The English is a slow but atmospheric western series with two fantastic protagonists. A British western series? Apparently, it exists in the form of The English from BBC Two and Prime Video. In this six-part series, Englishwoman Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt, Empire (2005)) travels to pristine Wyoming in 1890 to find the person responsible for her son's death. Her path soon crosses paths with Pawnee Indian Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer, Blindspot) and the two hit it off together. Whipp was promised a piece of land for his service in the American Civil War, but the government refuses to grant him that land because he is an Indian. Although they both travel through the wild west with different goals, they turn out to have a lot in common and a special bond develops between the two.
The English is slow. Very slow.
The English is slow. Very slow. Maybe it is a bit too slow for some viewers. In some episodes, about fifty minutes each, very little happens. For large parts of the episode, we mainly see how Locke and Whipp travel through the barren landscape without a clear goal. We are also dealing with storylines that initially have little to do with Locke and Whipp and therefore seem to fall a bit out of the blue. Fortunately, the pace picks up in the later episodes and all the storylines come together nicely.
And yet you keep watching, even in the beginning. The English is filmed very atmospherically and everything looks beautiful. It also has excellent music. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Crooked Still, one of my favorite bands, come by. The English is also very cruel and violent at times. These moments are sparse, but extremely effective and also beautifully filmed. A scene that really stuck with me is one in which a group of bandits targets a religious community. This was filmed very creatively and shows just enough to let your own imagination do all the work.
Despite the slow pace, the series is atmospheric and excellently acted
The acting is also done rather well. Emily Blunt in particular is in great shape. She knows how to give shape to a grieving mother and knows how to play every emotion with full conviction. Chaske Spencer also does well, and when Blunt and Spencer share the screen, the chemistry between these two people is clearly palpable. This series also has nice supporting roles from Tom Hughes (Victoria), Rafe Spall (Trying), and Nichola McAuliffe (Coronation Street).
The English needs some time to get going. Still, this series has more than enough to enjoy. The series is incredibly atmospheric and the actors, with Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer in the lead, steal the show. After six episodes, the story is nicely completed and as far as I'm concerned there is no need for a second season.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
