I’m sure lots of people have noticed this show loves to jump around a lot. So I’m dedicating my whole rewatch to trying to understand when tf things are actually going on. The plan is to chunk it out because that’s 40 episodes total. Ok, it's a little crazy. But the pilot is getting its own segment since it's the longest episode here, plus I found a revelation that I must share
1x01 OVERVIEW: opens with “Autumn 1776,” which is vague, but this was likely the last week of september. the retreat from nyc on sept 20 is mentioned twice with underlying recency to both. another smaller detail i noticed is when they show brooklyn harbor, manhattan is in the distance on fire. historically the fire (which started the same day as the retreat) didn’t last THAT long, but still goes to show that was all super recent
DAY ONE: the two opening scenes with Abe’s plot and Ben’s plot are likely happening all on the same day with Abe’s in the morning and Ben’s in the afternoon/evening. Ok that’s a little easy (only 7 minutes have passed)
DAY TWO: the next day doesn’t have too much going on, as it’s just Abe at strong tavern in the early evening and coming home late at night. the main reason I’m considering this a different day is that Mary has a different outfit on than she did previously. and since the family was still “working class,” it’s unlikely she had multiple outfit changes in one day. Abe is working on the farm throughout the night
DAY THREE: Abe sees Caleb around midday, and they pretty much hang out until the evening. at the same time Abe is with Caleb, Anna and Simcoe talk ya ya ya. more importantly, Simcoe is requesting that his laundry be done by week’s end, which means this is all happening midweek. later, Ben kinda stages a kidnapping, and they get Abe in the night. not sure exactly how long that all happened, but HEY ITS MORNING NOW!
DAY FOUR: Abe is back in setauket probably around late(?) afternoon. BUT WE HAVE ACTUAL DAYS OF THE WEEK. this would all start on a sunday, Abe was last seen in town monday night, and it is now wednesday. after going to hewlett at the church, Abe has dinner with him and Richard that night. Simcoe says to Anna that he is going to be gone saturday, presumably the day of the raid in connecticut, or at least the day after
DAY FIVE (thursday): Abe and Caleb are back together at the cove around the afternoon, maybe. but not much happens the rest of the day on screen because obviously Caleb needs to get the information back to Ben and prepare a counterattack. not really sure how long it took
DAY SIX (either friday or saturday, idk): episode ends with Abe in town, and the raid/attack in connecticut and that’s it. also, guessing this is a different day using the same logic I used for Mary earlier and applying it to Anna. sure, Anna is a little more well off at this point, living in a manor, but neither is on a Peggy Shippen level of rich, so the same logic goes.
This is also a big side note because it’s admittedly bold as hell of me to assume this is september 1776, but I have my reasoning explained in another episode as well. In 1x06, Robert Rogers tells Akinbode he has been hunting down Ben for 4 months at that point, and this episode is taking place in january ’77. rewind 4 months and boom its september! so we can confidently say this is the last week of september following the retreat from nyc and the great fire in manhattan, we have dates as well. I can’t beat around the bush any longer. fuck it, let's bring him out. GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FAV YALE ’73 GRAD TURNED SPY NATHAN HALE
I always thought, “oh there’s no way they pick up as soon as he died. you’re looking too far into this. maybe like a little while after, but” OH NO. I’m talking DAY OF. I’m personally retconning the fuck up when they said he died on “October 22” because I do what I want + everyone knows that’s not fucking true. So for clarity, this one episode spans over 6 to (be mature…) 7 days starting on September 22 to September 28, 1776. I’m gonna rip my hair out…
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