I think what this series strove to be was a modern twist on the Ford/Wayne classic "The Searchers?" and/or the Leone/Eastwood trilogy. It had the same overriding theme of the former, a protagonist who is simultaneously the salvation for civilization but a necessary outsider to it himself, and the slow scenes, interesting camera angles, and mysterious motivations of the latter. Added to this are the modern themes of lesbianism, women's rights, interracial relationships, identity/"daddy" issues (Frank/Roy, Roy/Truckee), crazed spiritual mumbo-jumbo, and so on.
Unlike others with lower ratings, I didn't mind all the completely anachronistic additions. I even could tolerate the the obvious exaggeration of mayhem in the gunfight in the finale (honestly, as depicted Frank could not have had only 32 men, I feel we must have witnessed at least twice that number get shot, and how on earth did they kill everyone int he Blackdom gunfight without losing a single man?) But I think what drove me nuts was the pacing. I felt a good director could have squeezed this all into a 2-3 hour movie, which would have been much more satisfying. This felt interminable towards the end, I half watched only because I'd made a commitment to do so, even though I knew exactly how it would end (every plot outcome in the final episode was COMPLETELY predictable IMO -- well at least I anticipated it all). The big La Belle gunfight went from an engrossing climax to the series, to something I kept thinking "are they really going to drag THIS out that long too?" after 10, 15, 20 or however minutes it lasted. If I were bored I might go back and count all the bullet impacts shown, there must be many hundred.
In short, something worth watching, but hardly the "masterpiece" all these 10-star ratings imply. Even more baffling is that the paint-by-numbers final episode is the highest rated one of the seven as of the time I am positing this, it is rated 9.1, while the next highest of the other six is 8.5
Unlike others with lower ratings, I didn't mind all the completely anachronistic additions. I even could tolerate the the obvious exaggeration of mayhem in the gunfight in the finale (honestly, as depicted Frank could not have had only 32 men, I feel we must have witnessed at least twice that number get shot, and how on earth did they kill everyone int he Blackdom gunfight without losing a single man?) But I think what drove me nuts was the pacing. I felt a good director could have squeezed this all into a 2-3 hour movie, which would have been much more satisfying. This felt interminable towards the end, I half watched only because I'd made a commitment to do so, even though I knew exactly how it would end (every plot outcome in the final episode was COMPLETELY predictable IMO -- well at least I anticipated it all). The big La Belle gunfight went from an engrossing climax to the series, to something I kept thinking "are they really going to drag THIS out that long too?" after 10, 15, 20 or however minutes it lasted. If I were bored I might go back and count all the bullet impacts shown, there must be many hundred.
In short, something worth watching, but hardly the "masterpiece" all these 10-star ratings imply. Even more baffling is that the paint-by-numbers final episode is the highest rated one of the seven as of the time I am positing this, it is rated 9.1, while the next highest of the other six is 8.5