The English Amazon Prime Show
Season 1 Review
Hugo Blick’s western miniseries The English is a pulsating drama that’s as elegant as it is elegant — largely because of the slow-burning chemistry between leads Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. As an episodic venture, the Prime Video series hits all the right notes — adventure, romance, revenge — but begins to fall apart when viewed as a cohesive arc.
The Old West landscape of 1890 in English is not at all black and white. It is a dark and harsh country where the law is essentially every man for himself. White European settlers steal and kill for land, or try to stay out of other people’s way as much as possible. Native Americans bravely defend their homeland, while others will do whatever it takes to survive – even if it means betraying their own people. The West provides a complex setting for exploring race, class, and gender conflicts.
Heroes
Our heroes fit the bill perfectly for this morally ambiguous landscape, as two broken people fighting back against a broken world. Former cavalry scout and Pawnee man Eli Whipp (Spencer) wants his Nebraska land back, but must make ethical sacrifices to navigate a world hostile to him. So does Cornelia (Blunt), an English lady who braves a harsh new land to seek revenge on a man responsible for her son’s death.
Cornelia and Eli’s journey reflects the cultural tensions of the time, and the grand, wondrous landscape shots draw our attention to the focal point of those tensions: the land. As much as The British is the story of this place, these characters are the story of how the sought-after West mysteriously unites and divides people.
Cinematography
Spectacular cinematography invites us to revel in what is still largely uncharted territory, prompting us to rethink American history. “How did the country fall from such beauty?” the show asks, but does not go beyond a half-hearted critique of colonialism and capitalism.
Beautiful
In a word, the west is simply beautiful. But this beauty can be a crutch. The British will captivate you with its spectacular visuals, intrigue and romantic tension. It episodically delivers beauty and adventure. But overall, it erases characters and arcs very quickly. The ending of The Englishman left me wanting more from it – both as a revenge story and as a love story.
Overall
At one point in the series, Eli gives Cornelia a compass, a fitting symbol for this series of where you need to be – just the direction you’re going. As Cornelia says at the beginning of the series, there is a “difference between what we want and what we need.” It’s like a serial.
The drama, the romance, the intensity of the scene – it’s pretty much everything you could want in a western mini-series. However, this does not give us the lasting messages we need.