As the first episode of The North Water begins, we join Henry Drax in Hull, England in 1859. Henry (Colin Farrell) has sex with a woman before stepping outside and walking along the streets. He arrives at the pub and tells the barkeeper he is leaving on the Volunteer tomorrow. He tries to use that to barter for free rum but has to offer his knife instead. The barkeep flips a coin and wins so he takes the knife and tells Henry to get out of his pub. Henry offers his boots for another flip of the coin but the barkeep isn’t interested. Eventually, another patron offers to buy Henry a drink to keep him quiet. Henry laughs and thanks the man before sitting down to enjoy his rum in front of the fire. Then, Joseph Hannah (Stephen McMillan) shows a man around the boat and tells him where Captain Brownlee (Stephen Graham) can be located. That man, Patrick Sumner (Jack O’Connell), immediately visits the Captain’s room.

They discuss Sumner’s injury after he was shot by a sepoy musket ball on the first day of the assault in India. Patrick says he is fully recovered and doesn’t even have a limb. Brownlee asks if saw Nicholson killed. Patrick did not see him die but he did see his body on the ridge afterward. Brownlee pours a drink while telling Patrick about Nicholson’s exploits. Patrick tells him about the rumor that Nicholson was sweethearts with his bodyguard named Khan but Brownlee doesn’t believe it and suspects the Empire would’ve been lost long ago if it wasn’t for men like Nicholson. The Captain says that lines must be drawn and civilized standards must be maintained before shutting the door and asking why Patrick left the 61st in India. They sit down and Patrick starts by saying his uncle died eight months ago and left him his dairy farm in County Mayo. It would’ve been enough to buy him a house but legal complications like mysterious cousins coming out of the woodwork got in the way.

It’ll take another year to resolve the case so Patrick has nothing else to do until then. Patrick goes on to say he was passing through Liverpool when he ran into Mr. Baxter (Tom Courtenay) at the bar of the Adelphi Hotel. When Baxter learned Patrick was an ex-army surgeon in need of employment, he encouraged him to get involved in whaling which Patrick believes will keep him occupied until the case is resolved. Brownlee says they’ll find use for him and his potions but Patrick insists he follows science and not witchcraft. Patrick believes he might need to pick up a few items before they leave so Brownlee tells him where to go and to have the bill sent to Baxter. Brownlee tells him he doesn’t sound much like an Irishman. Patrick admits he has been around for a while and considers himself an Englishman now. He is told that the whalers are often referred to as refugees from civilization.

Patrick likes the idea of getting away but he is warned that he’ll have to return at some point. After the conversation ends, Patrick goes to his room and checks the medicine chest. He doesn’t like what he finds so he makes a list of necessary supplies before sitting down. He recalls a man telling him they’ll make sure he has a ready supply of laudanum for his pain and frame of mind. When he leaves, he immediately visits the local apothecary and hands the clerk the list he just created. The man isn’t sure Baxter will want to pay for the hefty bill and he won’t let Patrick have all that laudanum because he won’t get paid for it. He tells Patrick he can only have the regular allowance. As the man fills the order, Patrick learns he is also the best taxidermist in town. When asked what is the biggest beast he has stuffed, the man says he stuffed a walrus and polar bear. He tells Patrick how he stuffed the bear for Baxter before he is asked if he would stuff a whale.

The man doesn’t think you can stuff a whale due to its size and the fact it would putrefy. Then, Patrick tries to get him to change the name of laudanum to absinthe or calomel on his bill until the man says they can use blue vitriol since surgeons use a good amount of that. Patrick receives two big bottles of laudanum. Back at the pub, Henry gets up and approaches a couple that is making out. Henry tries to get the man to buy him a drink but he threatens to cut his balls off. The barman gets involved to tell Henry he wants him gone. Henry isn’t scared but he steps out into the rain anyway. As he walks along, he passes by Patrick who enters the pub and asks for rum. They agree they don’t want any trouble and Patrick ends up spending a lot of time there. We hear Patrick talk about his betrayals, the death of his parents from typhus, and the death of his protector William Harper from drink.

He talks about his plans going awry before imagining he sees a young Indian boy in front of him. Patrick discreetly adds some laudanum to his drink and continues by saying he is nothing now except a surgeon on a Yorkshire whaler. He suggests he is finally free now. Henry hears a woman singing so he tracks her down and finds her with a drunken man. He attacks them and threatens to slice the woman open if she makes any noise. He searches the man’s body while telling the woman he should’ve bought him another drink. She tries to get him to move the man’s body but he won’t so she asks for a shilling for her trouble instead. The barkeeper wakes up Patrick and tells him to get out now. In the morning, Brownlee and Baxter talk about their new Paddy surgeon. Baxter doesn’t believe Patrick’s story about his dead uncle and says he isn’t the skillful liar he thinks he is.

