Outer Range

Showrunner/writer Brian Watkins is a complete unknown, and there is no source material to cheat off of. However, Plan B, the production company that is producing the series also produced OA, the Sci Fi thriller series that ran on Netflix and was a fantastic series. Hopes are high, the lead actors are all very, very strong. What I do know, for absolute sure... Yellowstone, yeah, this ain't that. Just because a show has a rancher doesn't mean it should be directly compared to Yellowstone, this show feels ABSOLUTELY different. The production, cinematography, music, writing, acting....name it, Outer Range has a completely different tone.

Episode 1 was very vague, episode 2, The Land was a little more coherent and yet somehow not. We keep chucking things into the unknown, and not getting a lot back. It's all a little slow burn and very brooding, there was a decent carrot towards the end. Is Royal Abbot, Roy Neary?!? I kid, but theories are going to be endless in a series like this. Either way the production and acting have been enough of a positive to keep interest, the scenery and especially music have been great.

I am still utterly confused, not necessarily in a bad way, and I'm completely looking forward to seeing where this goes. It looks like it's going to be a very twisted trip down a black rabbit hole....

Lots of intelligent reviews about this show already so I'm going to just take this opportunity to talk about the amazing performances. In particular, Lili Taylor. I did not know I needed Lili Taylor as rancher matriarch in my life, but oh I really did. How I enjoyed watching her just own this part! The way she zig zags from wife to mother to slightly unhinged to feral while also somehow simultaneously heartbreakingly vulnerable and back again with absolute mastery. Even if I didn't like the show I'd watch it just to see what she's going to do next.

Fortunately I do like the show and am looking forward to season 3. I have absolutely no idea where it's going from here, but the easiest way to watch is just to accept it as it comes. I'm not even trying to figure it out. Just watch it and enjoy the surreal wonder of it.

This show doesn't meet you half-way. It doesn't throw in 'eye candy' scenes or give you particularly likeable characters or hold your hand in any way. You have to either pay attention and fully-engage with it or go watch something else.

If you do stick with it, you'll be enjoying one of the most original, thought-provoking dramas in a long time. The central conceit is outrageous, but it works because the film-maker's commit to it and to delivering it in a very specific tone.

It's great to see a drama that takes bold risks with story-telling and, had it fallen flat, it would be still be laudable for that intention alone. But it doesn't fall flat - it works as a fine, ambitious piece of quality, high-end TV. Really looking forward to seeing where it goes in season 2.

Outer Range is a slow paced but very interesting and enjoyable sci-fi western. I've read a lot of people comparing it to shows like Yellowstone, Twin Peaks and X-Files and that's exactly what it reminded me of, a combination of those three shows. Obviously it's not as good as those, especially Yellowstone, but it's still worth watching. Not everyone will like this because it has a slower pace and takes a while before questions are answered. Josh Brolin absolutely kills it (as usual) and Tom Pelfrey was just nominated for an Emmy last year for his role in Ozark and he's just as good in this, he's such a good actor, actually the entire cast is amazing. My only complaint about this show is the amount of time between seasons, I mean over two years went by between season one and two. That's ridiculous. Who can remember everything with that long of a break? Anyway, it's a series definitely worth watching.

Everything's been said in the first 200 reviews, except for this: these people have got to stop giving each episode to a different director and/or different writer. The quality, and the whole concept, goes up and down randomly from episode to episode. The characters look the same but speak and act differently. Find a good writer and keep him/her. Find a good director and keep him/her. Complete variation in tone and concept is NOT what we want in a long story.