Around the World in 80 Days Review: Season 1 Episode 7
We’re picking up the pace on Around the World in 80 Days Season 1 Episode 7—fast enough to cross all of the United States in a few days while still having time for racism, fugitives, and gun fights.
The group is on a long and bumpy journey by stagecoach when they are interrupted by a Black marshal with a white prisoner in tow. Said prisoner is a holdover of the Civil War south and a leader in a newborn group calling itself the Klu Klux Klan.
There have been a lot of racial undertones in the episodes thus far, some more subtle than others. Many of them have come Fogg himself, often openly treating Passepartout as a servant or being ignorant of the truths of European colonialism.
He’s confronted with the worst extreme of that mindset here; a man who wastes no time in not only seeing the romantic undertones between Passepartout and Abigail but also in telling Phineas he must put a stop to it for reasons that are all too clear whether or not he says them out loud.
Whether all this leads to actual reflection on his own bias is debatable, but Fogg does get a hard lesson in where hate and ignorance can lead, particularly because we see him relate to the man early on. There are uncomfortable undertones to the notion of European sensibilities.
There’s enough here to sustain the episode without any action, but this is the wild west, and literally everyone has a gun. Our new “friend” has friends of his own, and soon the quest to apprehend criminals leads to Phineas, Passepartout, and the marshal being taken hostage instead.
Fogg is given a knife and told everyone will be killed if he doesn’t start cutting off Passepartout’s fingers. It’s another trope-y moment, but it carries a lot of tension and some emotional undertones to boot. For a moment, we almost expect the worst.
To our relief, the Klan members have forgotten to account for a badass heroine named Abigail Fix, who rides in on horseback to create enough chaos that she and the others can take out their captors in an epic exchange of gunfire.
It’s the closest we’ve ever seen this show get to being an action movie, and it takes the task on with style. There are inevitably multiple moments where the battle seems over only for yet another bad guy to reach for a gun. Thankfully, both Passepartout and the marshal are excellent shots.
You may also recall that, as of the start of the episode, it is widely assumed that Fogg and co. are dead, having been lost to a shipwreck. Learning of this, Fix hastens to get a message out to her father that reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Her father rejoices and Fogg’s supporters back in England celebrate by returning the map tracking his progress back to its place of honor. Bellamy is expectedly far less pleased, and though I still don’t care too much about he actual bet, I’d really like to call him a true villain now.
The trio reaches New York and a gaggle of reporters. Apparently it takes presumed death for the trip to make headlines. Or maybe it’s the looming deadline—does it feel like we’ve suddenly hit fast-forward in approaching the final days to anyone else?
One last thing before we truly get down to the wire. Phineas spies a clock as they rush to port and realizes his “Coward” postcard has to have come from this country. Maybe they’ll actually make me care about this bit before the end. Stranger things have happened.
The only true letdown is, for all the talk we hear of the flirtation between Passepartout and Abigail, they still don’t get a chance to truly act on it in this hour. I know we have a lot to take on in the last installment of the season, but let’s make sure they get tot be official, too.
What did you think of this episode of Around the World in 80 Days? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Around the World in 80 Days airs Sundays at 8/7c on PBS.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.