John Adams - Photo: Kent Eanes/HBO

Alternate Title: “Adams and Franklin Go To France!”

When I first heard the synopsis for last night’s episode of John Adams, I expected zany confrontations between Adams, Ben Franklin, and French policemen. The required chase scene would culminate in a hallway with many doors in which Adams and Franklin try to evade police by running in and out of various rooms. Instead, I got 70 minutes of brilliant performances and tense drama. Maybe next time.

This setting is Massachusetts, 1877 (only 100 more years until Star Wars). John Adams has just returned from signing the Declaration of Independence and is now looking for some R&R, in that order. Although his dearly devoted wife, Abigail, mentions that, of the fourteen years they’ve been married, they have only been truly together for seven of them, she’s genuinely pissed when he’s gotta skip town again to get France in on some more wartime action. All John can say is, “Sorry, but founding the greatest nation on the planet takes a little more than signing a piece of paper, babe.” He’s not quite as blunt as when I write his dialogue, however.

So off John goes, leaving behind his wife and children, except for John Quincy, of course, who gets to go with his father on an adventure. “Why does Johnny get to go and not us?” Charles complains, kicking him down a few more notches on his father’s “Favorite Children (Ranked)” list. John and John Q’s journey to France is easily the most action-packed this series has been thus far, and the sequence itself is very well-done, culminating in a rather gory (and therefore fantastic) amputation. As soon as I saw this, I realized that this was a more realistic portrayal of sea life than Muppet Treasure Island, though no less entertaining.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Abigail is given very little to do. While I understand the need to show life from a woman’s perspective, so far it mostly consists of her wondering “When’s John going to write?” and cleaning. So I guess it’s pretty accurate.

In France, Adams finds himself completely out of place in such a sexy country. As soon as he arrives, he is informed that the treaty between America and France already exists, although not to his particular liking. “Rarely has a man endured so much to so little point,” he says, disappointed. Knowing no French at all, preferring to talk business instead of sex and therefore inventing the average American’s mindset, he is mocked. Meanwhile, Ben Franklin, always the practical politician and smooth operator, becomes quite popular, even to the point of having his own line of dinnerware. (Note to HBO: there’s a merchandising opportunity if there ever was one. Also: officially licensed The Wire yellow tops. Think about it.)

Adams finds himself kicked out of negotiations and, in desperation to make himself useful in Europe, tries asking Holland for money. When that fails, he decides to just get sick and hallucinate, shipping John Q. off to be a translator in Russia so he can trip in peace.

While it takes place in one of the less-notable events in his life (everyone and his patriotic brother knows about the Boston Massacre and declaring independence) and less overtly thrilling, the episode was a fine middle entry in the series. Adams out of his element was completely worth seeing, and it helped define his failings beyond having to be the smartest person in the room at all times. Of course, what he lacks in political intelligence he makes up for in sheer determination, and I can’t help but cheer him on whenever he starts shouting about something he feels passionately for. Then again, I am an American.

Paul Giamatti’s performance keeps getting better and better, especially in the scenes where he’s obviously not getting his way. No one plays frustrated better than Giamatti! Louis XVI making fun of the man for not speaking French was particularly hard to watch for me, as I don’t like to see a champion of freedom and democracy like John Adams fail. Plus, after four semesters of taking French, I can barely speak the language, so I can sympathize..

The high production values continue to impress. Aside from the rather obviously green screened Hall of Mirrors scene, I’ve never seen a program on television look so nice, which begs the question: Exactly how much did this series cost? And when will 1776 be on the air?