Strange Empire (2014–2015) User Reviews (31)

Interesting spin on the Western

[sueheinz · 7/10 · 1 March 2015]

Unlike muffin munro, I don't look to TV for history lessons or historical accuracy. I look for entertainment and new spins on the hackneyed, which Strange Empire delivers. Westerns are generally cheesy glorifications of a violent time in North American history. The ten or so years it took for settlers to migrate from the east to the west coast gave free-reign to greed and brutality.

In SE, the women of Janestown continually redefine their alliances as they cope with the brutality of the man who killed their husbands in order to strand them as whores for a mining community. All the old male western stereotypes--marshal, miner, cowboy, doctor, bounty hunter, etc.--are trotted out at their creepy worst. And the women, despite beauty, money, intelligence and deadly aim, are flawed and periodically reduced to some form of prostitution by brute strength. No shiny heroes here, but enough tension and drama to make occasionally awkward syntax forgivable.

Really dull for a Western...

[LaxFan94 · 7/10 · 28 August 2022]

I have always loved Western films so long as they portray Natives in a positive, realistic light. I love Cara Gee's character here because she is a real badass. She is a real protagonist here and her character shows it. She is a true heroine despite her being all decked out in black. Too bad this series only lasted for a year but I think if it had better plots and more action, this would have lasted a lot longer. But who knows for sure. Anyway, I'm giving this one a 7 out of 10 because it is still a Western that attempts to make an honest effort in portraying Natives in a more positive and realistic light. 'Dances with Wolves' did just that back in 1990 and I feel that 'Strange Empire' does its best with that.

film is a visual art

[hermit-23 · 27 February 2017]

The one review I read, missed the point of the series. Years ago, Gene Siskel would say: don't watch a movie to see if it meets your expectations of how you would make that movie, but rather to see what the film-makers intended, and how well then did they succeed.

This is not a Western, although it "looks" like one. Having little money to spend, a story gets told of women in the West, and how hard it could be from their point of view. The women here are not the eye- candy of a typical Western. These women are the heart of a struggle to survive the vagaries of male impulsiveness, in a physical environment where there are no effective laws.

It is carefully photographed, with plays of light and dark that evoke mood, sometimes even mystical. Sure, the cast is weak against the wiles of the Hollywood pros, but scene after scene is sure in its emotions, and internal dilemmas faced, where something must be done, and no hero is going to ride in and save the day.

The women, old, young, babies, drunks, angry, scared, find a way to be together, and it is neither a romantic fairy tale, nor an story with all the lines straight and easy.

It is visually superb. Draws you along, while containing a realism that is not easily dismissed, or easy to watch. If you don't watch it alone, you'll have plenty to talk about.

Fantastic Western for people who are sick of the normal.

[max452-147-545247 · 10/10 · 30 October 2014]

I've always liked the idea of Westerns, but I've always found them lacking. I like shows with women and about women, and Westerns have always been the domain of straight white men (like most everything) running around being heroic, and if you're lucky enough to get a female character in the setting, she's either a damsel in distress or a whore. Neither of which are bad, but some variation would be nice. This show has everything I've been looking for for a long time. The three main characters are female, two women of color and they are awesome (well, two are). It's a great look at the women of the wild west and it has actual Cree and Blackfoot characters as part of the main cast. Also, Helo from BSG, what more can I say. Except that Kat is bad ass and Rebecca is the most adorable genius ever. Watch this show!

Oh, Canada. Oh, wow. Oh my.

[punkEmissiary · 3/10 · 24 December 2016]

A few years ago some journalists and media figures were discussing what's wrong with Canadian cinema and television. The CBC representative on the podcast denied there was a problem, saying that Canada competes in other films. Whereas the US makes big blockbusters like Batman or Inception, Canada makes hockey musicals or camper slashers. Different strokes for different folks.

She then said that while the US is making great serials like Breaking Bad and Sopranos, Canada makes great episodic ones like that show about horses etc. When the issue was brought up that Canada's contribution to the Golden Age of Television is zero, she said "we have something coming soon." It turns out that she was referring to this show. Wow.

