slowpulse

From the little I know about real-life Bass Reeves, he was a badass and then some. And to some extent, this show portrays him as such, but the script needed to be much sharper to fully bring that point home. Instead, after a first couple of pretty tight episodes, the show adds a number of plot threads that barely get resolved, if at all, and introduces several characters that never get a well-developed evolution. In particular, towards the end of the run, the show tries to give Reeves an ambiguous personality, but it's not clear why.

It's nevertheless an entertaining series that introduces a character who deserves more recognition, but it could've been so much more. It needed to focus on fewer but better established plot points, and rely less on semi-cryptic dialogue between the characters.

The original source that this series is based on is covered more or less in the first episode: everything else is new material. And I get the feeling that the showrunners feared this would be their only shot at a production of this magnitude, so they crammed every sci-fi theme they could think of in six short episodes. A massive biological threat, invading insectoid xenomorphs, good old body snatching, and a degradation of civilization, for starters. Unfortunately, together they end up making the whole product disjointed rather than gripping, since none of the threads are given enough runtime.

It's still a somewhat well-crafted show though. It's a nice touch to make middle-aged regular Joes with common sense the protagonists. As is the fact that this doesn't take place in a major US city for once. And also the idea that despite facing horrendous odds, strangers and neighbors often attempt to help each other, rather than the usual every-man-for-himself trope that we see so often. If Netflix greenlights any further seasons, I hope they ask the showrunners to pick a lane and stick to it though.

This show is a bit of a mixed bag for me: I love the two leads and their constant, lowkey banter, but the rest of the characters I can only take in very small doses. They seemingly exist solely to torment Ashley and Gordon, so much so that most of the storylines are a variation of grown-up bullying that only occasionally is funny, but oftentime is just cringeworthy. Especially both leads' families, who are absolutely horrendous, but in a pillow-over-face way - not a particularly hilarious one. Ashley and Gordon's own friends aren't much nicer to them either, to be honest.

All in all, it's worth a watch, but the constant persecution of the main characters wears a bit thin after a while.