Strange Empire

Incredible show. Just re-watched the first three episodes. All four lead characters are brilliant actors. Such talent. Visually stunning with the British Columbia foothills as a backdrop. So many words to describe this show, mystical, bizarre, quirky, tragic, etc. Historical perspective of women and their lot in life during these times. I recommend this show for anyone who enjoys a good and oddly bizarre drama. Hindsight now gives us historical accuracies, but at the times depicted they were not quite sure where they were. But interesting, the coal mines, think of Coleman area, the railroads, the hard life of the early settlers. Thankyou CBC for producing this excellent show. I am enthralled!

Unlike muffin munro, I don't look to TV for history lessons or historical accuracy. I look for entertainment and new spins on the hackneyed, which Strange Empire delivers. Westerns are generally cheesy glorifications of a violent time in North American history. The ten or so years it took for settlers to migrate from the east to the west coast gave free-reign to greed and brutality.

In SE, the women of Janestown continually redefine their alliances as they cope with the brutality of the man who killed their husbands in order to strand them as whores for a mining community. All the old male western stereotypes--marshal, miner, cowboy, doctor, bounty hunter, etc.--are trotted out at their creepy worst. And the women, despite beauty, money, intelligence and deadly aim, are flawed and periodically reduced to some form of prostitution by brute strength. No shiny heroes here, but enough tension and drama to make occasionally awkward syntax forgivable.

Perhaps the color palette is a little too desaturated and perhaps the dialog is a bit over the top, but I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The three female leads are fascinating and beautiful, and the actor playing the main villain does a great job as well. Cara Gee looks inspiring and formidable in that outfit! For sure, this show lacks any varnish and gloss, but that is part of its charm. The whole story takes a lot of unexpected turns. Sometimes it almost felt like no one was keeping track of story threads because characters like Caze and Mrs. Biggs would go from bitter and hateful to sympathetic and helpful depending on the episode. But this ambiguity felt both real and somewhat novel for TV. Mrs. Blithely asks at one point, would all these people be doing these horrible things if not for this place they find themselves in? I also liked it when Mrs. Blithely mused about how she and Mrs. Loving and John Slotter were all cut from the same cloth. They are, all three, scary people in their own ways. (Don't tell Mrs. Blithely that your heart belongs to her, as she will literally keep it in a jar on the shelf.) Really like the title sequence as well.

The one review I read, missed the point of the series. Years ago, Gene Siskel would say: don't watch a movie to see if it meets your expectations of how you would make that movie, but rather to see what the film-makers intended, and how well then did they succeed.

This is not a Western, although it "looks" like one. Having little money to spend, a story gets told of women in the West, and how hard it could be from their point of view. The women here are not the eye- candy of a typical Western. These women are the heart of a struggle to survive the vagaries of male impulsiveness, in a physical environment where there are no effective laws.

It is carefully photographed, with plays of light and dark that evoke mood, sometimes even mystical. Sure, the cast is weak against the wiles of the Hollywood pros, but scene after scene is sure in its emotions, and internal dilemmas faced, where something must be done, and no hero is going to ride in and save the day.

The women, old, young, babies, drunks, angry, scared, find a way to be together, and it is neither a romantic fairy tale, nor an story with all the lines straight and easy.

It is visually superb. Draws you along, while containing a realism that is not easily dismissed, or easy to watch. If you don't watch it alone, you'll have plenty to talk about.

A few years ago some journalists and media figures were discussing what's wrong with Canadian cinema and television. The CBC representative on the podcast denied there was a problem, saying that Canada competes in other films. Whereas the US makes big blockbusters like Batman or Inception, Canada makes hockey musicals or camper slashers. Different strokes for different folks.

She then said that while the US is making great serials like Breaking Bad and Sopranos, Canada makes great episodic ones like that show about horses etc. When the issue was brought up that Canada's contribution to the Golden Age of Television is zero, she said "we have something coming soon." It turns out that she was referring to this show. Wow.

Look, not everyone can make a world class TV show, not everyone is going to make the next Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. But this is not even second rate TV. If Breaking Bad is the gold standard that's in a league of its own, where does this show end up? Compare this to Westworld and you'd laugh at the lack of imagination from this show.

Westworld has strong female characters, this one has feminist clichés. Westworld has complex interconnected narratives and individual identities, this one has the same tired old gender politics with the bad man named Slotter and the good girl named Loving. Westworld has philosophical questions about existence, ones relevant to this day, this show has random abuse of women as a trope.

The story is really bad and attempts to push emotional buttons rather than write dramatic situations.

For example, the first episode of Strange Empire has the word "whore" more than the whole season of Westworld. Westworld is not a show about church, most of it takes place in a brothel, one of the main characters is a prostitute, the park's visitors are in a way sex tourists. Both shows are set in the old west, but Westworld builds a complex world where you empathize with robots while Strange Empire just says "whore" over and over so that you hate the man named "Slaughter" and love "Loving."

It is forced, cheap writing that is pandering, an appeal to emotions.

As of now, this show has 1000 ratings to Westworld's 100,000 yet this show has a lower score despite the obvious rigging from friends and relatives of the cast. There are people giving this show 10 stars meaning this is the best show ever. The top reviews on this page are by accounts that were created for the sole purpose of giving this show 10 stars and a good review. See for yourself - they were both created the week the show as made (so no activity before, obviously) and have no reviews or activity since. These are not the only two. Click on the others to see how these accounts were created when the show was on, give this show 10 stars and a glowing review and no activity since 2014.

Too bad the CBC can't rig the ratings too to keep the show running.

But don't take my word for it, go watch this show and see for yourself. And make sure to come back and give an honest review of this show.