Look, not everyone can make a world class TV show, not everyone is going to make the next Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. But this is not even second rate TV. If Breaking Bad is the gold standard that's in a league of its own, where does this show end up? Compare this to Westworld and you'd laugh at the lack of imagination from this show.

Westworld has strong female characters, this one has feminist clichés. Westworld has complex interconnected narratives and individual identities, this one has the same tired old gender politics with the bad man named Slotter and the good girl named Loving. Westworld has philosophical questions about existence, ones relevant to this day, this show has random abuse of women as a trope.

The story is really bad and attempts to push emotional buttons rather than write dramatic situations.

For example, the first episode of Strange Empire has the word "whore" more than the whole season of Westworld. Westworld is not a show about church, most of it takes place in a brothel, one of the main characters is a prostitute, the park's visitors are in a way sex tourists. Both shows are set in the old west, but Westworld builds a complex world where you empathize with robots while Strange Empire just says "whore" over and over so that you hate the man named "Slaughter" and love "Loving."

It is forced, cheap writing that is pandering, an appeal to emotions.

As of now, this show has 1000 ratings to Westworld's 100,000 yet this show has a lower score despite the obvious rigging from friends and relatives of the cast. There are people giving this show 10 stars meaning this is the best show ever. The top reviews on this page are by accounts that were created for the sole purpose of giving this show 10 stars and a good review. See for yourself - they were both created the week the show as made (so no activity before, obviously) and have no reviews or activity since. These are not the only two. Click on the others to see how these accounts were created when the show was on, give this show 10 stars and a glowing review and no activity since 2014.

Too bad the CBC can't rig the ratings too to keep the show running.

But don't take my word for it, go watch this show and see for yourself. And make sure to come back and give an honest review of this show.

Set in the west, but not a "western". Its more than that!

[deborahbliss · 10/10 · 26 October 2014]

Incredible show. Just re-watched the first three episodes. All four lead characters are brilliant actors. Such talent. Visually stunning with the British Columbia foothills as a backdrop. So many words to describe this show, mystical, bizarre, quirky, tragic, etc. Historical perspective of women and their lot in life during these times. I recommend this show for anyone who enjoys a good and oddly bizarre drama. Hindsight now gives us historical accuracies, but at the times depicted they were not quite sure where they were. But interesting, the coal mines, think of Coleman area, the railroads, the hard life of the early settlers. Thankyou CBC for producing this excellent show. I am enthralled!

Poorly thought out plot, highly contrived

[spaceninja44 · 1/10 · 2 January 2017]

I tried watching this show twice and I simply couldn't take it anymore.

Let me get this straight, so the bad guy kills all the men around so that the women become prostitutes in his brothel? But aren't you killing your customers, i.e. men? If there are no men, who exactly is paying for these prostitutes?

Looks like someone needs a lesson in economics, supply and demand. Having tons of supply (prostitutes) means nothing if you don't have demand (men). In fact, increasing the number of available prostitutes reduces prices (think Prohibition vs now. Price of booze has dropped). Decreasing the population of men also reduces demand because the market has shrunk.

You're supposed to eliminate the competition, not your customers.

Let me put it this way, if you had a town of 100 men and one prostitute, you'd be able to make a lot more money than in a town of 100 prostitutes and one man. It doesn't have to be prostitutes, it could be milk, clairvoyance, medicine, anything. A hundred doctors won't make a lot of money from one patient.

I can't take this show seriously. This is not Keynesian economics. This is not even the goose that laid golden eggs. This is basic stuff. You don't kill your customers. If people bring you money and you kill them, guess what? They stop bringing you money.

Strange Empire has everything!

