[Sailor Steve]

Episode 5: Unite or Die. Got a huge belly laugh out of me right from the start. I had to pause it to wipe the tears from my eyes. I knew that Adams got the senate angry at him, since his job was to referee debates and cast tiebreaking votes, and he insisted on taking part in the debates himself. I knew that he wanted to revere George Washington by giving the title "His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties", and the senate voted it down almost unanimously, prefering the far-more-republican "Mister President". I also knew that because of this people started calling Adams "His Rotundity, the Duke of Braintree" (Adams' ancestral home, until the name was changed to Quincy). What I didn't expect to see was all of this played out before the opening credits!

Overall, this episode is one of the best, adequately illustrating Adams' frustration at being excluded from Washington's cabinet meetings, being mostly disliked by those around him and pretty much having nothing to do in his job. Again they have him say things to his wife that we only know about it because he wrote it to her in letters. But that's okay, because showing them reading letters from each other would be boring, and this show is anything but that.

Once again Paul Giamatti makes us believe he is John Adams; once again David Morse is captivating as George Washington; once again Stephen Dillane gives us a Jefferson like no other; and once again Laura Linney steals...no, rules the show with her depiction of Abigail, propping her husband up and calmly explaining to him why his opponents are right, at least where his character is concerned.

I place this one right up there with part 2, and rate it 9.9.