She says that his other four spouses are buried in the backyard because he killed them all after intense physical and psychological abuse.įanny’s revenge was to leave him in the attic with sores, burns, and slurred speech. Beardsley developed a stroke (what they called apoplexy back then) after chasing her the month before. She corroborates the boys’ stories of beatings with her own. Like the Beardsley brothers, she was sold into marriage by her father in Baltimore. Fanny Beardsley at first is defiant in denying she knows where the indenture bond papers are, but the Fraiser’s questions wear her down.Īs Fanny relates what happens, there’s a distinct call back to last week’s morality debate. Claire covers her nose as she smells something incredibly rancid. Aged wood on the outside disguises the mold and dirt on the inside. The pacing slows down even further but it benefits the unfolding of the mystery around them.
At this point, the episode starts to give off vibes of becoming a spin-off in the American Horror Story anthology. Jamie and Claire discover there’s much more to the Beardsley’s past when they arrive at their master’s homestead. Indentured minors were a common practice in areas with no orphanages. If they survived their term of indenture of 7-30 years depending on age, they were granted money, a few acres or tools to start in the same business depending on what their master did. Indentured servants in colonial America were usually poor Scottish, Irish, or English people who wanted to eventually own their own land or work in a trade. The Beardsley’s aren’t that far off from the historical record. You are completely convinced Jamie’s protection is the only thing saving them from poverty. The costuming department did a great job with Keziah’s raggedy shirt and his makeup. Part of the reason? The terror in Josiah’s eyes as he recounts the abuse. If these scenes are reminding you of any version of Les Miserables, you’re not alone.
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Jamie agrees to buy out their indenture terms so they can remain free members of the militia and tenants. Keziah is now deaf due to beatings and both were branded thieves for stealing cheese and other provisions to eat. Beardsley to cover the costs of immigration to North Carolina. In this episode, we learn that Josiah has a twin brother, Keziah, and both of them were orphans who were sold into 30 years of indentured servitude to Mr. Josiah Beardsley, for viewers who did not read the book, can be seen as a potential time-waster in between militia and Regulators developments, but this episode makes a few small changes to bring out the history of the colonial underclass in order to make non-book readers invested in his plotline. This side plot is a huge risk in terms of keeping non-book readers invested but the trauma of the Beardsley brothers and Fanny, in particular, improves the relevance of the plot. Along the way, the Frasiers end up on the television equivalent of a side quest in a video game. “Free Will” takes Jamie and Claire beyond the Ridge to rally the able-bodied men in the county to join the militia.