In the eyes of many fans of the trilogy of miniseries based upon John
Jakes' saga, "The NORTH AND SOUTH Trilogy", the only miniseries not
worthy of the entire saga is the third one - "HEAVEN AND HELL: North
and South Book III". I wish I could agree with them. After all, the
production values for "Book III" had not been as impressive as the
other two. And of the three miniseries, "NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II"
had the best costume designs. But looking at the three miniseries
from the prospective of a writer, I have finally come to the
conclusion that it was "Book II" (set during the Civil War), and
not "Book III" that ended up being a lot more disappointing to me.
None of the three miniseries were exact copies of the novels from
which they had been adapted. Changes were made in all three. Despite
some flaws, I had no problems with most of the changes in "Book I"
and "Book III". But I found some of the changes in "Book II" to be
very questionable. In fact, some of these changes really did nothing
to serve the miniseries' story, except pad it unnecessarily in order
to ensure that it would last six episodes.
Below are some examples of the questionable plotlines I found
in "BOOK II":
*Around the end of Episode I, Brett Main Hazard (Genie Francis) - a
South Carolina belle who had recently married Pennsylvania-born army
officer, Billy Hazard (Parker Stevenson) - and her maid, Semiramis
(Erica Gimpel), had left Washington D.C. just before the Battle of
Bull Run (July 21, 1861). The former had received a written note
about Madeline LaMotte (Lesley Anne Down)'s kidnapping by her
estranged husband (David Carridine) and the injuries that Brett's
mother - Clarissa Main (Jean Simmons) - had suffered following a barn
fire at the Main's South Carolina plantation, Mont Royal. Brett and
Semiramis finally reached Mont Royal in November 1861. I have a lot
of problems with this.
1) Why was the message about Clarissa and Madeline sent to Brett in
Washington D.C. and not to Brett's older brother, General Orry Main
(Patrick Swayze) in Richmond? It would have been easier to reach him,
since Richmond was inside Confederate territory.
2) Would it have been easier for Brett and Semiramis remain in
Richmond and wait for
Orry to depart for South Carolina? What was the point of them leaving
him a message and continuing their journey south? They would have
reached Mont Royal a lot sooner.
3) Why did it take them three to four months to reach South Carolina?
It took them at least less than a week to travel from Washington D.C.
to Richmond, Virginia - despite being delayed by Union troops. They
were on horseback. So why did it take them an additional three-and-a-
half months to reach Mont Royal in South Carolina?
*In Episode III, despondent over being unable to see Brett for two
years, Billy decides to go AWOL, following the Battle of Gettysburg
(July 1-3, 1863) and head south to South Carolina to see Brett. Upon
his arrival at Mont Royal, he stays there less than 24 hours and
leaves to return to the Army. He returned to duty in Hiram Burdam
(Kurtwood Smith)'s Sharpshooter regiment in late April/early May
1864, in time to participate in the Battle of the Wilderness. And I
had problems with this.
1) It took Billy less than a month to travel from Southern
Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) to Mont Royal in South Carolina. Yet, it
took him at least eight to nine months to rejoin his regiment, who
were back in Virginia by the time of his arrival. Why did it take him
longer to travel from South Carolina to Virginia, than it did for him
to travel from Southern Pennsylvania to South Carolina? He was on
horseback.
2) Billy had been AWOL from the Army for at least nine to ten months
(July 1863 - late April/early May 1864). Why did Colonel Burdan fail
to punish him for abandoning his post without permission . . . for so
long? In the spring of 1864, the Union Army was not exactly desperate
for an increase in manpower, unlike the Confederate Army. In fact,
Billy never even faced a court martial or trial of any kind for his
actions. His only punishments were a stern lecture from Burdan and
being passed over for a promotion to the rank of captain. This is
illogical . . . even for a fictional story.
*Charles Main (Lewis Smith) and Augusta Barclay (Kate McNeil) first
met each other while the former was on a scouting mission for the
Confederacy and the latter was smuggling medicine in July 1861. They
met again, the following year, when Charles appeared at her farm,
wounded. In the spring of 1864, following the Battle of the
Wilderness, they began a love affair that lasted until they said good-
bye for the last time in February 1865. Two months later, following
the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox, Charles returned
to Barclay Farm and learned that Augusta had died while giving birth
to his son. Charles learned that Augusta's South Carolina relatives
had taken custody of Charles Augustus Main and returned to
Charleston. There, Charles took custody of his son for the first
time. I have a problem.
1) Charles and Augusta saw each other for the last time in February
1865. When Charles returned to her farm, two months later, her former
servant - Washington (John Nixon) - informed him that she had
recently died from giving birth to Charles' son. Yet, Augusta
certainly did not look pregnant, during Charles' last visit two
months ago - when the unborn baby should have been at least six to
seven months old. And she was wearing a corset.
2) Following his discovery that he was a father, it did not take
Charles very long to return to South Carolina and claim his child.
Yet, the recently Charles Augustus Main looked at least between one
to two years old. If that had been the child's real age, Charles and
Augusta's son would have been born a year earlier - before they had
consummated their relationship in May 1864.
*After being driven from Mont Royal by the discovery of a family
secret by Ashton Main Huntoon (Terri Garber), Madeline Main (Lesley
Anne-Down) settles in Charleston around July-September 1863. The
following spring in May 1864, she meets a former slave/refugee named
Jim (Bumper Robinson) and his sick mother. Because of this meeting,
Madeline decides to offer aid to many of Charleston's war refugees -
whether they are ex-slaves or poor whites. She also learns about Jim
and his mother's personal history. Apparently, they were Tennessee
slaves who were freed upon the arrival of Union troops at their
former master's plantation, who decided to make their way to
Charleston.
1) WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS? Why on earth would recently emancipated
slaves make their way deep into Confederate territory? Did the
writers of the miniseries honestly believe that slaves were that
stupid? Jim and his mother were from Tennessee. They could have made
their way to any of the following cities:
*Nashville, Tennessee - which fell to Union troops in February 1862
*Memphis, Tennessee - captured by the Union in June 1862
*New Orleans, Louisiana - fell to Union troops in April 1862
*Louisville, Kentucky - which remained in the Union throughout the war
Any of the above cities were closer to the plantation owned by
Michael's master and could have provided safe refuge for him and his
mother. Certainly not Charleston, South Carolina, which was too far
and still Confederate territory by the spring of 1864.
2) The writers could have written Michael and his mother as South
Carolina slaves. And yet . . . they would have been wiser to head for
Hilton Head, the only safe refuge for runaway slaves in South
Carolina, until February 1865.
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