FX's The Bastard Executioner - From SOA's Kurt Sutter

[chamber-music]

Feel like Vikings but not as good.

The lead actor doesn't feel like he fits the character so far. I'm not buying him in the role.

The mysticism stuff I wasn't expecting.

I didn't like the fade to black and white effect. Seems like something a amateur filmmaker would use in an indie short movie.

The pilot had a pretty generic story.

Spoiler

Evil baron taxes struggling farmers. Farmers fight back and loved ones are hurt. Rebellion lead by farmers.

We have seen the similar plots in Rob Roy, Braveheart, Robin Hood and numerous other stories.

 

[James]

I didn't like the fade to black and white effect. Seems like something a amateur filmmaker would use in an indie short movie.

I'm still not sure if I like that or not. On the one hand it serves to capture a significant image, while on the other hand I agree -seems out of place for a production on this level. I do one wonder how much of the imagery was Sutter's choice and how much he left to the director...?

Maybe they'll drop the black and white thing going forward. I could even see later versions, like the Blu Ray/DVD having it removed if it's really unpopular. Though I guess that would have to be FX's choice, if it's something Sutter put in I doubt he'd remove it

 

[BestGirl]

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. I agree with chamber-music that this show more closely resembles Vikings than GOT, right down to the lackluster pilot. Vikings picked up considerably a couple episodes in and perhaps TBE can do the same.

The second I saw that Petra was pregnant I knew she was a goner, so I was briefly surprised that she managed to run away - only to be killed by that healer's henchman. I'm sure it will be revealed at some point that she needed to die in order for him to achieve his destiny.

Wilkin's relationship with Longshanks interests me. What was so special about him that Ventress needed to kill him off? Knowing that Ventress wanted him dead, why did Wilkin return to the lands he owns, and why did it take five years for Ventress to realize Wilkin was one of his tenants?

Here's a theory: maybe Edward Longshanks was Wilkin's father, and the king was secretly married to Wilkin's mother, thereby making him politically important.

 

[mocomic]

Kind of a twist on man in the iron mask. That's good

 

[Golgo-13]

I checked out the premier and the biggest issue for me, is the lead actor. In similar shows like Spartacus and Vikings, you immediately feel drawn to the lead character. Both Spartacus and Ragnar had likeability, and a sense of charisma that allowed the audience to root for them when they endured their loss, and you hoped they succeeded in their respecitve missions/quests. The lead character in this looks like he's bored as hell. I found myelf wishing that he had died during the battle scenes and i care very little about his plan for revenge. I think it may have read good on paper, but the guy they cast as the lead was poorly miscast.

The plot seems generic, and plays like FX's version of Vikings with the whole prophecy/fulfilling your destiny bit.

On a side note, it was weird seeing the actor who plays Philip from The Americans in this (he was the guy who asked the black guy). Other than that i'll keep watching as there isn't much on tv right now…

 

[BestGirl]

The worst parts of the episode were watching that guy being flayed alive and Lord Ventress straining on the commode. No more scenes like those, please.

 

[Man in the Suit]

But it wouldn't be a Kurt Sutter series without OTT obscenities!

 

[James]

The second I saw that Petra was pregnant I knew she was a goner, so I was briefly surprised that she managed to run away - only to be killed by that healer's henchman. I'm sure it will be revealed at some point that she needed to die in order for him to achieve his destiny.

It's interesting that you thought it was the Mute. I feel like the murder is just as likely to have been committed by the Healer...?

 

[BestGirl]

You make a good point. I just assumed the mute did Annora's dirty work for her.

 

[James]

Feels like the kind of nasty twist Sutter would write in!

 

[Marz69]

a half hour in and I got bored. Too many characters & none got my attention. I'll give it another shot since I like period pieces and sometimes shows don't off well

 

[James]

I can totally appreciate being bored during the first half. I feel like the show didn't really start to get interesting until the second half, and even then it wasn't anything we haven't seen before.

 

[Man in the Suit]

Does FX refuse to give Sutter a decent CGI budget or what?

That [BLACKOUT]nose cutting[/BLACKOUT] was pretty wicked.

 

[James]

Yeaaaah, the CGI is pretty awful. I guess they're doing what they can with the money they have, but I feel like if that level of CGI is all you're capable of maybe it would be better to find another way of making the scene work.

This episode wasn't too much of an improvement on the pilot, sadly. The lead character lacks any charisma or appeal. I can't help but wonder if the actor would be slightly more interesting if he closed his mouth once in a while- I don't mean talking, I mean he literally has his mouth agape a lot of the time. I probably wouldn't have noticed except I was trying to figure out what it is about him that doesn't resonate.

I did quite like the business with his wife, it's an interesting twist. Having his false-wife continue the charade behind closed doors is a fun obstacle for Wilkin. It also has me wondering if she is just continuing the charade due to fear (as Wilkin believes) or she's gone bananas.

