Based on David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, the seven-part HBO miniseries John Adams is a fascinating look at the Founding Father and second President of the United States. More than just a history lesson of milestones in his life, the story also tells a love triangle between Adams (Paul Giamatti), his wife Abigail (Laura Linney), and the principles that shaped the country he would help create.
The series opens in 1770 on the night of the Boston Massacre, which epitomized the high tensions between the colonists and the British. John reluctantly defends the British soldiers because he believes every man deserves representation in a free society. The love and respect he and Abigail have for each other is evident as he asks her advice regarding his closing arguments. John is approached about running for office, but declines. However, he is compelled to become more involved in politics when he sees a mob tar and feather a British sailor in the streets.
Part Two opens with the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia as the representatives work to devise a unified course of action. Here, Adams crosses paths with Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson), George Washington (David Morse), and Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane), and he is instrumental in getting the Congress to sign on to the Declaration of Independence. Back in Massachusetts, his family deals with small pox.
Part Three finds Adams traveling Europe seeking aid for the Revolutionary War efforts. Years before France’s revolution, the ruling class is decadent. Franklin immerses himself in the lifestyle while John remains resolute about his purpose and rigid in his behavior, which causes the French to request he leave. He then approaches the Dutch for help. His teenage son John Quincy heads to Russia as a secretary for Francis Dana, the American envoy to Russia.
The Revolutionary War ends in Part Four. John heads to Paris for signing of the peace treaty, and calls for Abigail, who he hasn’t seen in five years, to join him. John is made Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and soon after returning to America is elected the country’s first Vice President because he came in second behind George Washington for President.
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