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

[Hush]

I honestly was so bored in the first ten minutes, i just turned it off. It seemed like sutter watched GOT and thought I could write something like that!!

 

[ComicChick]

the violence and lewdness is way over the top. i feel like some of it is forced for no other reason than to just have it. i'm not a fan of gore as it is, but i really did turn my head for a lot of the violence.
i like period stuff like this, which makes a conundrum for me as i know they were brutal times, but i hate how they seem to have to go over the top to show just how brutal it was.

i'm not sure how i feel about this show yet. the mysticism is interesting. i want to know why she has a curtain made out of snakes lol and how she has these prophecies.
i guessed who the knife belonged to before they showed it at the end of the pilot. i mean they haven't shown which of the duo did it, but i knew it'd be one of them.

i'd like to know why the one man spared Petra and took her necklace. he looked as though the necklace meant something to him. i dunno.

Ventress was swine, so i'm not mad he's gone. The Baroness could be an interesting character. She's a woman in power and it's obvious that doesn't sit well with people, especially Milus. She's Welsh to boot.

i know a lot of people say the plot is boring, but from what i've read, it's actually based off historic events, particularly the taxation, revolt etc.
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/84058/20150914/history-behind-the-bastard-executioner.htm

 

[Marvolo]

The violence seemed appropriate for the times. Not too over the top. Over the top would have been showing us them cutting that pregnant woman's insides out and arranging her and her follow villagers in that pile. I'd say this about on par with Braveheart in terms of gore. As long as they don't make it a habit of killing and dissecting pregnant women every week it should be all right for me.

Not sure if I'm going to like Katey Segal's character. If she is going to be a scheming manipulative character I got enough of that from Gemma and don't don't need any more of that nonsense.


Ill probably stick with this until the season finale and decide whether I should return to it next season.

 

[James]

i guessed who the knife belonged to before they showed it at the end of the pilot. i mean they haven't shown which of the duo did it, but i knew it'd be one of them.

I'm not sure if was down to directing or the way it was written, but the whole knife thing was really obvious -and kind of sloppy. We're shown Wilkin's wife really only knows three characters of any significance, and it's not going to be Wilkin. I was kind of surprised they made the reveal so early on, not to mention doing an extreme close up on the knife was a fairly amateurish way of covering it. Chamber-music mentioned earlier that the fade to black and white thing seemed like an amateur film maker as well. It's odd because the guy who directed the pilot, Paris Barclay, has a string of TV directional credits to his name.

The violence seemed appropriate for the times. Not too over the top. Over the top would have been showing us them cutting that pregnant woman's insides out and arranging her and her follow villagers in that pile. I'd say this about on par with Braveheart in terms of gore. As long as they don't make it a habit of killing and dissecting pregnant women every week it should be all right for me.

Braveheart was a little more subtle with their violence. It was definitely a violent film, but I think The Bastard Executioner is much more in-your-face about it. Braveheart did it when necessary, TBE seems to have graphic gore just for the shock value -more like a slasher flick.

Not sure if I'm going to like Katey Segal's character. If she is going to be a scheming manipulative character I got enough of that from Gemma and don't don't need any more of that nonsense.

I had a similar thought, and I agree. If you hadn't seen SOA previously I guess it would be okay and unexpected, but seeing Katey Segal as medieval-Gemma is a little tiresome after 7 seasons. A little disappointing too because I'd hoped Sutter would give her something new to do, but at least she doesn't have a British/Welsh accent.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I was looking up the ratings for this. The first episode debuted at 2.1m. The second episode dropped to 1.2m. I thought I'd keep going, but I didn't watch this week. Looks like almost half the audience from the premiere didn't either.

 

[ComicChick]

James said it better than I. I understand the violence was accurate for the time but it did feel like it was in your face. I know it's a personal preference. I just don't need all that gore and guts to stay involved with what's going on.

 

[Perfect Cell]

I was looking up the ratings for this. The first episode debuted at 2.1m. The second episode dropped to 1.2m. I thought I'd keep going, but I didn't watch this week. Looks like almost half the audience from the premiere didn't either.

I've got one episode left in me before I bail. I'm hoping it turns around, but it's been so lifeless so far. I'm hoping the next episode starts to bring the plot together beyond "guy fights for the rebels against the crown, from within". I would like to see some of these periphery characters get fleshed out more. So far they've just been standing around while the main three or four get actual (slight) development.

 

[Marz69]

It took me a some time to get through the pilot. I kept losing focus. But I did it! The ending was good. It did pick up around the bit of it.

I saw the next episode and it was ok. The show is really boring for me as far as characters and plot. The subplot with his fake wife is good & the twist of him being the executioner is interesting, but not as good as it could be. The moral dilemma isn't really moving me. It lacks tension.

