Review: THE BASTARD EXECUTIONER Is A Brutal But Solid Watch
You'll get ten minutes into The Bastard Executioner before you begin to think it's a Game of Thrones rip off. Supernatural elements, weird dragonlike creatures, naked women, and sex. It's all there and like me you'll roll your eyes and contemplate tuning out right then and there. Unlike you, I had to continue as I'm writing a review for the new FX series, so I pressed on, and I'm glad I did.
While there are bound to be comparisons between The Bastard Executioner and HBO's reigning medieval drama, the two are widely different in concept and execution. For those who know next to nothing about the show, here's a brief synopsis provided by IMDB:
“Bastard Executioner tells the story of a warrior knight in King Edward The Thirds charge who is broken by the ravages of war and vows to lay down his sword. But when that violence finds him again, he is forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all. ”
In the past year, we've been made to feel bad about the plight of lords and knights as they battle their way through politics and supremacy. The Bastard Executioner reminds us that almost all of these guys were pricks! Which of them wept for the soldiers that fought for the land they conquered? Not a one. In fact, they probably hired one of the survivors to wipe their butt after they took a dump.
The Bastard Executioner tells a fictional tale in true to life events. 14th century Wales was rife with rebellion against the English, who were occupying at the time. I won't lie: I don't know s*** about the Welsh rebellion, but it's cool to be watching something that actually happened. It also makes some of it a little hard to watch.
What TBE lacks in showing full breasts and softcore porn, it rectifies with particularly brutal violence. Kids will die, and you'll see it. Pregnant mothers will die, and you'll see it. Heads will be split open by the heels of feet, and you've seen it before in The Walking Dead, but that doesn't make it easier to watch. It makes you really realize how tame GOT can be violence-wise. This show is visceral, gory, and bloody in a refreshing way. You'll squirm watching a couple of these scenes, and that's a good thing.
Two hours in, I equate the current heroes to Robin Hood and his Merry Men meets The Punisher. There's no thieving...just straight up brutal murder in the cause of vengeance against a group who undoubtedly deserves it.
That being said, I wasn't at all into it's leading man Wilkin Brattle (Lee Jones) until an hour and a half into the premiere. Once the story got rolling, however, he certainly picked up his game. While he may look like a medieval Thor without a hammer, he fit the part well in the second act and I'm invested to see how things play out for him.
Two performances kept me watching in its entirety. The presumed villain Milus Corbett (aka True Blood's Stephen Moyer) stole the show from start to finish. His complicated performance gave the show life in its duller moments, and only heightened when things got good! I also absolutely loved the character of the executioner. His complicated demeanor, his weirdly abusive love...it lined up a great story. Unfortunately (at least for the time being) it doesn't look like we'll be seeing him.
Something this show handles really well is music. Okay, I didn't like the rock guitar in the opening of the show, but the medieval choir segments were on point, and this soundtrack only enhances the show!
The show also excels at crude humor. Not all jokes hit, but one in particular had me laughing throughout the show.
If there was any complaint I had, it'd be that the show was at times bogged down by somewhat unnecessary dialogue in some segments. Keep in mind, however, that it was the pilot so there has to be a fair bit of exposition to get the show going.
Overall, I'm going to say if you like violence and stories of vengeance, watch this opener start to finish. You'll find all you're looking for and what looks to be a decent story as well. I'll for sure be sticking with this one. Let's just hope things only go up from here.