We’ve gotten a series of dramas in the last few years that take place during the early years of World War II, when Hitler was invading his way across Europe and the Americans considered themselves a neutral party. So efforts by Americans to help refugees and others under Nazi oppression were generally underground. A new Netflix drama illustrates one of these efforts, based in Nazi-occupied France.
Opening Shot: Black and white scenes of Marseille, France, while a radio voice does a news report about “the war in Europe.” The year is 1940.
The Gist: Marseille has been seeing an influx of Jewish refugees from Paris, which has been occupied by the Germans, especially since the Nazi government put out a “Most Wanted” list of artists, writers and other Jewish thinkers. A group of them manage to make it to the beach to set up camp, and one of them, Albert Hirschman (Lucas Englander) gleefully strips down and runs into the ocean.
American socialite Mary Jayne Gold (Gillian Jacobs) is given a letter from her industrialist father, via U.S. consulate official Graham Patterson (Corey Stoll); her father wants her out of France or he’ll cut her off. But she’s been busy with the Emergency Rescue Committee at a local hotel; she and an American journalist named Varian Fry (Cory Michael Smith) are trying to get the 200 refugees on the Nazi list to the United States. As far as Patterson is concerned, though, Mary Jayne is a “spoiled girl” that just happens to have a lot of money to help the cause.
Mary Jayne’s desire to help is shown at a café when she sees Albert’s sister Lena (Henriette Confurius) try to take bread from a plate. She finds Lena in the bathroom and tells her that she can arrange for her and Albert to stowaway on a ship to New York. When they get there, though, French police stage a raid and round up all of the escaping refugees.
Mary Jayne is getting frustrated at the pace of visa approvals by the U.S. government; as hard as Varian has been trying, only 11 of the 200 people on the list have gotten visas; many of the rest have been holed up in the hotel waiting things out.
After she hears about the raid, she pays the police chief to bail out the refugees. Nina follows a fellow refugee, Lisa Fittko (Deleila Piasko), over a Pyrenees pass into Spain, leaving Albert behind because of a documentation snafu. Once the chief lets him go, though — Albert appeals to his sense of French loyalty — Mary Jayne decides to drive Albert to the pass to catch up with Nina. A kiss to throw off police at a checkpoint bonds them.
When Albert and Lisa get Nina and the others in the group into Spain, the two of them decide to go back to Marseille; their idea is to tell Varian and Mary Jayne about their plan to ferry people over the mountain pass. When the Germans demand the French hand over all refugees, even Varian can’t help but agree to the plan.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Transatlantic reminds us a bit of the Masterpiece series World On Fire, mainly because of how it takes place in the early days of World War II, when most American efforts to combat the Nazis were done surreptitiously.
Our Take: Based on the true story behind the book The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer, Transatlantic was created by Daniel Hendler and Anna Winger (Unorthodox). Despite its heavy subject matter, it has a bit of a jaunty, adventurous feel that we didn’t expect. Hendler and Winger looked to tell the story of this European underground railroad in a way that celebrates the efforts of everyone that helped get the Jewish refugees out of the clutches of the Nazis, or at least the French authorities executing German orders, with intrigue, romance, and even some humor.
What we appreciated, though, is that it’s done in a way that’s still sensitive to just how dangerous things were for everyone involved, and what the refugees would be facing if they’re caught. As Alfred tells Mary Jayne on the drive to the mountain pass, “You know, being Jewish never meant anything to me; now it’s the most important thing about me.”
At first it seems that Jacobs, to this point more known for comedies like Community and Love, wouldn’t be a great fit for the bold Mary Jayne. But there’s a reason why she’s in the role; Mary Jayne takes her mission very seriously, but she does so with a particular joie de vivre. She gives her colorful dress to Nina in exchange for her grungy clothes, for instance, or she battles the sexist Patterson quip for quip. It feels like the show is setting up a romance between her and Albert, forged by the adventure and danger of their mission, and from what we could see during the drive to the mountains, that piece of the story will fit in well.
Other layers of story, like a secret love affair the married Varian has been carrying on with a man named Thomas Lovegrove (Amit Rahav), will come into play as part of the mission. So, even though there’s some sexiness floating around the story, it shouldn’t detract from what everyone is trying to do. What it will do is make the story of Transatlantic less like a dirge and more like an adventure.
Sex and Skin: We see Albert’s bare butt as he runs into the water, but that’s about it.
Parting Shot: Mary Jayne gets a telegram from her father that she’s been cut off. She’ll have to find the money to fund this operation somewhere, but she still is all in on the plan.
Sleeper Star: Ralph Amoussou is Paul Kandjo, a hotel employee who helps the Emergency Rescue Committee, and we’re intrigued by how his character will contribute to the refugees’ escape.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Mary Jaybe finds out that the refugees she tried to get on the ship were detained, she hands her dog, which she was carrying, to Varian and leaves. Why was she carrying the dog?
Our Call: STREAM IT. Transatlantic takes a serious story and gives it a bit of a bouncy, adventurous edge, thanks to some crisp writing and a fun lead performance by Jacobs. But it still pays reverence to the people who risked everything to help Nazi refugees, as well as the refugees themselves.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.