Around the World In 80 Days Episodes 7 and 8

 Episode 7

 

The companions travel across America.  In the sequence of this trip covered in the story, Fogg and company are traveling at good speed in a stagecoach, hoping to connect with a train in the next town.

The coach is stopped by a Black Sheriff Bass Reeves.  His prisoner, a southern white man seems polite at first but soon reveals himself to be a leader of a supremacist organization.  He chastises Fogg for allowing the romance between Fix and Passepartout which Fogg hasn't noticed at all.

Not far behind are the captives Civil War compatriots, who plan to kill the sheriff and set their friend free.

Reaching the town where the train will arrive soon, Fogg and his companions stand with the sheriff against the killers, almost missing their train. 

Abigail can't resist sending her father a telegram to let him know they're all alive, as they were reported lost at sea in the previous episode.

Episode 8

 

Reaching New York, somehow Fogg still has his cache of postcards calling him a coward, including one for the Grand Central station clock sent just before he left on his journey.   He stares at the clock.

Once out, he goes to the liner that will take him home, but then runs back out and to the train station.  He is waiting for a woman under the clock, explains Passepartout.  

Estella does indeed come, and the two have fine moments talking about the lives they lived without each other.  She now appears to be too practical to be whisked off to England and adventures beyond, as I hoped would happen once she was actually there.

Making his way back to the ship, Fogg is beset one last time by Kneedling, but a New York gang interrupts and wants part of the action.  Fogg and Kneedling fight the gang, not exactly together.  When Kneedling is stabbed with a knife, the gang vanishes, leaving Fogg with Kneedling who hands him a telegram saying use any means necessary to stop Fogg from getting on the ship.

In London, a final frustrating block to Fogg's progress: the warrant from Hong Kong is still seen as active in Londom and he's put in a cell till the governor of Hong Kong can be wired.

Finally released, dejected because the bet was lost as time has run out, Fogg's ancient servant tells them they gain a day as they traveled so there's time to get to the club yet.  Running through the streets, they make it right on the second the clock strikes the hour.  Bellamy tries to say there was no bet but Fogg had a check delivered to the club before he left.

Bellamy's bankruptcy is discovered and the crowd at the club chants him out the door when Fogg gives him the check.  

The episode ends with Fogg, Passepartout and Fix running down the street laughing arm in arm, on their way to find a new adventure.

For myself, I enjoyed the series over all, particularly once they stopped making Fogg the butt of every joke, an object of scorn.  That went on far too long for a show in which his character is the main one.

Once the three were on the desert island, and they were down to their basic humanity, and the friendship that had been forged was allowed to shine, the last episodes were a pleasure.

Around the World In 80 Days (PBS Masterpiece)

Episode 5 Hong Kong

 

When Fogg stops at a British bank in Hong Kong to secure more funds from his personal account, he is refused any monies as the dastardly Kneedling has gotten there ahead of him and persuaded them Fogg is  a criminal.

Passepartout, who has lived in Hong Kong in the past, finds them a modest place to stay while they try to figure out how to proceed. 

Meanwhile,  Abigail's newspaper article about Fogg's lovelorn reason for making the trip has made it to Hong Kong. The governor's wife, coming upon him in the market, invites them all to her home.  Fogg suspects nothing, as he hasn't seen the article. 

Passepartout goes to an old acquaintance for money, hoping his old friend will loan him the funds.  Instead, his friend asks Passepartout to do what he used to do well, steal a White Dragon necklace from the governor's wife.  Passepartout refuses at first, but as night falls, he emerges from under the bed as the governor and his wife are sleeping, and steals the necklace.

The next day, Fogg is charged with the theft by the angry governor, and imprisoned.  Here Fogg is impressively brave, keeping silent and seemingly undaunted by his situation, even when he's told he will be put to the lash.  Passepartout confesses to the crime and Fogg receives just one lash, as Abigail and Passepartout bring a pardon to the prison signed by the governor at his wife's insistence.

Episode 6  The Desert Island

Kneedling isn't happy with the continued progress of Fogg and company, so he pays the captain of the ship now heading to America that Fogg is on, to drop Fogg, Abigail, and Passepartout out to sea in a small boat with only a tankard of water.

Stranded on a desert island together, everything comes out. 

Abigail is regretful that she posted the article, exposing Fogg's private grief.

Passepartout confesses he poisoned Fogg to slow him down when pesuaded by Kneedling.  He confesses he stole the White Dragon to get them money to leave Hong Kong.

Fogg is angry at Abigail, but inflamed at Passepartout's treacheries.  He draws a line on the beach and says he will not speak to Passepartout, ever, and that he must not cross the line.

Passepartout camps nearby, cooking lobster which Abigail shares, but Fogg will not. Passepartout refuses to accept Fogg's exile of him, and insists they are friends, though he regrets what he has done.  He is absolutely heartrending.

Still Fogg ignores him, and he decides he will build a raft, to get he and Abigail off the island. Gathering a motley assembly of driftwood from along the beach, he hasn't a way to cut the wood or tie it together.

Retiring for the night, Fogg and Abigail are unaware Passepartout works through the night in the rain and storm, gathering vines to hold the raft together.  He even manages a sail before succumbing to the rain and cold.

The next morning, Fogg and Abigail are amazed at the craft and begin packing it with supplies. Abigail finds Passepartout lying unconscious and feverish, and brings him back to camp.  She reminds Fogg that they've both ill treated Passepartout, and he's done tremendous things for them.

The raft, which could never have been seaworthy, is taken apart to make a fire to keep Passepartout warm and break his fever.

Fogg confesses that the two of them are the first people he has cared about in a very long time.  

A ship sees their smoke and rescues them, and will get them to America in good time.

Strong performances by everyone.

 

Around the World In 80 Days (PBS)

 

Although the first episode of Around the World went by quickly, and was largely enjoyable, I have that schism in my enjoyment due to changes in the characters from the book to the small screen.

Phileas Fogg, in the books, is a precise man, unflappable, never panicking, brave when it's needed.  In the PBS adaptation, he's weak, unreliable, and he can barely manage anything. He's a buffoon.  This is a terrible thing to have done with the character, and I hope they'll give him a story arc where he improves.

I'm also disappointed in the way Passepartout is made to be somewhat dishonest, a cad, a liar.  Given that Passepartout really has the bulk of the adventures in the book, and that he's honorable, brave, and a good friend.  Ack.  It looks like maybe they'll be able to let Passepartout be that character in the series, but I would rather they had let Fogg and Passepartout be partners.

Abigail Fix taking the place of Detective Fix is a bit sad too, because Fix was such an odd, obsessed man, that he was a fascinating character.  The friendship Passepartout and Fix developed looks like it will play out differently here, and that's fine.

I'll recover for next week's adventure.