Blackstone

I tried watching this years ago on cable TV but I found it too cartoonish, too violent, too black and white in its portrayal of Aboriginals on modern day Reserves. Recently I caught it from the Pilot and have watched 14 episodes so far. Now I understand it. You have to watch it from the beginning to understand who are the good guys and bad guys. I hated Andy Fraser before as he is just pure evil, Satan incarnate. But now? I love him. When you watch any movie or TV series, if it does not have a good antagonist then it will fail. You need someone truly bad to contrast with the good characters, the angels if you will. I am addicted to this program. I have not missed an episode. I am invested in these characters. Andy is the only truly bad character. Even his co-conspirators are not as bad as he is. Life as an aboriginal in North America has always been a nightmare and like a horror movie for others who have not seen or heard what that group has been through. This series handles that aspect of Native life very well. There is lots of darkness and bad things happen all the time, but these people still survive, scarred and defeated, but they get back up again because that is all they can do.

This could have been great. Unwatchable. The characters seem great and series is so far well written. I can't watch anymore.

Great story, well acted, well written. Believable sets and locations. Enough intrigue and sub-stories to keep things interesting. Politics, corruption, and the struggle of the underdog. All good stuff. Then it falls apart because of the camera work. Every single scene shot with shaky hand-held camera and jerky zoom. The end result is a production that looks like it was professionally cast, written and produced, then turned over to a high school class with a cheap camcorder to film. Oh, the shots are clear enough...once your eyes adjust to the constant jerking around. There is a place for hand-held shots. A few of them, scattered here and there, can be a great thing. But for the entire production? Please. Invest in a tripod and a trolley.

I found this series very entertaining. It's nice to see a show about Native Americans where they portray the lead characters and not simply backdrops. They're not simply stereotypes of Native Americans either. The writing is very true-to-life. The language is a bit rough swearing-wise, but that's the way a lot of people talk, even non-Natives. The acting is totally believable. The directing is excellent. It's kind of like a Native American soap opera, but much less melodramatic. The story lines are very interesting to follow. It would be nice to get this here in the States. It definitely deserves more stars.

Sad they took it off netflix, it's a pretty solid show and there's not many that delve into the life of living on a native reserve.

I'm pretty sure their official website allows you to watch it for free. So give it a watch, it's worth the time.