[susiemoloney · 9/10 · 17 November 2014]

Strange Empire is more than just a Western, although there's plenty of Western action. It's a female-driven, sexy, well-plotted drama. Beautifully shot, well-written, it's really the characters who drive the story. A small wagon train traveling into the west between Montana and Canada border, runs into a mining community that has little more than a brothel, mine, and railroad running through it. When two young girls are hidden from the brothel and mine owner, he extracts his revenge by sicking his men on the wagons, killing all the husbands, fathers, and male children, in order to force the women to work the brothel. The plan mostly blows up thanks to Kat Loving, a fierce wife-made-widow. From then on, it's pretty much war. Hopefully CBC won't cancel this one prematurely while it finds its audience. Hear that, CBC? Don't you dare!

god awful

[hrhbloggins · 1/10 · 28 June 2015]

I watched until episode three hoping it would improve. It did not.

It is hilariously awful.

The acting is uniformly atrocious.

The "plot" is ridiculous.

The casting choices equally poor -especially the "marshal".

Why is it impossible for the CBC, with a billion dollar a year budget to put together one half decent show.? It is an embarrassment to Canada.

The people who produced, directed, casted, wrote, and acted in this show need to find other lines of work.

Fast

Absolutely dreadful

[engelw-242-760992 · 18 February 2015]

Strange Empire - another god-awful ill-conceived series from CBC. The acting is flat, the characters have no real development and the story lines are more than improbable. In case anybody does not know there was no political correctness in the 1880's besides virtually no sanitation. The viewers who raved about the show have obviously never seen how good a television series can be, Game of Thrones, Orange is the New Black, The Wire etc. This is another embarrassingly amateur effort and the barely measurable ratings prove it. Unfortunately there are lots of Canadians who get all gushy because a show is Canadian made and they got the exposure right.

Maxim

Netflix Cliffhanger

[ladystardonna59 · 9/10 · 12 July 2018]

My husband and I have enjoyed binge-watching this show! Recently, we have seen a lot of post civil war America period pieces on Netflix. They all have the similar theme of civil war trauma (ptsd) and its subsequent violent effects in a frontier landscape. I like this because it's NOT a typical western. I felt that the themes in the story were universal. I loved the costumes! They could almost be "steampunk." If I were to write the second season, I might go that route as engineers work out issues on the railroad and in the mines using technology. I can almost see a Johnny Depp style character partnering up with Dr. Blithely. Of course, this show wouldn't go as far as the steampunk fantasy world, I suppose. We are very disappointed that the show is cancelled. I hope Netflix decides to produce the story.

The Worst Thing to come out of Canada since... The Final Sacrifice.

[doc-07460 · 1/10 · 4 September 2018]

Oh, Canada. What were you thinking when you green-lighted this bargain-basement attempt at producing a "PG" rated version of Deadwood? I managed to suffer through a total of about 2 hours of the overall 10 or so. This was after forcing myself, ala Clockwork-Orange-style to sit through the first episode. I'm honestly stuck trying to figure out what was the absolute worst part of this series: The horrendous over-acting, the first-year-of-school-lighting, the "I'd-like-to-take-a-shot" approach to directing, the "Oh, gee, they did this on whatever western I watched last week" writing style, or the lack of anything that even resembled historical accuracy. If you have a choice between this and a root canal without Novocaine, take the root canal. At least the dialog and the acting will be more authentic than this worthless waste of time. Since I made a reference to The Final Sacrifice, (1990), I should point out that this film was bad enough to get the MST3K treatment eight years later. Strange Empire couldn't be saved by the folks behind MST3K, it sucks that much.

Cannot wait to see the next show...we don't miss it

[jorettarobidoux · 10/10 · 4 December 2014]

My husband and I really enjoy this show. The good bad and ugly set in Canada. We appreciate the Metis connection. This is very realistic and well represented. A voice for the history of the Metis people and how they didn't belong to either the white or Indian. Setting the main character in a positive light counter acts any negative stereo types. Getting this message beyond the boarders of Canada as well as entertaining. Our railroad was build my the oriental peoples, and this shows the exploitation of these people in Canada. This occurs in the west of Canada, but not the kind of westerns made famous by Americans. Yes our history is different. We look forward to see the weekly shows. We don't miss it.

