John Adams

 


Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes,
our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

THE SCRIPT

Back in the colony of Massachusetts and the city of Boston, during the late years of the 18th century. In the middle of the night there are gunshots, screams and blasphemies heard all over the city. The turbulence forces a 30 year old John Adams to get out of his home and and hurry to the place of disturbance, where he stands in awe, witnessing young men dead laying around a small numbered British regiment. The next day, captain Thomas Preston, the leader of the regiment, asks Adams to defend him and his soldiers in court for they are innocent. Adams, a deeply religious and a faithful to the tradition of English Law and the human right to a fair representation in court, accepts the captain's request, ignoring the reactions of his closest friends and relatives.

This is how John Adams: The miniseries begins. The famous miniseries is a biographical narration of the life of the second president of the United states of America (USA) and his very important and intelligent wife Abigail Adams. The script of the series is based on the same titled book written by David McCullough, one of the most respected American historians of our time. The first episode begins during years when the upheaval that would turn into the American Revolution was taking place, but the series as a whole does not focus on the events that took place on the battlefields of the colonies-states.

There is great focus to the backstage of the political climate of the day and thus we meet many famous men from the Founding Fathers (Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, etc.) and the representatives of other countries (King George III, etc.). We see how Adams fought for his country as a diplomat in Europe and in a more personal level we can witness how he and Abigail had to sacrifice their family in order to achieve their ideal: to give birth to a country that'd become not only great, but a Land of Liberty (Abigail frequently mentions the sin of slavery and how it should end, for example). What I liked the most was how all characters were not presented in a silly or shallow way as we have seen in the past (f.e. the 1980's series North & South) but as real people, with their greatness but also their weaknesses.

As mentioned before, one of the great features of the series is the way the relationship between Adams and Abigail is represented and also the fact that we can see exactly how they lived, the hardships and pain they had to go through in order to achieve their purposes. If we are to surpass our own weaknesses we need men and women such as this historic couple to be our guides to the future. Even only for that reason, this is a series that not only every American, but every modern human being with a wish for a better future must watch.

FAVORITE MOMENT

The last 9 minutes of the second episode when the Decleration of Independence is presented to us. A truly historical, beautiful moment, perhaps my favorite in history.