
In Episode 2 of βThe Buccaneers,β which dropped June 25, Honoria and Mabel start to share a room due to the Marablesβ struggling finances.
Referencing a meme that pokes fun at the erasure of queer romance as just a close friendship, some fans have posted about the storyline with the caption, βHistory will say they were roommates.β
βBy the way, I donβt even know if (the showβs writers) even realized that, because I didnβt … βAnd then they were just roommates,ββ Totah says, referencing the meme.
The goal of depicting Honoria and Mabel’s relationship is to ensure queer joy “was always at the center, while also being very aware of the stakes,” Totah says.
“Maybe not so truthful to the time period in the sense that like, we wouldn’t be arrested or defamed in the way that we would be then, but to know that it’s still taboo and playing with that discomfort,” Totah says.
In one brief clip from the Season 2 trailer, Honoria and Mabel share a kiss in front of their friends, while Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) and Conchita react with surprise.
Totah says that scene came from one of her many pitches to the show’s writers. (“We joke because I pitch a lot,” Totah says with a laugh.)
“I told the writers on a call they didn’t ask for, I was like, I think that she should come out to the girls. And I wanted that to happen, because it felt like she had built all of these close friendships with these people and that they would be accepting of her,” Totah adds.
She calls the moment a “natural evolution” for Mabel.
“At a certain point, she needs to have that happen just from a story perspective,” Totah says. “Otherwise, how far can she grow, hidden?”
New episodes of “The Buccaneers” drop each Wednesday on Apple TV+.
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