The mute isn't mute -he didn't talk in the pilot, did he? There didn't seem to be any lead up to that, he just starts chatting away like it's not a surprise. It's a little odd, wouldn't it have been more interesting to keep that secret from the audience for a while -even have the reveal in front of another character so we could share their surprise?

The black and white scene ending business is still going on, I'd hoped they might have dropped that after the pilot. It's a weird creative choice and I'm not sure it serves any real purpose, not that I've noticed anyway.

On a positive note, while some of the violence is very graphic and just seems to be there for the sake of it, the big fight scene was excellent. The shooting was clear, the choreography was well done and there was a real sense of impact and harsh consequence for losing.

I'll keep watching for now, I really hope the lead actor shows us something soon though. Whatever Sutter saw in him hasn't made its way on to the screen yet.

 

[squeekness]

Yeah, this second episode didn't exactly wow me any more than the pilot did. I'm on the fence about continuing.

 

[BestGirl]

I'll stick with it for now, but yeah, this episode wasn't great. I was really confused when they were talking about the rebel leader, the Wolf, because I thought Wilk was him but I guess he isn't. I did enjoy how crazy the wife is and how committed she is to the lie of Wilk being her husband.

 

[chamber-music]

Matthew Rhys character Gruffudd is 'The Wolf'.

 

[James]

Indeed, didn't we see The Wolf during the pilot? He was leading the band of rebels that helped Wilkin and his pals in the battle.

Meanwhile, have you fine folks checked out The Last Kingdom? It begins October 10, and looks very promising!

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

It's not too bad while waiting for Outlander and Vikings return which this show try to emulate with an average success.
I can't stop thinking to Peg in Married with Children when I see the witch, I only saw her in that show and it ruins the character a little for me.

Random : the punishment scene with the young girl was very similar to the princess-what-ever-her-name in Vikings who had her ear cut off.

@James : I watched The Last Kingdom trailer and will surely check that show when it airs.

 

[Perfect Cell]

It really is the main actor that kinda drags things down for me. Not that he's doing a poor job or anything, but he's just so... boring. It's had three hours' worth of story time, and I can't bring myself to be interested in him or his story. I'm going to give it another episode before I bail, because hopefully it can start to get going a bit.

 

[BestGirl]

Indeed, didn't we see The Wolf during the pilot? He was leading the band of rebels that helped Wilkin and his pals in the battle.

You're probably right. I didn't have all the characters nailed down during the pilot.

Meanwhile, have you fine folks checked out The Last Kingdom? It begins October 10, and looks very promising!

Whoa, so much to say:

- Lol, could they have made the protagonist look any more like Jon Snow? Brida kinda reminds me of Ygritte, too.

- Matthew Macfadyen is in this! I loved him in Ripper Street.

- I don't really like David Dawson as King Alfred. It's just not how I would've imagined Alfred to look.

- Is Earl Ragnar supposed to be the same character from Vikings? It would be weird imagining him to be the older version of Travis Fimmel's character.

 

[Thorne]

The two hour pilot was pretty cool though uneven, and in style it looked more like the Merlin series than the dirtier style that has been prevalent at least since Rome (and in movies going back at least to the early 90's). I have to agree with the people who point out the main character as not someone to really pull you in, with Rome we had several stand outs right from the start, GoT had Sean Bean making an instant connection to the audience, and Spartacus and Vikings both did well in setting up their main characters (already been mentioned). But those shows (at least most of them) made the setting up of their supporting characters feel natural while Kurt Sutter makes it feel forced.
I dig that they are being experimental in style even though some of the bits do seem gimmicky. These shows are also done on a very limited budget so I am very forgiving of some of the seams caused by the economics of film makings (the castle for example is all sorts of wrong).
The opening scene bugged me because it was almost the exact same scene as Vikings opened with (though not nearly as good).
While Rome and GoT had brilliant hard starts that can make me judge a new show of this type unfairly, but I don't see The Bastard Executioner as being able to sustain much interest if it stays static. I suspect its flow is going to be much more conventionally paced and deliberate, but maybe there might be a good plan behind this that is only being hinted at in the pilot.
I'd give the premier 6/10, might watch a couple more episodes but it's not as of yet anything I could recommend.

 

[Jesse]

I wanted to like this but I thought it was really boring other than the brutal battle scenes which were kind of cool and the main character's hallucinations which were sort of interesting I guess. The two hour premiere was really hard to get through though so I didn't watch the third episode.

 

[Golgo-13]

The lead in this has the likablity of a carrot. Poor casting. He drags down the entire show.

 

[chamber-music]

The lead actor only has a couple small TV credits. This is his first major TV acting role as his career so far has mostly been in the theatre.