Does giving Bess Hawkins a much larger role strengthen Jim’s coming-of-age story—or pull the spotlight away from him? MGM+’s 2026 Treasure Island makes that question central from its opening chapter. The answer is complicated: Bess adds agency, emotional stakes and a sharper survival story, but the adaptation must still leave Jim room to make consequential choices of his own.
Spoilers for Chapter 1: “The Admiral Benbow.”
What changes when Bess becomes a central character?
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel, Jim’s mother appears briefly at the beginning, while Jim’s journey quickly becomes the engine of the adventure. The MGM+ adaptation, created for television by Robert Murphy, gives Bess—played by Hayley Atwell—a sustained place in the story. She is not simply the parent left behind while a boy heads toward danger: she helps make the decisions that put the pair on the voyage.
That shift changes the emotional center. Jim and Bess are not only chasing a legendary fortune; they are also trying to escape the limits of their life at the Admiral Benbow Inn. Bess has experience dealing with sailors, reading people and finding a way through precarious circumstances. Her choices can therefore feel practical, even when they are risky or morally questionable.
Entertainment Weekly’s pre-premiere interview with executive producer Scott Huff describes Bess as a struggling single mother who is both a schemer and a dreamer, and who sees the treasure as a chance for a better future. That framing matters: the show’s Bess is motivated by more than maternal protectiveness. She has ambition, financial pressure and a life of her own. Read Entertainment Weekly’s first-look interview.
Why Bess can improve Jim’s coming-of-age arc
1. She gives Jim a real emotional home to leave
A coming-of-age story needs more than a young character placed in danger. It needs a relationship, belief or familiar world that the character must eventually reconsider. Bess gives Jim a powerful emotional anchor. Their shared decisions make the voyage personal: the journey is not simply a boy’s escape into adventure, but a family’s gamble on a different future.
That can make Jim’s eventual independence more meaningful. Growing up is not the same as rejecting a parent; it is learning when to trust, when to disagree and when to act without waiting for permission. If the series lets Jim love his mother while recognizing her flaws, their relationship can become the emotional framework for his maturity.
2. She makes survival a family problem, not just a pirate puzzle
Bess’s presence gives the treasure hunt an everyday economic dimension. The map represents opportunity, but it also attracts dangerous people. When Bess and Jim decide what to do with what they know, the audience sees two people weighing risk from different positions: a mother who has learned to improvise and a son whose remarkable memory makes him useful—and vulnerable.
The adaptation’s invented photographic-memory trait gives Jim a concrete advantage, but it should not become a substitute for character development. Bess can help expose the limits of that advantage. Remembering information is not the same as understanding motives, judging character or predicting what a frightened person will do.
3. She complicates the idea of a simple hero
Classic adventure stories can make the adult world look corrupt while the young hero stands for honesty and courage. Bess makes that division less tidy. She can be resourceful and loving while also being willing to take chances that place both of them in danger. Jim’s growth becomes more interesting if he has to understand that a person can be caring without always being right.
When the expanded role risks weakening Jim
The danger is not that Bess is capable, bold or important. The danger is that the story might let her make the decisions while Jim mainly supplies the information. If his memory solves every puzzle and Bess drives every major choice, Jim risks becoming a plot device instead of the protagonist of a coming-of-age tale.
A convincing arc requires Jim to make decisions that are genuinely his. He should sometimes disagree with Bess, misread a situation, face the consequences and learn something that no one else can learn for him. His intelligence should help him, but it should not make him emotionally omniscient. The most compelling growth would come when memory cannot tell him whether Silver is trustworthy, whether Graham’s protection has a price or whether loyalty is worth the risk.
This is also where the adaptation must balance its two leads. Bess can remain a full character without winning every dramatic beat. Her experience can shape Jim, but it cannot do his growing up for him.
What the premiere sets up
By the end of the first chapter, Jim and Bess are aboard the Hispaniola and discover that Long John Silver is also on the ship. The map has been burned, but Jim’s memory means its information has not vanished. That decision ties mother and son together in a dangerous way: they share knowledge that makes them valuable to Silver, while neither can safely assume that the other passengers are what they seem.
The premise creates a useful test for the rest of the series. Can Bess negotiate, improvise and protect herself without taking over Jim’s story? Can Jim move beyond being the boy who remembers the map and become someone who can judge people and accept responsibility? The answers will determine whether the expanded family dynamic deepens the classic adventure or distracts from it.
Verdict: Bess improves the story—if Jim is allowed to grow
Expanding Bess Hawkins is not inherently a betrayal of Stevenson’s novel. Adaptations can shift perspective to explore a character the original left at the margins. Atwell’s Bess gives the series another source of tension: she has her own ambitions, skills and blind spots, and her relationship with Jim makes the stakes more intimate.
But the change only pays off if the show treats Jim as a person in the process of becoming—not merely as a memory bank that adults need. Bess should be a catalyst for his growth, not a replacement for it. If later chapters give Jim difficult choices, meaningful mistakes and consequences that belong to him, the expanded mother role could make his eventual independence richer. If they do not, the series may leave viewers wondering whose coming-of-age story they are watching.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bess Hawkins a major character in MGM+’s Treasure Island?
Yes. Unlike the novel, where Jim’s mother has a limited presence, the 2026 adaptation gives Bess a continuing role in the adventure. Hayley Atwell plays her.
Does the original Treasure Island novel give Jim’s mother a large role?
No. In Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel, Jim’s mother appears mainly in the early events at the Admiral Benbow Inn. The series substantially expands her part.
Does Bess’s larger role ruin Jim Hawkins’ character arc?
Not automatically. It can strengthen Jim’s emotional stakes, provided the story also gives him independent choices, mistakes and consequences that drive his growth.
What is the biggest concern with the adaptation’s change?
The main risk is imbalance: if Bess makes the important decisions and Jim mainly provides his photographic memory, the young hero may feel passive. The series needs to develop his judgment as well as his unusual ability.
Who plays Bess Hawkins in Treasure Island?
Hayley Atwell plays Bess Hawkins in the 2026 MGM+ adaptation.
Related reading: How Jim Hawkins’ Photographic Memory Changes the Treasure Map Story · Why Silver Is Already on the Hispaniola
Sources: Entertainment Weekly’s cast interview and series first look; Rotten Tomatoes’ series overview; RogerEbert.com’s review.
By Shivam Das
