S04.E08: Belly of the Beast

[OtterMommy]

Quote

Abe finds himself perilously thrown into the midst of a fierce battle, as Ben eventually decides to make a direct appeal to General Washington; Townsend is determined to risk everything, while Caleb desperately seeks to find redemption.

[LittleIggy]

I guess Simcoe has a spiritual awakening following this incident and becomes the Canadian founding father history records. ;-)

[tabloidlover]

Thoroughly enjoyed tonight's episode!  

[Kata01]

Wow, so this is where my favorite show has been hiding for the past 7 episodes- best episode of the entire season. 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Kata01

[nitrofishblue]

Really have enjoyed this show. I know the network bends history but the basic story line is great. This is how this country was formed.

[Haleth]

Wow!  That was so exciting!  The Abe/Simcoe/Caleb scene was so full of suspense!  

When Abe was running away I kept telling him to ditch the red coat, but then I remembered it was a rule of war that a prisoner captured in uniform was not to be shot, but one out of uniform was considered a spy and fair game for execution on the spot. 

[Hanahope]

I call bull on Simcoe able to crawl away after that fall.  

Ah Townsend got caught, well sort of.

[LittleIggy]

3 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I call bull on Simcoe able to crawl away after that fall.  

 

Well, he has survived a gut shot which in pre-antibiotic days should have killed him.

[BusyOctober]

12 hours ago, Hanahope said:

I call bull on Simcoe able to crawl away after that fall.  

Oh, there's that and so many other things that are BS on this show.

One of my main gripes this week was the sloppy handling of travel time (or maybe I should say Time Travel). Unless the American Revolutionary soldiers fed their horses cocaine laced hay, I don't see how these characters moved between states so fast. I have driven from NY to VA and it took 6 hours. Did Amtrak offer an Acela Wagon between the Tri-State area and Virginia in the 1780's?  Caleb (in NY) decides one afternoon to go look for Abe (in VA).  Next day, he finds a group of American soldiers to hang with, and shows up in the exact spot Abe is fighting almost immediately.  Good thing Abe had his Ye Olde GPS location device in his breeches, pinging his coordinates to Caleb!  And I'm so glad Saint Mary of the Long Suffering Second Choice Spouses & her healing touch aided Caleb's sharpshooting skills so he could hit a moving target from so far away, when mere days (hours??) ago he couldn't hit an immobile tree target from 10 paces. 

I can't wait for Peggy to give birth in the next episode so her child will be old enough to spy &/or fight in the finale!

There's tweaking history for the sake of drama, then there's farce.

[ganesh]

I'm over Abe's wife being hysterical and forcing a Caleb who is clearly unwell into a guilt trip.

[LittleIggy]

@BusyOctober, do you watch Game of Thrones? They have the same kind of rapid transit!

[ganesh]

I did like the episode though. Especially with Abe being all "I'm Culper!" "You said you're name was Abe." "OBVIOUSLY I'TS A CODE NAME FRENCHY!"

I'm surprised there wasn't a code phrase specific to Abe that the officers would know. Although I guess they weren't expecting him in the field. Still though. 

On 7/29/2017 at 9:33 PM, LittleIggy said:

I guess Simcoe has a spiritual awakening following this incident and becomes the Canadian founding father history records. ;-)

I took it a different way. He got beat. Abe had him and they both knew it. Simcoe spent the entire episode taunting Abe, "when we get on the battlefield, who knows what happens?" "You lie, that's your domain; the battlefield is mine." Simcoe was in his domain and found himself bleeding out and beat up. I'm seeing more like he's humiliated and getting out of there. 

Of course, it could be that he saw Abe coming to finish him off, and Abe didn't, so maybe he interprets Abe not as mercy, when in fact Abe was leaving because of the intel he gained.

I do love me some bitch-Arnold trying to make a buck. He is kind of right though. Everyone else is, so why does he have to be on the straight and narrow. One subtle thing I did like was Arnold talking to Abe about how they are limited in supplies and ammo, which dictates how a military force here would strike, versus in Europe, where supply lines are more secure, which rules out a siege here. I liked that we saw he actually knows something about something. 

I think it's a subtle but strong point. The English couldn't fight a European war in America, so maybe they didn't adapt as well. Washington basically had nothing to work with, but maybe had a more adaptable force. Also, the French to counter the English navy.

I also like Washington getting chewed out. I really like how he's been portrayed in this show.