Turn: Washington's Spies, The Complete First Season

AMC's provocative dramatic series is inspired by the true story of Abraham Woodhull, head of the real-life Culper Ring that supplied intelligence to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Jamie Bell plays Woodhull, a farmer recruited to use his smuggling lines to serve the cause of independence, while his town magistrate father (Kevin McNally) is a British loyalist. The good guys and bad guys are pretty clear-cut: the Brits, for the most part, are brutal and cruel and they treat the patriots as criminals rather than enemy soldiers, while the rebel sympathizers are largely moral folks caught in a difficult position. Turn has its share of romantic and dramatic complications and doesn't feature splashy action and spectacle, but it's an intelligent, handsomely produced series, full of interesting detail, that outlines how the civilian spy network was created and operated under the noses of the occupying British soldiers. Along the way, the show also explores the conflicted loyalties of those in the middle—friends, neighbors, even family members—and the hypocrisy on both sides on the issue of slavery. History is humanized here—viewers witness the iconic crossing of the Delaware from the perspective of a soldier in the back of the armada—in a drama that highlights the personal costs borne by those who fought. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2014 debut season, extras include behind-the-scene featurettes and deleted scenes. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)