North and South
1985 · 3 seasons · 15 episodes · Drama, War & Politics
Created by Richard T. Heffron
“…And now it begins”
The story of the enduring friendship between Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania, who become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point but later find themselves and their families on opposite sides of the American Civil War.
Why it's worth watching
North and South is a deeply moving drama that explores themes of friendship, loyalty, and the moral struggles faced during the American Civil War. It offers a compelling narrative that highlights the virtues of sacrifice and integrity.
What it praises
The series praises enduring friendship, moral courage, and the pursuit of justice through its portrayal of characters who face significant challenges with honor and integrity.
For discernment
This sweeping Civil War epic has real merit in its central friendship across the North-South divide and its unflinching depiction of slavery as evil, but the 'family' tier badly misjudges its content. It is a mid-1980s romantic melodrama saturated with cleavage, heavy open-mouthed kissing, at least one semi-nude sex scene, and multiple implied and depicted rapes, including the sexual abuse of enslaved women by an overseer. It also stages an abortion, frequent battle violence with blood, and repeated historically-placed use of the racial slur. The themes of honor, loyalty, and moral courage are genuine and the horror of slavery is rightly shown, but this is adult-only viewing whose considerable sexual content a believer guarding his own eyes should not treat as incidental to the history lesson.
- SexualityPervasive cleavage, heavy kissing, a semi-nude sex scene, and multiple implied and depicted rapes, including sexual abuse of enslaved women.
- ViolenceBattles, duels, shootouts, beatings, whippings, and executions with visible blood; a woman is trampled to death.
- LanguageMild cursing throughout plus repeated period use of the racial slur against Black characters.
- NoteAn on-screen abortion in episode 5.
- SubstancesPeriod drinking and smoking.
Cast
James Read
George Hazard
Lesley-Anne Down
Madeline Fabray LaMotte
Patrick Swayze
Orry Main
Jonathan Frakes
Stanley Hazard
Terri Garber
Ashton Main Huntoon
Philip Casnoff
Elkanah Bent
Jean Simmons
Clarissa Main
Inga Swenson
Maude Hazard
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