Frontier

Particularly if you are a fan of Jason Momoa, this show is worth checking out. If you like seeing examples of colonial-era British forces getting stood up to, frontiersmen doing frontier stuff, First Nations tribesmen doing their best to survive against European encroachment, and cool looking costumes and settings, then it's worth checking out. It's not for the faint of heart, however. The fights are violent and bloody and there is plenty of torture and abuse of women and PoC by Europeans.

The first couple of seasons are good but the third season is anticlimactic. Here are the issues I have with the show: 1.The episodes mention the location of every scene but you'll have no idea otherwise.

2.Jason Momoa as charismatic as he is offers no character development like all characters. He justifies his character, the same can't be said for a few others.

3.the accents oh my god, the accents. The Spanish sailer in the third season and the French broker have especially disappointing dialogue deliveries.

4. The third season sucked balls. That's all I can say without spoiling it for the rest of you. I was hoping for some sort of plot but they just seemed to be winging it like the good ol' bollywood movies.

Bottomline: it's good enough to Netflix and chill

There are some good points to this show, so let's get them out of the way first. It's half-decent acting, scenic locations, an intriguing plot twist that sends the protagonist - by accident - into the New World and straight into a nasty conflict on the colonial frontier. It's also the fact there aren't that many shows about the Canadian fur trade and the rough-and tumble era of early colonization....and this show tries to elevate the profile of our country, so to speak.

OK, onto the flaws and problems. The history, as is depicted on film here, was never this interesting or this violent, this 'sexy". It is hard to find actual accounts of armed confrontations between different fur traders or these episodes of almost guerrila warfare in the boreal bush. So, 'Frontier' is using some seriously creative licence here. Also, lot of the characters are cast as inept, drunk, corrupt or morally deficient...or combination of all. They steal and kill, almost at will. I understand that the show's creators were keen on portraying conflict; let's at least try to portray conflict realistically. One had to be competent to stay alive and prosper on the frontier. Things like trying to kidnap a chief's son (in order to force a tribe to negotiate) would have been exceedingly stupid. And the folks who ruled the colony still ruled it...by a rule of law. The setting looks like it's supposed to be somewhere in the northern Laurentians in Quebec but could also be northern Ontario...but is actually Newfoundland. We are not told at the onset as to what year it is. Big mistake in my opinion. Doing a period piece requires an attention to detail. For instance, an English officer in a redcoat, even in the wilds, would have worn longish hair in a pony-tail or perhaps a wig, and no beards would have been seen on any of these men, in the late 1700s and very early 1800s. The French Canadian and Metis trappers and fur dealers would have had a very specific look to them, as well. A woman running the bar at the company fort would not have worn trousers - maybe for riding a horse but never for work in a public place. Also, no matter how much a governor of a fort would have screwed up, he would not have been murdered/summarily executed by another big official. It's too outlandish. At worst, they would have been sent back to England and 'retired' with some kind of a pension and told to shut up. Anyways, a lot of creative license is at work here, with trying to make the Hudson's Bay Company and its times seem more interesting and more dramatic than it really was.

Being in the 'standard' class of historical dramas these days is by no means a bad thing. It means you're going to get gritty sets, well-crafted period clothing, adult-oriented content, great cinematography and plenty of action.

If you're an armchair historian with a penchant for modern History Channel embellishment, and enjoy shows like 'The Musketeers', 'Da Vinci's Demons', 'Banished', 'Black Sails', 'TURN: Washington's Spies', etc., you're bound to enjoy 'Frontier'.

You certainly don't need to be Canadian to enjoy this show - it takes place roughly 100 years before Canadian Confederation, and follows the wars between upstart frontiersmen with a wavering corporate monopoly. It's the kind of cathartic scenario many around the world may enjoy as corporations continue to widen the gulf between 'us' and 'them'.

As with all of these 'standard' historical dramas, the acting is well done given their sometimes clunky modernized dialogue, and as these actors originate from several countries (production tax credits?) accents are often out of sync.

You might also expect to see gratuitousness for the sake of it, as it's not only a quicker writing choice to drive conflict, but when you have the option to be as graphic as you want FINALLY in mainstream fair, why not exercise the option? In a visceral sense it IS more realistic.

In my opinion, only two things separate truly 'world-class' historical dramas from the 'standard' ones like 'Frontier': Intricately interwoven story-lines that have wide arcs and flawless casting. Both I imagine require more time and money than these studios can supply given their budgets, and some weird alchemy that's unquantifiable.

Despite the flaws you and I might see in 'Frontier' and shows in its category, everyone involved has done an amazing job crafting and populating this world, and you very well might enjoy it.

While most of my criticisms have been on the writing, there's really no reason for criticism. 'Frontier' follows a tried-and-tested formula that works, and for what the writing aims to accomplish, it accomplishes. Yes there's little hope to grasp at yet in the story, but we may very well get there in Season 1. Bear in mind that the history we're given of these times is murky at best, so it must be very difficult to design the world in a truly authentic way. I'm hoping we're given enough time to see these characters, and the world develop.

With enough time, inspiration and creative leeway, I'm confident the writers could have taken us down a truly original path for this show. Perhaps more contemplative, akin to 'The Revenant'? As it stands, this was a great, safe choice for Discovery to launch its originally-scripted division, and I hope it performs well. I've always dreamed of a well-produced historical drama set in Canada before Confederation (as odd as that sounds), and I got one! Keep it up Discovery!

Frontier is an extremely entertaining show, as long as you don't compare it to other shows (i.e. GoT, Vikings, etc)! So what if the accents aren't great & it's not absolutely historically accurate, if you just turn your brain off and take it for what it is and that's an action packed thriller where Jason Momoa is terrific as the lead!