Godless Review

Godless is the first Netflix limited series and is written and directed by Logan and Out of Sight writer Scott Frank. The series begins with Roy Goode, played by Unbroken’s Jack O’Connell, arriving at the town of La Belle, New Mexico on the run from legendary outlaw Frank Griffin, played by Dumb and Dumber and The Martian’s Jeff Daniels. The hook is that the vast majority of the men in La Belle have mysteriously disappeared. Goode ends up at the doorstep of Alice Fletcher, a widower with a Native-American son, played brilliantly by Downton Abbey alum Michelle Dockery. Dockery and O’Connell, who are native Brits, have perfect American accents in this film and capture the feel of the Old West. They are strong, silent, and self-reliant characters that will do whatever it takes to survive in this barren wasteland. O’Connell, who I strongly believe will be the next James Bond, shines in his breakout performance and is able to keep the viewer’s eyes glued to the screen because of how much he does without speaking. The show also has a villain to put up against the classic antagonists of the western genre as he is a brutal and extremely captivating every time he is on-screen, making his presence felt even in the scenes that he is not in.

While Scoot McNairy and Thomas Brodie-Sangster are solid as Bill McNue and Whitey Winn, respectively, the citizen of La Belle that truly shines in this show is Merritt Wever as Mary Agnes. Mary is everything this show wants to be: she is a strong, independent, goes against the stereotypical woman in this time period, and adds a different dimension to this tired genre. Even though the hook of this show is La Belle, the show does not take advantage of this unique plot point and focuses too much on the conflict between Goode and Griffin, with Alice caught in between. It should have delved deeper into the culture of these women but since the performances of the main triumvirate are so strong, the show succeeds despite this.

With this being a limited series, there is a finite end at the end of the seventh and final episode that does not disappoint. After building up to a confrontation between Griffin’s men and the citizens of La Belle, the show delivers with a riveting sequence in which these two groups go at it. While many viewers will want to see the continuing adventures of these characters, the show succeeds because it knows where the finish line is and does not have to drag it out. Netflix has hit it out of the park with its first limited series and hopefully will continue to take chances on shows like Godless because it hit a home run with this one.

Godless: 8 out of 10

Photo Credit: ew.com