'Barkskins' Episode 7 Preview: Mathilde might have a proposition for Delphine amid the threat of war
This week, we're gearing up for the final installment of National Geographic's 'Barkskins'. The series based on Annie Proulx's book of the same name has now reached a critical point as the limited series draws upon its conclusion with the next Episode 7 'Bees in a Bottle'.
The deal that the English have with the Iroquois against the French is now pretty much out in the open - even Hamish Goames (Aneurin Barnard) and Yvon (Zahn McClarnon) who are wandering the woods are now informed about this. Except that the French back in town has little idea about Elisha Cooke's (Thomas M Wright) role in the deal.
The Hudson's Bay Company had planned with Cooke, the barrel maker, to get guns to New France. These weapons would be used by Gay Bill aka Bill Selby, another man from the company to arm the Iroquois against the French. The Iroquois and French have been fighting for a while now but it was after Captain Bouchard (David Wilmot) made a mockery of the bodies of the slain Iroquois, the tribe has been waiting for revenge.
If the English are successful in arming the tribe with weapons, war and death will be inevitable in a bid to drive the French out of the land. And if and when that is achieved, there is no reason for the English to turn against the Iroquois and dissolve their agreement - going by how notorious English are as colonizers.
There also remains a matter of more personal issues. Towards the end of the last episode, Cooke and Delphine (Lily Sullivan) shared a little moment in the inn. Is it possible that the two would come together? Of what we know of Cooke, apart from being a shrewd, cunning, merciless man, he is still deeply in love with his wife (to the extent that some of us would deem it obsessive). Could he be kind, who is to say?
But the fact that Delphine is in the care of Mathilde (Marcia Gay Harden), who is known to have a trick or two up her sleeve at all times, might see her striking some sort of an exchange or a transaction with him.
A violent episode last week increased tensions on 'Barkskins' as it looks like war is inching closer and closer in on the town of Wobik. A war is made from old alliances and new enemies for land, empire and legacy. The question is just how much blood will be lost before man lays claim to his land?
'Barkskins' airs on Mondays at 9/8c on National Geographic.