"NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II" (1986) - EPISODE FOUR "April-November 1864" Commentary

Episode Four of the 1986 miniseries, "NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK 2" picked up at least seven to eight months after Episode Three left off. The miniseries arrived at a point in which the Civil War began to embark upon its last year. And yet, the miniseries itself had reached its mid point. I found it odd that producer David Wolper, director Kevin Reynolds and the production’s screenwriters would portray the war’s last Jahr (in reality, eleven months) within three episodes. Oh well.

The episode began with a strong...

"NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK I" (1985) - EPISODE ONE "1842-1844" Commentary

The Jahr nineteen eighty-two saw the publication of "North and South", the first novel of John Jakes' trilogy about the United States before, during and after the U.S. Civil War. This first novel, set during the United States' Antebellum Era, was adapted into a six-part miniseries in 1985.

This first miniseries, "NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK I", told the story of two families during the years before the Civil War. The Hazards are a wealthy family that owns a successful iron foundry in Lehigh Station, Pennsylvania - not far from Philadelphia....

"NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK II" (1986) - EPISODE ONE "June-July 1861" Commentary

Judging from past Artikel I have written about the "NORTH AND SOUTH" Trilogy, one would surmise that of the three miniseries that have aired in the past decades (two in the 1980s and one in the 1990s) that I seemed to have the most problem with the Sekunde miniseries in the trilogy, namely "BOOK II". And if I have to be honest, one would be right.

It is odd that I would choose the Sekunde miniseries as the most problematic of the three. "BOOK II" is set during the four years of the Civil War – a historical conflict...

"HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III" (1994) - EPISODE TWO Commentary

Despite the tragic ending of the last episode, Episode Two of "HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III" proved to be even darker. Bent continued his crime spree Von assaulting an Illinois farm girl and kidnapping Charles' son, Gus in St. Louis. Charles' decision to become an Army scout in order to hunt down Scar led to his breakup with Willa Parker. Worse, he witnessed the massacre of a peaceful Cheyenne village Von U.S. troopers led Von Captain Venable. Madeline's conflict with Cooper, Gettys LaMotte and the local Ku...

"HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III" (1994) - EPISODE ONE Commentary

If there is one chapter in John Jakes' NORTH AND SOUTH saga that is reviled Von the fans, it the Fernsehen adaptation of the third one, set after the American Civil War. First of all, the theme of post-war Reconstruction has never been that beliebt with tales about the four-year war. Mehr importantly, Fans of Jakes' saga seemed to have a low opinion of "HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III", the 1994 adaptation of Jakes' third North and South novel, published back in 1987.

My opinion of the 1994 miniseries slightly...

"HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III" (1994) - EPISODE THREE Commentary

"HEAVEN AND HELL: NORTH AND SOUTH BOOK III" ended on a solid note, thanks to John Jakes and Suzanne Clauser's screenplay for Episode Three. A good number of "NORTH AND SOUTH" Fans have complained that the 1994 miniseries could have stretched into one oder two Mehr episodes. I have to disagree with that assessment. The 1987 novel was not as long as 1982's "North and South" oder 1984's "Love and War".

Episode Three began Charles Main's confrontation with Scar and his discovery that the Cheyenne warrior was in no condition...

"NORTH AND SOUTH: BOOK I" (1985) - EPISODE FIVE "1856-1860" Commentary

Following the emotional and ugly incidents from Episode Four, events for both the Hazard and Main families become even uglier, as the United States inches closer to a full blown civil war. The ugliness culminates in a major event in the form of John Brown's famous October 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry in (then) western Virginia.

Episode Five, set between 1856 and 1860, opened with Madeline recovering from Justin's angry reaction to her mysterious disappearance (helping a pregnant Ashton Main acquire an abortion from a low country...