I agree with those who feel like the violence is too in your face. I feel like the show is trying to make up for a weak story by focusing on tone/setting. Like seeing a guy crap, brutal killing of pregnant women, nose being cut off... I know people were brutal back then, but there are other ways of going about directing them.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

I WANT to love this show, but with each episode I start to feel more and more that Sutter is just too far out of his wheelhouse.

 

[Man in the Suit]

VERY close to dropping this show. The premiere was two episodes combined, so we're basically half way through the season and I just don't care about anything or anyone. Sutter has been clueless since SOA S6 like when he made Tara a moron.

 

[Marz69]

I didn't get through the last ep. I've lost interest to the point that I didn't realize that the chancellor knew he wasn't the executioner. That's a big plot point to not pick up. It's just so boring that I lose complete focus. I don't know what the motivations are with these characters. So I gotta check out. Too bad, I wanted to enoy this.

 

[ComicChick]

i didn't realize that he knew who he was until their talk at the chapel. which means to me, that he knew his brother was telling the truth when he condemned him to death

 

[James]

I think I'm done. Four episodes is three more episodes than I'd give most shows. Marz69 pretty much hit the nail on the end, I constantly find myself doing other things while trying to stay interested. It's a letdown because a violent medieval set show by Kurt Sutter sounds brilliant on paper, but the execution (heh) really isn't paying off.

The plot isn't overly interesting, a lot of the acting is shaky (some is genuinely good but it varies from actor to actor), the violence is overdone along with other little bits and pieces thrown in for shock value (this guy screws sheep! Isn't that hilarious?!) and -this is the show's biggest sin, I think- none of the characters save for the Baroness are very engaging, worst of all the hero. I mentioned in a previous post that whatever it is Sutter saw in the lead actor to give him the job, he hasn't yet shown on screen, and after four episodes I'm wondering if he ever will.

Maybe I'll come back and visit this show again down the line, but I'm not willing to wait around for who-knows-how-long for things to turn around.

(on a bright note, The Last Kingdom starts in 10 days and I have high hopes for that one!)

 

[Maximus One]

Yea, I think I may be done with this as well. Watching last night's episode and I just have no idea what is going on. I still don't even know why that little girl got her nose cut off last week. And I watched last week's again tonight, I just can't seem to muster the focus for this show. It's just so boring and uninteresting.

 

[squeekness]

Me makes three. I got maybe five minutes into the third episode and was already bored. Didn't finish it, took it off my Dvr schedule, done. There are too many better shows out there.

 

[ComicChick]

i've got it set to DVR but it's not on my must-see list. it's hardly on my see-it-whenever list

Quantico and Blindspot are the shows i'm following this season

 

[James]

They cut the girl's nose off because it was the part of the statue they had broken off when they attacked the caravan. The Baroness didn't want to have the girl killed, but she had to do something to appease the powers that be, taking the girl's nose off was a sort of compromise.

I did a little bit of quick reading and it seems like a lot of the criticisms bought up in this thread, dull story, uninteresting characters, sloppy direction, shock-value violence, etc are fairly common all over. Does anyone know what the ratings are like for this show? A period piece is already a harder sell for audiences, but a period piece that just isn't very good can't last too long, can it?

Which isn't to say I want the show to end, just that there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of love for it anywhere online.

 

[Man in the Suit]

It lost half of it's viewers from the premiere episode. I can't imagine FX is happy especially coming off the huge numbers from SOA. They were pushing Sutter's name hard in the advertising. If we're comparing FX shows, I think it's doing a bit better than what last season of The Americans did, but that has the acclaim and an Amazon Prime deal to backup a renewal.

 

[Marz69]

Period pieces are difficult to do. Looking back at GoT. The pilot is really good. It takes the time to focus on a story so that the viewer can follow what is going on & the character's motivations. I may not have remembered people's names on first viewing & there were little things I missed, but I got the big picture.


And I agree about the lead actor not being good. Watching him in the scene with his fake wife (in bed), it reminded me of sam worthington in stiffness & even the love interest in the underworld. Though he's probably worse.

 

[chamber-music]

Ed Sheeran looked happy to be there.

The guy who plays the baron plays the main white walker on GoT.

 

[BestGirl]

Yeah, I'm on the verge of quitting this, too. I can't say that stuff doesn't happen on this show, or that I can't figure out who the characters or what their motivations are, but something isn't landing for me.

The baroness and Isabel are the only really good characters, and I sorta like the psycho wife even if I didn't get why she was branding her son.

I suppose the seraphim religious subplot has potential but it'll probably fall flat as has everything else.

 

[squeekness]

What's sad was the only character I really liked was the wacko with the sheep and he was hardly in it.

 

[ComicChick]

i don't really like sheep boy

technically he's the reason for the massacre in the pilot lol

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Watching ep 4 right now : what the hell with the King's man horrible French accent ?
Edit : what the hell with the King's accent !

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I sorta like the psycho wife even if I didn't get why she was branding her son.

She is not right in her head. She follows her old husband habit of branding himself to expunge the sins/faults with fire.