, Benjamin Franklin spends a lot of his time waiting. He waits for recognition from the French court. He waits for news—preferably something good—from America. He waits at parties for someone to translate his witticisms into French. Michael Douglas may be the marquee star, but the awkward pause plays a key role. If this sounds like a trial to watch, it isn’t; the actors play silence to good effect, exemplifying the extent to which diplomacy is a game best played by the patient.
dramatizes the relatively little-known but crucial negotiations that made it possible for the Continental Army to stand on equal ground with the British. The first three episodes of eight release today, tracing Franklin’s work from the day he arrived in France in December 1776 until about a year later, when news reached Paris of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.
Franklin and his grandson, William Temple Franklin , arrive in Paris to crowds and acclaim. Struggling to earn the attention of French officials, particularly the foreign minister, the Comte de Vergennes, the two Franklin men settle slowly into French society. They are taken in by a French aristocrat and merchant, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, whose mansion in the village of Passy just outside Paris becomes Franklin’s base of operations for nearly a decade.
There is an edge to Douglas, both physically and vibes-wise, that seemed a little off for the rounded Franklin. Over the first three episodes, however, Douglas largely grows into the simple American suit and fur hat, the iconic Franklin uniform familiar to many impersonators roaming the streets of Philadelphia.
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