Point of Honor

Why is everyone calling this a show? Anyway I'm glad it never took off. Australian accent, daytime TV camera quality and poor acting aside, this is just straight up apologia for the South and its ridiculous view of itself. Yes they owned slaves but they knew it was wrong! Thomas Jefferson did too, despite not bothering to free his own children in his will (knew it was wrong though), look how noble whitey is descending down freein' the slaves to "Amazing Grace" after the sisters pitched a fit about it but were magically immediately converted because of their genetic nobility no doubt. Despite the believable actions the protagonist John freeing the slaves /s he nevertheless quit West Point to fight for the Confederacy because reasons. Because HONOR, damnit. Compelled not just to fight, but to raise his own rabble regiment out of the extremely racist PoS that were previously plotting to kill his sisters over the rumour of some freed slaves! Such was John's nobility. Because that nasty West Point General was going to attack Virginia and burn it all down! All because of a little thing like owning human beings. John was just like the noble DEFINITELY knew that slavery was wrong hero, Robert E. Lee! Who definitely wasn't a slave-owning traitor who enslaved free black men from the North to fight for the South *wink*! What was he supposed to do? Support the humanists and the actual United States? Lol no. Honor (whispers loudly: and slavery).

I had a hard time watching this. It is poorly written, directed and acted. It was laughably historically inaccurate. The women's costume made them look like 1970's porn stars. The actors' accents were all over the place. The one good thing I can say is that it was actually shot in the US, in Virginia, but the cinematography didn't do the locations and scenery justice. Given the healthy budget for this Pilot, it is appalling how cheap this production looks. Do yourself a favor and don't bother watching this mess. If Amazon orders this to series, I will cancel my Prime subscription. I can't wait for PBS's new Civil War drama, because PBS will get it right! Why is it that the English do such a good job at creating authentic worlds for their historical dramas, while we Americans seem to struggle with it, with the rare exceptions of dramas like Deadwood and Mad Men.

It's clear from the start that this revisionist look at the Civil War was in trouble when we find an Australian practically devoid of accent, Nathan Parsons, in one of the starring roles of "Point of Honor" as a West Point cadet from Virginia. His character, John Rhodes, is the eldest son of Virginia plantation owner Ralston Rhodes (played by journeyman actor Brett Cullen), a man who has unbeknownst to his family virtually destroyed their finances due to poor record keeping. To worsen their financial situation son John frees his family's slaves in an announcement to his fellow cadets on the eve of his leaving West Point to return to Virginia to defend his state in the coming hostilities. The plot hole of exactly why or how John is in a position to free slaves that presumably actually belong to his father is not explained.

Therein lies the revisionist problem with this entire episode. Hollywood has been on a tear in recent years portraying the social position of 19th century African-Americans in a light more favorable than they actually experienced (see Common's role in AMC's "Hell on Wheels" for another more recent example). Personally I think this is an injustice to African-Americans as an entire generation may be brought up not entirely understanding the plight of their people in years gone by. Like most (if not all) Southern states, Virginia law forbade the freeing of slaves. On rare occasions this law was skirted since the actual wording of the law was that any freed slaves must be removed from the state. The way around this was to have the slaves taken off shore via ship (thus out of the state), freed, and then brought back into the state: a cumbersome set of steps that most assuredly would take too much time to portray on screen. In my opinion there were other options more compelling such as the portrayal of free blacks in slave society which, although unusual, was not as uncommon as some might think.

In addition to the rewriting of history there were subtle errors with props, historical timelines and geography that gnawed at me as I saw them on screen such as the handguns owned by the Rhodes family. I don't think I've ever seen guns that were more toy-like than those seen in this episode. Next, the best friend of John Rhodes from West Point, a Northerner and presumably John's somewhat reluctant opponent in the series, talks to his commanding officer immediately after the firing on Fort Sumter about cutting off the railroad lines into Richmond in an effort to defeat the South early on. First, I think the writers might think Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, but it was several months after Fort Sumter before that happened. Second, they were far more concerned with protecting Washington, DC in the early days of the war than making incursions to the south of Richmond. The main rail lines into Richmond weren't actually cut until 1864.

There were a few things to like though such as the costumes which were top notch. The military uniforms looked to be straight out of a museum. Unlike others giving low reviews I thought the film location was fairly spot on for the Lynchburg, VA area (I travel there several times a year on business so I'm quite familiar with it) although one character made it sound like the Potomac was just over the hill from Lynchburg, VA when in fact it's a couple hours away even by car.

I REALLY wanted to like this show especially after reading that Carlton Cuse was a writer, but after watching the episode I have a hard time believing he was involved with this project. I'm usually pretty good with ignoring plot inconsistencies when watching an engaging TV show or movie, but the creators and writers of this program are asking too much of this amateur historian with an apparently limited ability to suspend disbelief.

Loved the story line! I'm hooked!! Makes you want to see more! Cant wait to see the next episode!! Characters will definitely develop as the show goes on, great location, costumes was great, loved the sisters look! Awesome crew, The writers did a great job with this one. I Loved it! Awesome director...Its Randall Wallace duhh!! Can't wait to see what happens next with the In laws, the sisters, what the new guy Palidore will be getting into. This has to be a series! Its a must! Awesome they chose to film this in Virginia, makes the story more driven, real, shout out to the hair and makeup department! everything about this show is great! Make more, let us enjoy more!

It is the language, I do not understand why folks have to take a perfectly good story and ruin it will, cursing GOD, and it is offensive, angry and hateful language and should not be allowed. The story is very good, you are watching and getting involved in the story, there is a party scene and the people are introduced to these characters, then men ride up on this family and the women come out with their guns and then they decide it is OK to take the LORDS name in vein, that is wrong, and in my book, will never watch this show ever again, or recommend it. It might take a little more talent to find words to describe feeling besides cursing the creator of the universe. It is WRONG!!! On any show, it has no place in our vocabulary.