I think the Westward Expansion is one of the greatest feats of humanity ever. This TV series isn't. Lots of scenery, Indians, and a touch of white-guilt. The first week they were doing the "coming up on 'Into the West'..."...then they would show a part we had already seen. Duh. They did it about three times.
It's the third week into it, and so far, I'd have to say....meh.
1- An Indian fires a one-handed shot with a rifle on the back of a moving horse, and actually hits his target.
Ask anyone who has shot anything how hard it is to actually hit something...I mean, if you're going for "accurate depiction"...
2- A cowboy shoots a bison in a herd running by a wagon train (that didn't get trampled, believe it or not) and a girl, upon seeing the carcass of the buffalo indignantly yells; "Why'd you do that?".
I'm pretty sure that there were no animal rights folks in the 1800's. They had been wagon training for months already, and I'm sure even this girl would have loved a steak rather than just a blob of badly churned butter from the bucket hung from the back of the wagon. Which is what wagon trainers often ended up eating. If anything.
3- The plot has a few holes.
a) At the start of the wagon train Jacob remarks their scouts are very unsavory, criminalistic, drunkards, who are probably running from the law. They never even follow up on it. In fact, they turn out to be rather stellar characters, and never a narration about how Jacob was wrong about it. Maybe they cut it.
b) "20 foot drifts blocked the pass....
How do you know? Weather Channel tell ya? 4) It's a bit hard to follow at times, and it expects you to just kind of "keep up" with the age accelerating thing as the time line moves. If you miss the one mention of the character's name (who is now played by a different, older actor) you might spend the next 10 minutes playing mental catch up.
Things like that. I'll watch the whole thing, and I hope it gets better, but I doubt it.
It's the third week into it, and so far, I'd have to say....meh.
1- An Indian fires a one-handed shot with a rifle on the back of a moving horse, and actually hits his target.
Ask anyone who has shot anything how hard it is to actually hit something...I mean, if you're going for "accurate depiction"...
2- A cowboy shoots a bison in a herd running by a wagon train (that didn't get trampled, believe it or not) and a girl, upon seeing the carcass of the buffalo indignantly yells; "Why'd you do that?".
I'm pretty sure that there were no animal rights folks in the 1800's. They had been wagon training for months already, and I'm sure even this girl would have loved a steak rather than just a blob of badly churned butter from the bucket hung from the back of the wagon. Which is what wagon trainers often ended up eating. If anything.
3- The plot has a few holes.
a) At the start of the wagon train Jacob remarks their scouts are very unsavory, criminalistic, drunkards, who are probably running from the law. They never even follow up on it. In fact, they turn out to be rather stellar characters, and never a narration about how Jacob was wrong about it. Maybe they cut it.
b) "20 foot drifts blocked the pass....
How do you know? Weather Channel tell ya? 4) It's a bit hard to follow at times, and it expects you to just kind of "keep up" with the age accelerating thing as the time line moves. If you miss the one mention of the character's name (who is now played by a different, older actor) you might spend the next 10 minutes playing mental catch up.
Things like that. I'll watch the whole thing, and I hope it gets better, but I doubt it.