American Primeval Netflix Mini-Series

 

American Primeval is a Netflix series that debuted this year.  It's really good.  The series is set in 1857 around the events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.  There are multiple storylines that are born from that event which centers around the Mormons and their clashes with outside cultures.  While the different stories move forward, the series centers a mother and her son trying to get to her husband.  But as with all the different arcs, nothing is that simple.  American Primeval is violent but well done.  Pop and I enjoyed the show and I highly recommend it.  

Hawkeye Television Series (2021) (Character Spoilers)

 Hawkeye: I didn't jump on this one when it came out in 2021 but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this one over the course of a week this month.  There are six episodes that center on newcomer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  We get a few other characters from the Marvel universe including Yelena Belova and Kingpin.  For whatever reason, I thought the series concentrated on Kate Bishop, and while she is a big focus, this truly is about both her and Hawkeye.  Maybe I thought this one was geared towards a younger audience, and it is, but I liked it.  Steinfeld and Renner were good together and the rest of the cast were just as good.  Not a whodunnit but it's a good Marvel show.  The ending was a bit cheesy, but I liked it as well.

  

Godless (TV Mini-Series 2017)

 Godless:  Pop and I finished this series last week.  It's really good.  It follows a town that is populated mostly by women after most of the men folk are killed in a mine explosion.  Notorious outlaw Frank Griffin, played extremely well by Jeff Daniels, finds his way to their town looking for one of his former gang members who did him wrong.  The movie can be brutal, honest, new and realistic all in one.  The characters are easy to like and given lots of depth.  The story is really good, and it keeps you coming back.  The series is seven episodes, and I highly recommend it.  It can be violent and has elements of sexuality so I will throw that out there for those who may not care for that sort of thing.

1883 TV Mini Series

 

1883: 1883 is a Yellowstone origin story starring Tim McGraw, Sam Elliott, Faith Hill, and Isabel May.  I'll do a review of Yellowstone at some point after the series ends but 1883 has been out for some time and my pop and I watched the entire mini-series.  We really enjoyed it.  It has a different tone than Yellowstone but stays true to expectations.  The cast do a great job while Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan does an amazing job telling this prequel story.  At the same time you'll get a new appreciation for anyone who made the trip West in search of a new home.  The stars of the show really do make this a fun watch.  The basic plot is the Dutton family heads West to Oregon with Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) leading the wagon train that includes the Duttons and European settlers wanting to make a new home out West.  You'll laugh, you'll cringe and you'll cry.  It runs the gamut.  No need to go into too many details but I highly recommend the show.  It can be watched as a standalone. You don't have to know Yellowstone in any way.  This is just a good western.  

Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) and James Dutton (Tim McGraw)

James Dutton (Tim McGraw) and his daughter Elsa Dutton (Isabel May)