Time for a dedicated thread for my favorite new show, it is the best western on TV right now. Previous talk about it was in the Paramount thread.
Episode 5 dropped today, it was heartbreaking.
So is the… checks notes… first 8 minutes of the first episode. Oh, and let me add, “so far” since I have it paused at the 8 min mark to make this observation. :)
I love Yellowstone (I even painted a scene from it) and so this has been on my radar for some time. Once I wrapped up Yellowstone on Paramount and finished the newest season on the Paramount Network web page, I figured I’d watch 1883 at some point since Star Trek (both Prodigy and Discovery) seem to be on hiatus for a few more weeks, your thread reminded me to check this one out, so thanks for the kick in the pants!
That was heartbreaking. If Isabel May isn’t nominated for an Emmy for her performance then the nomination committee needs their asses kicked. Everyone in this is doing a fine job, but that girl brings life to her character in a way that transcends the screen, and this last episode is a perfect example.
Indeed, this is the first show I’ve ever seen her in, and she really has the breakout part.
I don’t know Country Music that well, but I recognized the name Tim McGraw and thought it was wild he was such a great character/actor on this show. I was even more astonished to find out Faith Hill is his wife… both in the show and in real life.
“How is that different than sending soldiers to die? Sending them over a hill? You knew they was gonna die. You never shed a tear for them.”
“Like hell I didn’t.”
The wait between episodes is brutal, Jan 30th can’t get here soon enough.
New episode is out now a day or two already… I gotta find an hour of free time!
Some really great Sam Elliott acting in this most recent episode.
mustache intensifies
Agree. He was absolutely amazing.
— Alan
I’d let Sam Elliot read the phone book in my dining room. I’ll watch every episode. And Tim McGraw is every bit a badass cowboy.
That said that last episode seemed to be into itself a bit. Let’s move on and start that wagon train moving.
Plus Faith Hill.
Drunk Faith Hill was pretty amusing, but I call bullshit on how she didn’t appear the least bit hungover the next morning. That homemade whiskey they were drinking had to be vicious stuff! =)
Just looking at the trailer screen cap in the second post, how can he look the exact same as he did in The Big Lebowski almost 25 years ago?
So this last episode strayed from the gritty realism that has been a staple of the show thus far and took a hard left into implausibility for a bit. Several things stuck out, most likely the result of Sheridan trying to pack too much into a single episode:
- Poor Ennis has been dead for all of three weeks tops, and suddenly Elsa is crushing hard on the Comanche who shows up to basically extort a toll from the pioneers. Granted, he and his friend end up more than earning said toll with their actions later on, but still, a few furtive glances over camp dinner and some yellow hair sweet talk and it’s “Ennis who?”. Yes, it’s television, but I felt like it did her character a disservice to have that happen so quickly after writing (and acting) such a powerful end to her previous relationship.
- The tornado scenes were pretty amazing, and given the frequency with which that can happen where and when they are traveling, it wasn’t a stretch to include it in the plot…HOWEVER…not an hour later they’re set upon by bandits? Seriously? They literally just got done talking about how they hadn’t seen any other people in over two weeks, and suddenly in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma there is a gang of cattle rustling bandits just over the hill who apparently didn’t even notice the tornado.
- Said bandits number over a dozen, and yet somehow don’t seem to own a rifle between them, which makes them conveniently easy pickings for our three heroes (who do own rifles and are all crack shots) as they proceed to kill nearly all of the bandits because the bandits aren’t smart enough to dismount, coordinate an attack or concentrate fire.
- Marshall Billy Bob Charles Goodnight makes an appearance. WTF? Where the hell did he come from? Supposedly he’s just out in the middle of Oklahoma, in Comanche territory, hunting bandits, BY HIMSELF?
I mean, again, TV, I get it, but maybe they could have pulled back on the reins just a bit this episode. =)
Still thoroughly enjoying this show though and recommend it highly.
Uh that’s not Billy Bob Thornton but Taylor Sheridan himself.
— Alan
So it is! He was onscreen so briefly, and I could have sworn someone called him “Marshall”, so I just assumed it was Thorton’s character back for more. Apparently Sheridan is playing Charles Goodnight, an actual historical figure from Texas that one of the main characters from the Lonesome Dove books/series was based on. I edited my gripe to reflect the proper character. Still makes ZERO sense as to why Mr. Goodnight would be wandering around alone though.
Whoa we made it through an entire episode without anyone dying this week.
2 episodes to go.
MOAR has been ordered.
Also another prequel to Yellowstone… And a sequel to 1883…
1932
“will follow a new generation of Duttons during the time of Western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.”