One of the Best Modern Western Shows Is on Prime Video
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- What is the Story of The English?
- What Makes The English Such a Great Western
- Is The English Based on a True Story?
It seems that in recent years, the Western genre has made a massive resurgence, especially on TV screens. Most people might hear the word “western” and think of hardcore and rugged gun-slinging cowboys, but Westerns have evolved past that in both their stories and central characters. While the stereotypical Western is still more prominent, a joint production by BBC and Amazon Prime managed to create a unique miniseries in 2022, The English. As a result, it has since stood out as one of the most refreshingly original takes on the genre in decades.
Starring Academy Award nominee Emily Blunt as its lead character, The English is an old-fashioned yet simultaneously revolutionary revenge story that’s just as beautiful as it is brutal. It has all the makings of a classic Western tale but manages to make it feel like one that’s perfectly suited for the current age, tackling heavy-hitting topics and themes that are just as relevant today as they were in the late 1800s. There’s plenty about the show to appreciate, whether visually or thematically, but is there also something even deeper to its story than what’s on the surface?
What is the Story of The English?
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Audiences may have seen revenge stories in Westerns before, but nothing quite like what The English has to offer. Taking place in 1890, the show follows Lady Cornelia Locke, an Englishwoman who has made her way to the plains of the old American West on a personal mission to track down the man who had murdered her son. On the way, she encounters Sergeant Eli Whipp, a native-born member of the Pawnee Tribe and an ex-cavalry scout, who is on a mission of his own to claim the land that he is owed through his service in the US Army. Together, as they make their way across the plains, they discover that not only does their shared thirst for vengeance forge a bond between them, but they also discover that they may have a shared history.
While the shared vengeful journey that the two characters undergo is compelling and features sequences of thrilling intensity and action, the story’s real core lies in the relationship that develops between the two. Both Locke and Whipp carry their own unique motivations and have a mutual understanding of goals, but there is also a mutual respect between the two that makes the romantic tension between the two so irresistibly engaging. It’s such an unexpected duo for a Western story, but that’s what makes it so special, as the undeniable chemistry between Blunt and actor Chaske Spencer is impossible to look away from. What makes it so heartbreaking is knowing that, given the period, along with several other contributing factors in its story, it’s a romance that is more than likely to not end the way that the audience would probably want it to.
What Makes The English Such a Great Western
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The Western genre has been making a comeback on television, mainly thanks to Taylor Sheridan’s more modern-day approach through his popular Yellowstone franchise. The English, however, feels like a return to the time of the classics, harkening back to the days of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. It has all the quick-whip dialogue, shocking yet entertaining violence, and memorable characters that could be seen in a Quentin Tarantino film, while peppered with the sort of melancholy and macabre commentary of a George Orwell novel. It may seem like an odd mix of tones, but it’s one that actually elevates the material and helps create a product that completely revolutionizes the genre and makes it stand out against all that have preceded it. In a genre where the leads have been mostly portrayed as ruggedly masculine white men, The English give quite a revolutionary twist by placing a woman and an Indigenous man, two individuals from groups who faced heavy amounts of discrimination and were not given much of a voice during the period, in the positions of its main protagonists.
It’s not only engaging on a thematic level, but it also contains some gloriously stunning cinematography and visual imagery that feels more worthy of a theatrical film than a miniseries for the small screen. Filled with epic wide shots and saturated colors that beautifully capture the vast landscapes of the old American West, the series is also perhaps one of the most dazzling visual experiences in the history of live-action television. Its visual sensibilities even manage to make even the most brutal and bloody scenes of violence look oddly beautiful. In the end, The English is not only an incredibly fun ride for any longtime fans of the Western genre, but it’s also a perfect way to introduce the magic of the genre to a whole new generation who may not have as much of an appreciation of it.
Is The English Based on a True Story?
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- All episodes of The English are now available to be streamed on Amazon Prime Video
Most likely due to the historical and thematic realism of the show, along with several other reasons, viewers have since been led to wonder if The English is based on a true story. Unlike that of Tombstone, however, the story of this particular western is almost entirely fictional. It does, however, still take a heavy amount of influence from real events in American history, and even some personal experiences that its creator, Hugo Blick, has undergone in his personal life. In an interview with the BBC, Blick discussed not only the influence he took from the time he spent in Montana as a child where he was taught to “hunt, shoot” and even “spin a horse” by a retired US Air Force captain. He also discussed the talks and research he underwent with representatives of the Pawnee and Cherokee nations to make the show’s depiction of them as accurate as possible.
Despite the admirable accuracy in the show’s portrayal of the Pawnee people, with its story being so focused on a single character of the tribe, it wasn’t able to get too deep or specific into the details of the vast history that they have. One of the main aspects of Whipp’s character, however, is taken straight from real-life American history. He starts out at the beginning of the show as a Pawnee cavalry scout, and this is very much inspired by Pawnee members who were recruited by the U.S. Army. These scouts were made to help aid the conflicts between fellow natives and settlers, and had no problem in doing so, as the Pawnees apparently had quite a bitter relationship with other neighboring tribes. Despite the show’s story being entirely fictional, the amount of work that went into researching both the period and culture of the Pawnee tribes for historical accuracy is an effort that deserves respect, especially when compared to the depictions of Native Americans in past media.
Despite how well the show was received, there doesn’t seem to be any sign that a second season will ever get made. Given how well the show was able to tell such a full-fledged story in just six episodes, that’s probably for the best. The English isn’t just an example of how much potential there is still for the Western genre, it also proves just how far television has come and why it’s the perfect medium to help resurrect the genre.
The English TV Show Poster
The English
Release DateNovember 11, 2022CastToby Jones, Ciarn Hinds, Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer, Tom Hughes, Stephen Rea, Rafe SpallMain GenreWesternGenresDrama, WesternRatingNot Yet RatedSeasons1CinematographerAranau Valls ColomerCreatorHugo BlickDistributorAmazon Prime Video, BBC OneMain CharactersCornelia Locke, Thomas Trafford, Billy MyersProducerHugo Blick, Colin WrattenProduction CompanyBBC Studios, Amazon Studios, Drama Republic, All3Media, BBCSfx SupervisorPau CostaWritersHugo BlickNumber of Episodes6 Stream on Prime VideoStream on Prime VideoStream on Prime VideoStream on Prime VideoStream on Prime Video