‘Turn: Washington’s Spies’ recap: Abe, mercenary forge unlikely bond

An unlikely ally helps Patriot Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell) continue his espionage missions and avoid the hangman’s noose on “Valediction” (Episode 301), the season three premiere of AMC’s “Turn: Washington’s Spies.”

With the blessing of Major Edmund Hewlett (Burn Gorman), commander of a British garrison on Long Island, Abe supposedly infiltrated the rebellious Sons of Liberty in New York City. Actually Abe spies on the Redcoats and sends coded messages to Gen. George Washington (Ian Kahn).

This double-agent ruse was nearly exposed when Hewlett insisted that Abe write an intelligence report for Major John Andre (JJ Feild), Britain’s spymaster. Desperate to prevent that obvious piece of fiction from reaching Andre, Abe murdered the courier, Corporal Eastin (Nick Basta).

Now Abe needs the cooperation of Robert Rogers (Angus Macfadyen), a former mercenary for the British Army, to plant a forged letter on Eastin’s corpse. This would mislead Hewlett into believing André is too busy to meet with Abe, a humble cabbage farmer.

Abe also needs Rogers’ assistance in making it appear as if Eastin was killed by Capt. John Graves Simcoe (Samuel Roukin), leader of the Queen’s Rangers. Such a deception would further inflame the rivalry between Simcoe and Hewlett, who both serve King George III but hate each other intensely.

Rogers is reluctant to help, since his sole aim is avenging a betrayal by the Royal Court. Specifically, Rogers was ambushed and nearly killed and now holds Andre personally responsible.

“You’re nothing to me but bait, boy,” Rogers says to Abe. “I’m gonna use you like a squishy worm to get close to my old friend John Andre. And live bait is better than dead.”

But unless that phony letter is planted on Eastin’s body, Abe will surely hang for being the linchpin of Washington’s Culper Spy Ring.

“So if you want to use me,” Abe emphasizes to Rogers, “you’re gonna have to help me.”

Rogers does just that, leaving Eastin’s corpse where it’s discovered by Redcoats on horseback. These soldiers retrieve the bogus document and deliver it to Hewlett, who’s deeply distressed at what he reads.

Simcoe has “somehow managed to strike a double blow at me,” Hewlett tells Abe’s father Richard Woodhull (Kevin R. McNally), the local magistrate and a staunch British loyalist.

“Not only has he killed another one of my men,” Hewlett says of Simcoe, “but now he has apparently poisoned Major Andre’s trust with me.”

“Perhaps it’s for the best that you don’t send Abraham to New York anymore,” Richard suggests to Hewlett, implying that his son never gathered intelligence on the Sons of Liberty.

“I’ve come here after much deliberation to inform you that he’s a criminal, a traitor against the Crown,” Richard says of Abe, “and that he is, and has been for some time, a spy for the Continental Army!”

Hewlett reacts to this revelation with stunned silence.

In other action, General Benedict Arnold (Owain Yeoman) is on his way to becoming one of the most notorious traitors in U.S. history. His resentment toward the Continental Army festers daily, in part because he’s owed 10,000 pounds in back pay.

One of the few bright spots in Arnold’s life is his relationship with Philadelphia socialite Peggy Shippen (Ksenia Solo). Peggy secretly loves Andre, however, and only became engaged to Arnold because she’s trying to turn him into a British asset.

To stoke Arnold’s fury at his mistreatment, Peggy writes an anonymous letter to authorities accusing him of “corruption, impropriety and perhaps worse.”

“Benedict, are these things true?” Peggy asks disingenuously. Arnold angrily defends himself.

“I will fight these charges to the bitter end,” he vows.