'The Forsytes' Women Continue to Hold the Family Together
The women in the Forsyte clan continue to be the best part of this show.
Jo's big secret is out as The Forsytes reaches its midpoint, and, if anything, it only serves as a reminder that in this particular adaptation of John Galsworthy's epic, it's the women who are holding this entire production together.
This isn't necessarily a complaint, by the way. It's unfortunate that so much of this story revolves around Jo as the family's designated golden child, when he's also the show's least interesting character. But, if he's also the reason that so many female characters are such meaty emotional narratives, how much of a loss is it, really?
That said, the fact that The Forstyes doesn't seem to know what to do with Jo is deeply frustrating. Are we meant to be judging him? Feeling sorry for him? Hoping he finds a way to embrace his new family without losing the one he already had?
While it is nice that Jo is so determined to take responsibility for the children he never knew he had, and that he refuses to be ashamed or embarrassed about their existence, his determination to ignore the very real pain his behavior is causing others is incredibly frustrating, particularly because it seems as though The Forstyes itself is almost completely unaware of this often contradictory tension.
James's mustache-twirling scheme to oust Jo from the company isn't terribly complicated. In fact, it's pretty much to embarrass him with his secret kids, scandalize everyone else involved, and hope their shock is enough to win a vote over it. His smartest move actually comes from his often-overlooked daughter, Winifred (Eleanor Jackson): to install his dumb-as-dirt son-in-law, Monty (Tom Durant-Pritchard), on the board as a reliable yes-man vote.
(The best thing about this show is its extreme self-awareness that, outside of maybe Jolyn Sr., every man in this family is pretty much worthless.)
The show isn't terribly clear on how Jo survives the board vote against him, and doesn't seem super inclined to tell us. Did Anne Forsyte's last-minute appearance win her grandson a reprieve? Did Jolyn, Sr., lean on folks to protect his son? Did James's naked ambition come across as too sleazy for even these craven types to tolerate? Who can say!?
Jo's seemingly consequence-free existence would be more interesting, dramatically speaking, if he at least seemed like a good or charming enough person to deserve it. But the show seems weirdly afraid to give him much in the way of a personality, as though Debbie Horsfield and the rest of the folks behind the scenes feel he's most appealing as a cipher that viewers can project their own image of a romantic lead onto. He can barely pick a lane in his own life. How is this meant to be the man we're rooting for?
(When I tell you that Soames is coming off better than Jo at this point...it feels like I'm taking crazy pills, but it's true!)
Soames is giving off uncomfortable creep vibes on occasion, which are almost certain to become serious red flags now that he's gotten what he wanted and married Irene. But, he at least manages to come across as a man who's actually willing to fight for something — for someone — instead of waiting for his problems to magically work themselves out in his favor, and next to his blandly milquetoast cousin, that's no small thing. At the end of the day, it's easy to believe that Soames is choosing Irene, fully aware of how his family and social circle will react, and is fine with the consequences.
Jo, for his part, seems to want to have everything both ways. He's busy promising Frances that she and June are his priorities, even as he's still popping off to see Louisa and her children and telling her about how he'd have chosen her years ago if he'd known she was pregnant back then.
(Here's the thing: Pregnancy or no, he still could have chosen her back then. He didn't, and hasn't at any point in the ten years since he last saw her. Shut up, Jo.)
Frances, of course, is rightfully hurt by all this. She's trying her best to manage a messy and painful situation, but her dumb husband keeps right on doing whatever he wants without thinking about how anyone else is impacted. He wants to throw money at Louisa's kids, despite her (quite deserved!) pride in the life she's managed to give them. He wants to acknowledge his illegitimate heirs, no matter the problems it creates for his family. And he, for some reason, also really needs Frances to know he loved Louisa (and by all indications still might!) back when he was sleeping with her. He can't even be bothered to convince June that he actually loves
At no point in any of this does it feel as though Jo's considering anyone's feelings but his own, and it's really, really easy to dislike him for it. That seems like a problem for a show that needs us not only to care about this story but to be genuinely invested in his ultimate happiness.
The Forsytes continues with new episodes airing and streaming on local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, through the end of April. All episodes are available to binge on PBS Passport for members. Seasons 2 and 3 are already greenlit.
