The English

Agreed, what an amazing series, if harrowing at times. It is hard to keep up with all of the storylines going on but they do all come together in the end. For that reason alone I might watch again with better understanding of the underlying narrative.

I watched the first one last night - wifey loved it, I thought it was incredibly dull. Beautifully shot - but dull

I've watched an episode and a half. Can't say I'm massively into it yet though.

I would try and stick with it.

I watched it all fairly quickly, and...

It is hard to keep up with all of the storylines going on but they do all come together in the end.

this is what I found. There's one aspect of the ending I didn't really understand, but I'll give it a couple of weeks before asking to prevent spoilers.

I would try and stick with it.

Farynuff, I'll give it another couple of Eps. 👍

They had me at Emily Blunt

Really enjoyed it. Just watched it all again, which helped follow the story better. Looked good as well.

I really thought it was kind of perfect. I love westerns and violence and beautiful photography and moodiness. It's all a bit me.

I found it a bit like watching a theatre show - it was all very sparse - could very well have shot the several states the are supposed to travel through in one field. Theres hardly anyone in it - every encounter is with a group of either two or three people who step out from behind a bush and are usually dead before the end of the scene. Big things - like the massacre of an entire community or a terrible flood - are just noises off - they just get reported verbally but you don't see them.  You could do pretty much the whole thing on stage with small cast that are good at different accents and some costume changes.

It seems like all the money they saved on minimal locations and very cursory sets got blown on the costume budget for the last episode - it was like London fashion week 🙂

I kind of liked it. It would be interesting to see when they shot it - there'll be a whole canon of film and tv where the requirements and constraints of trying to shoot during covid shaped the style and story of productions  - in some cases it seems to have resulted in really interesting ways of filming that I don't think would ever have happened otherwise.

It was filmed in Spain. I thought it was excellent, and having the larger events ‘noises off’ suited me to be honest.

Horse rider with a Gatling Gun on the roof was extra lame.

Why ?

We thoroughly enjoyed it all. @tthew which bit didn't you understand? PM if you want to not spoil it.

I enjoyed it but 1883 was much better

Thoroughly enjoyed it here, first series I've binge watched in a long while. Watched the first one whilst the GF was on a night out with her friends, and totally by accident. The following night we both watched it again on catch up together, and she loved it too... 2 nights later we'd watched them all!

I really thought it was kind of perfect. I love westerns and violence and beautiful photography and moodiness. It’s all a bit me.

Same here... There's also a level of Tarrantino to the whole thing, but without the gratuitous violence and in 6 nice bite sized pieces rather than one or two overly long films too, which I really like about it (big Tarrantino fan here, but aware of his shortcomings for many).

Horse rider with a Gatling Gun on the roof was extra lame.

Why ?

I don't think at any point it was claimed to be historically accurate. That said... You are aware that when the Gatling Gun was invented, they would literally mount them in any way they could to anything they could to increase their effectiveness. It doesn't need to make sense to you, it just needs to purvey a sense of impending doom for those inside to those watching.

I found it a bit like watching a theatre show – it was all very sparse – could very well have shot the several states the are supposed to travel through in one field. Theres hardly anyone in it – every encounter is with a group of either two or three people who step out from behind a bush and are usually dead before the end of the scene. Big things – like the massacre of an entire community or a terrible flood – are just noises off – they just get reported verbally but you don’t see them.  You could do pretty much the whole thing on stage with small cast that are good at different accents and some costume changes.

You do realise just how mind-buggeringly big America is, don’t you? Even now, the total population of several States in the middle, have a total population of Paris, or something like that. I can’t remember the exact number, Bill Bryson talked about it.
There wouldn’t have been more than a couple of hundred people in several hundred square miles. Those massacres would only have been witnessed by the victims and the perpetrators, and there may well have only been a tiny number of them.

If a tree falls in a forest, etc.

Tens of millions of bison were exterminated by relatively few people with guns and lots of ammunition, in a concerted effort to deprive Native Americans of their major food supply, clothing, etc., but there was nobody there to see it happening, except those carrying out the slaughter.

There were no drones or influencers with cellphones hanging around to comment on it, maybe a ‘square-heeled’ Easterner writing notes for a piece in a New York or Philadelphia news sheet that hardly anyone would pay attention to.

Doing it on a small stage would completely miss the point of trying to get across the mind-numbing vastness and loneliness of those stuck out there.

I’ve flown over some of those States, and looking directly down on a perfectly straight road from 30,000ft, and being able to follow it by eyesight as it disappears into the distance without any deviation is something I’ll never forget, coming as I do from a country where it’s virtually impossible to find any road anywhere without a bend every hundred feet, or less.

Watching it now. Ralf Spall is blatantly channelling Tom Hardy in Peaky Blinders. Someone should have told him to dial that back.

Even now, the total population of several States in the middle, have a total population of Paris, or something like that.

Wyoming and Montana are about the same square mileage as France, there's 67 million people in France and still well under 2 million in Wyoming and Montana combined, and most of those folks live in either Helena and Cheyenne (the capitals).

After nearly giving up on it, I watched the rest as per @stevenmenmuir and have to say it was pretty enjoyable

Thanks for the recommendations folks. I enjoyed it. If nothing else it was refreshing to watch a series with a beginning, middle and end and where the whole thing wasn't just a setup for series 2. I'm looking at you Tokyo Vice.

Quite a harrowing plot reveal, especially if you're going in expecting some western romance cliché.

I really enjoyed it and have always thought how ****ed up it must've been to try and survive in America back then.
If you enjoyed that I'd recommend Godless on Netflix.

Enjoyed it and would second the recommendation for Godless

I watched the last two episodes back to back, and I totally agree with martinhutch - a heartbreaking reveal at the end, I found it genuinely upsetting, but that doesn’t take much these days.

Ralf Spall is blatantly channelling Tom Hardy in Peaky Blinders. Someone should have told him to dial that back.

Yeah, was weird that.. so in contrast with the rest of the tone of it all.