Godless Netflix Series Review

Godless (2017)
Mini-series - 7 episodes

Watch Godless on Netflix
Created by: Scott Frank, Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Scott Frank
Directed by: Scott Frank
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Michelle Dockery, Jack O'Connell, Sam Waterston, Kim Coates
Rated: TV-MA

Plot
This 1800s era Western features Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) as an outlaw gang leader hunting down his former partner Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell) who is hiding at a ranch owned by Alice (Michelle Dockery).

Verdict
This slow burn Western got better as it went along. The sprawling story encompasses more than the outlaws hunting for a defector. The only issue is that Frank and Roy are the best characters in the season, though their tales are disjointed. The timeline in this can be frustrating. We start midway in the story, with flashbacks to fill in the blanks.
The stories of the town and side characters build until the final episode, and it is fantastic. Part of that is the foundation built in the preceding episodes, but along the way it often felt like a digression. I like how this ends, and it makes the entire series better because of it.
Watch it.

Review

A teaser video released on October 16, with the trailer following on October 24.

The first episode generates a lot of questions. It opens with a sheriff played by Sam Waterson riding into a town where everyone is dead, even the children. I would have liked to see that character do more.
We don't know who did it yet, but it seems that outlaw Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) might be the culprit. He's in rough shape himself after a shootout. One of his gang Roy Goode betrayed him and ran off. Frank and his gang are on the hunt.

I wondered how this could sustain itself for seven episodes. It does that by taking its time and expanding the focus to more than just Roy and Frank. Unfortunately I preferred seeing Frank. Jeff Daniels does a great job as this subdued villain. Frank's really unsettling. He lives by a strange code, quoting scripture and helping the sick, but we've seen him slaughter an entire town. He's unpredictable and one of the best parts of this show.
Frank is not afraid of death. Whenever the subject comes up he tells anyone listening he's already seen his death and usually adds, "this isn't it." Later in the series he states it won't be long, and you know this is setting up a scene where we'll surely see him die. Will it be as he predicted?

Frank served as a father to Roy, picking up the orphan at a young age. Frank promised to be a good dad, and I have to assume he was, aside from the looting and killing that surely occurred. Roy ends up on a ranch owned by Alice. Roy is a good father figure to her son Truckee, which leads us to believe that in some aspects Frank was a good father. Where else would Roy have learned those skills?
Roy carries a letter with him, unopened. I like that prop. The show tells us nothing about it until later, but we know it has power as he still has it. Is he scared of what it could contain?

I would like to see a version of this edited in chronological order. I just never had a good handle on how much time had passed. At first I thought the gang was on Roy's heels and would catch him in days, but for whatever reason they aren't, though Roy did make a few stops after his departure from them. It seems like the gang took months to catch up to him, but they never seemed unsure of where Roy was, always on his trail. I just don't get how it took so long to find him. The jumbled chronology doesn't help. It's meant to add excitement and help pacing, but it also adds confusion.

While I began to like the story about the town of La Belle the series crafted, no longer annoyed we weren't focused on the main story, there is a fair amount of character sprawl. Many of these characters are shallow. We've got Sheriff Bill who doesn't do much. He could be completely cut and the story would be unaffected. The men that buy the rights to the mine from the women of La Belle just distract from the main plot as well. Their purpose is to stir trouble in the town, but they do little more than twirl their evil mustaches.

As much as I didn't like some of the digressions, the final episode proves that everything had a place, even if I didn't find it necessary. The side stories give the shootout some depth. The final episode makes this show worth it. The rest isn't bad, it's just a slow burn that gives the final episode a sturdy foundation. That episode is just well done television. The way this ends makes me like the whole series better. The biggest problem with the show are that Roy and Frank are the best characters. When we aren't seeing them, the series can drag. All of Frank's gang are nameless goons. Developing them could have been a nice touch. This is an ambitious series that had me doubting initially, but manages to craft a solid story.