The English Amazon Prime Show
Season 1
Episode Number 4 Preview And Review
In English Episode 4, we return to 1875 in Chalk River, Wyoming. Thomas Trafford has just settled, preparing to buy land to fill with cattle.
When the seller of the land tries to cheat him, David Melmont forces him to stay with the original contract. Melmont is there to manage Trafford’s finances as he has previously lost several fortunes. But despite working for the man, Melmont doesn’t respect him, and Trafford’s right-hand man Thin Kelly doesn’t like it.
They soon find company on the newly acquired land: Sergeant Jerome McClintock, Trooper Billy Myers, and Trooper Timothy Flynn. They say they are trying to execute an Indian man named Running Hawk for the crime of killing Myers’ brother.
Melmont is excited by their blood lust. He knows where the Native American camp is on the Chalk River and shares this knowledge so he and the soldiers can destroy them all.
When Trafford tries to stop him, McClintock punches him and briefly knocks him out. Thin must prevent Trafford from protesting further and killing himself. They can’t do anything but report them for this senseless murder.
He tells them that what they do is none of his business. The war is over and he is going home.
15 years later at the Bootleg compound, Kills on Water tells Eli that these people are his family. Does he know what happened to the killers? Or is this not his business?
Back to 1875, this time in London. David Melmont visits Cornelia. He introduces himself and breaks the sad news that Trafford is in prison. He then goes on to create a story in which Trafford is responsible for the massacre at Chalk River.
However, he was arrested not for murder, but for having with a prostitute (in a well, no less). Melmont says Trafford is waiting for the fine to be paid. So Trafford’s fiance came to her.
Cornelia fixes it. He proposed to her, but she did not accept. He is not convinced that Trafford deserves freedom, but he convinces his father to invest in his cause. It would not be good for the family if the man did not survive. Wanting to process this information, he asks Melmont to come back later.
He collects the money, but keeps a letter from Trafford when Melmont returns. He learns that it was Melmont who did all this and refuses to pay him.
But Melmont needs it to buy a stake in a Colorado gold mine for himself and his partner.
We then see the merry Melmont show himself. Back in the room, Cornelia is lying in a ball that has fallen on the floor.
Trafford’s letter tells him about the horrors of America. Again, he warns Cornelia never to come, but to remain in London and live in “perfect security.”
Months later, a pregnant Cornelia looks at a painting of the American West.
Episode Review
If this episode is slow and meandering, it still contains some interesting twists.
The English up until this point had only done right by teasing Melmont’s existence. We only knew him as the owner of Melmont in Hoxham and the person who bought the graves for the Flynns.
Why the mysterious Melmont is doing this for the Flynns is now revealed – He is acting against his rival Thomas Trafford. Trafford himself may not be as bad a man as he first appears. (He at least hits the low bar of being against senseless murder.)
The episode could have used its heroes in more interesting ways. Eli is almost there, and Cornelia is more of a victimized “object” than a “subject” for as long as it’s on display (though the episode is very sensitive in not focusing on love violence). Despite all this, the episode fills in the gaps in the story and leaves the most dubious questions unanswered.