The Buccaneers' season two premiere spends half of its screen time focused primarily on the aftermath of the season one finale, which saw Nan choose to marry Theo, as it meant saving her sister from an abusive husband. "The Duchess of Tintagel" faces the immediate aftermath of that decision, as the characters pick up right where they left off, and Nan must face the reality that she has declared that she married Theo for the wrong reasons, and he is completely unaware. The Buccaneers briefly show a glimpse of Jinny and Guy's escape, but not enough to determine what their getaway could mean for them. "The Duchess of Tintagel" also devotes some time to portraying Conchita and Richard's attempt to help their family's financial problems, as well as the growing romances that Lizzy and Mabel find themselves experiencing.
Leighton Meester's appearance as Nell might be the premiere's most significant plot twist. But, otherwise, while The Buccaneers may be aiming to be assertive, especially with Nan making a big wardrobe choice in the premiere's final moments, there are not a lot of instances that really allow this premiere to stick out. For the most part, the season premiere is fairly bland, not offering many moments of laughter or storylines that resonate to be as dark as the episode teases the plot could grow to be later on. The friendship between the main girls, which acts as the heart of the series, is mostly missing its personality. They may appear in scenes together, but the charisma that had worked previously is missing in the shadow of the more serious plots they find themselves in.
For fans who may have found it difficult to get behind Theo in Nan's love triangle in season one, the season two premiere does nothing to make it easier. The moral for Theo in "The Duchess of Tintagel" comes down to the fact that he loves Nan and is a decent man who will take care of her. These are positive features, but Theo's lack of a real personality in the opening episode does not make him particularly interesting to root for. Instead, it is almost as if the premiere would rather he be pitied, as he remains unaware that Nan did not marry him out of being in love with him. Guy does not fare much better, but that is mostly because he barely has a line of dialogue, as his role has him swept to the side, primarily only showing he and Jinny to remind the audience they exist and to confirm they reached their destination safely. There is no real plot line going on for them as of the season two premiere, so following episodes need to figure out a way to craft a plot line for them that not only builds their dynamic enough to make it interesting, but also bold enough to excuse the potential dangers of isolating them away from the rest of the main cast.
The Buccaneers does lay the foundation for some potentially interesting plot threads, depending on what The Buccaneers does with the dynamic between Nan and Nell, or what the main girls' development into adults really looks like. Nan's freedom as a single woman has changed in the light of her new role as a Duchess, and there is plenty at the series can do with that moving forward depending on how the storyline unfolds. Ultimately, "The Duchess of Tintagel" was not the strongest episode for any of the show's central ensemble. Yet, there is still time for it to grow into what the next phase of the series will be.