Baxter thinks he’ll be okay for them before promising Brownlee has good men waiting for him. Then, they discuss Cavendish (Sam Spruell) becoming the first mate. Baxter tells Brownlee that he cannot mess this up. He insists it isn’t about pride or the fish before Arthur Brownlee receives twelve thousand pounds. Arthur looks at the paperwork and confirms that only Cavendish knows. Baxter recommends keeping Drax close so he can call on him if the time comes. He says Captain Morwood will be there waiting on them because he knows he is next in line. Brownlee says it has come down to sinking a ship for twelve thousand pounds but Baxter believes this is what the money wants. Arthur says he better pray there is enough ice up there to make this believable. The ship sets sail and continues into the night. Later, Cavendish visits Patrick’s room to ask what he is doing. He finds out that Patrick has been reading before saying they plan to test the achievements of the local distillery once they get to Lerwick.

He tells Patrick about his friends and invites him to join them. Patrick takes more laudanum before we join forward to their arrival at Lerwick. Patrick gets on deck and is immediately introduced to Jones (Kieran Urquhart) and Henry Drax. Before long, they take a small boat into the town while Patrick’s experienced guides give him advice for enjoying Lerwick and everything it has to offer. They enter the pub and Cavendish immediately finds a woman. Patrick tells Jones he believes a good surgeon is in need of some ethics. Jones asks him why he is on The Volunteer since he has too much experience for it. Patrick says he is either an eccentric or a fool but Jones doubts he is either. Patrick says Baxter made him an offer and he accepted it. He intends to keep a journal, make sketches, and read but Jones warns the voyage may not be as relaxed as he suspects. He explains the Captain has a lot to prove after his ship went down three years ago. Jones wonders how Brownlee was fortunate enough to get another command after that.

Jones believes he can have his own command in five years thanks to his share of luck. The party continues until Cavendish tells Patrick that Jones is smug but Patrick tells him that Jones has a plan. Cavendish says he won’t get his own ship and he has no idea what is going on here but he won’t say what is going on. When Patrick is asked about Delhi, he says the pandies had cleaned out the city before they got in. Cavendish suspects he saw some heinous violence but Patrick explains he is a surgeon and isn’t impressed by bloodshed. He changes his tune and says he isn’t surprised by bloodshed and the others agree. It doesn’t take long for Drax to start a fight and the others get involved. Patrick is quickly knocked to the ground and that triggers a flashback to his time with the army. Patrick gets caught up in the chaos and ends up being shot in the leg. He pulls himself to a safe spot and rips his pants so he can check the wound before a young boy approaches and asks who he is.

He pleads with the young boy to get him water and not tell anyone he is hiding there. Next, Patrick is taken back to his room before Drax and Cavendish search through his medicine. During their search, they find Patrick’s army discharge papers and discover he had been court-martialed but it doesn’t say why. They also find a piece of jewelry that Cavendish believes is valuable stolen Hindu loot. They discuss what will happen if the poor man dies and they sell the loot but Drax says they shouldn’t do it yet. They quickly put everything back as it was so Patrick won’t realize anything is going on. Cavendish wonders if Brownlee knows but Drax is sure they’re the only ones who know. Before long, the boat is treading through rough waters and Patrick gets seasick but the others seem to enjoy the chaos. When things calm down, Patrick passes by Jones and goes on deck.

The harpooner Otto (Roland Moller) approaches and introduces himself. He tells Patrick not to expect his first whale hunt until they pass the cape since the seals will come first. Patrick says he has been reading a lot of William Scoresby and learned that a Greenland whale can hold a boatful of men in its mouth but Otto says the whale is timid and playful. He is told they’ll encounter bears as well. Meanwhile, Cavendish and Drax agree Patrick won’t stand a chance once they hit the ice. A bit later, Cavendish tells the men to lower the boats. Brownlee and Patrick stay on the boat while Drax kills the seals. They discuss Drax’s motivation and Arthur doesn’t think it is money. Patrick continues watching from the boat as the seal slaughter goes on for a few minutes. After they finish, Arthur tells everyone that a hundred skins is a good day since it’ll yield up to three tons of oil.

He says they’ll push on tomorrow before the Norwegians get the prize first. When he says they’ll send out a third boat tomorrow, they suggest Patrick join them and he agrees to do so. Later that night, Patrick says it is a grave mistake to think too much. We quickly jump forward to the next day of sealing. Patrick takes aim, shoots a seal, and rushes in for the kill. He pulls the skins back before yelling at Drax to give him a hand. Drax ignores him so Patrick has to find a way to get past the gap on his own. He runs and jumps but falls into the water and tries to climb up the edge. We see a gunshot and Patrick sees the little boy in front of him. The little boy has a bloody chest and he walks toward Patrick until he sinks down into the water. He pops back up and struggles to climb onto the ice as the episode ends.

 

The North Water Review

An interesting story and unique setting make The North Water a compelling new show, but I am hesitant to judge it solely on the first episode. While the episode was entertaining, many scenes were so dark that I could hardly see the characters’ faces. Couple that with the fact that the story was difficult to follow in the first place and I am still struggling to find out what exactly is happening.

The cast is good and I feel like everyone is putting in the work to make The North Water a success so there are no problems in this category. Ultimately, I am just torn right now because I haven’t seen enough to fairly judge this show yet. The first episode was a bit slow but it convinced me the show has the potential to be great.

I hope this assessment turns out to be true because I could always use a good series to watch and recap. The opening episode scores a 7 out of 10 and I can’t wait to see where things go from here. Future recaps of The North Water will be available on Reel Mockery here.