No good, Eh?

[johnrhoten · 2/10 · 16 February 2016]

This is one of the worst shows I have ever watched. I gave it all 13 episodes and was left wanting. There is absolutely no redeeming character on the show at all. Even the righteous Kate Loving who is good with a gun with her moral compass; she is weak and ineffective. She couldn't stop the miners from brawling and then she was working for the mine. Isabelle is ruthless and greedy with no shame or remorse. She was willing to kill the young mother just to keep her father-in-law on the hook. Which brings us to John Slotter who posses no charm, no wit, no vision and no sense. I don't just hate his characterization I really find the actor not very good either. It is a quagmire of bad writing and almost claustrophobic in the stylization of 1880s. If we are to believe this is the Canadian wilderness where is it? The smaller, simpler charters are not completely fleshed out but at least allow for some kind of hope of manna in the wilderness.

Okay, maybe the young doctor wanting to do right is not too bad...

whaf wa can only be translated with the spelling as is

[talkingtwocrane · 10/10 · 18 November 2014]

At Last an era show with lots of Canadian talent. Probably one of the most believable "westerns" as I'm certain life "on the frontier" was not easy for women and children.The life of mixed bloods has never been easy or acceptable then and not much better now, I certainly believe that women then where fighters and survivors and had to be often at a high cost.. The delivery of the life at that time is more "factual". I commend writers/production on the sensitivity to cultural matters and knowing some of the nuances of culture. Good for Canada for bringing to light the matter and the talent. An old saying "whaf wa" really good" thanks for a wonderful series...

A Poutine Western

[muffin-munro · 1/10 · 7 October 2014]

What is a Poutine Western, you may ask? It's what you get when a writer in Montreal decides to pitch a "western" to the CBC: set a story in late nineteenth-century Western Canada, throw in a few horses, a couple of young women with pseudo-southern drawls, and poof! Instant Poutine Western.

With a heroine named Loving and a villain named Slotter (yes, those are actually their names) it's no surprise that Strange Empire is the most derivative "western" since AMC's embarrassing Hell on Wheels. Anachronistic language and a weak plot propelled by hammy acting make this series painful to watch; the fictional and historical incongruities make it well nigh impossible. (For instance, why would a man trying to sell horses casually mention that his entire stock was stolen - a crime that would see him hanged in most frontier territories - in order to just GIVE AWAY a stallion?)

Perhaps the most obnoxious aspect of the CBC's newest brainchild, however, is that the writers (or at least the advertisers) can't even get the time-line right: the first episode is apparently set in the summer of 1869 at the Montana-Alberta border. The only problem is that Montana didn't actually border Canada in the summer of 1869 - let alone Alberta, which didn't even exist before the late 1880s.

In short, Strange Empire is a disappointing drama, a failed historical drama, and a downright offensive western. Stick to your squeaky cheese, CBC, and keep your boots out of Alberta.

Character driven western worth watching...

[mrskew2u · 9/10 · 1 September 2015]

There is much to like about Strange Empire. Character driven by relatively unknown actors, the fact that it is gritty and flawed works well within the context of the strange world of trauma and loss these women find themselves thrust into. Those who want to nitpick about historical accuracy or whatever else are missing the thrust of the piece. I applaud the fact that a chance was taken with this story by Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik. There is a deeper and darker truth about what it is to be human when faced with survival, and this series does a damn good job of giving the viewer a window into it. Word of mouth could very well elevate the series to some level of cult status.

Poor writing and terrible acting kill an otherwise cool concept

[orosenb · 2/10 · 15 June 2019]

I should have been a sucker for this - I loved other feminist westerns - but this just keeps getting worse with every episode. Rather than make the most of an interesting struggle for survival in rough circumstances this story line just keeps piling on more and more cliches, including some absolutely unrealistic situations (e.g. Morgan Finn). The acting is generally atrocious; I've seen better acting in school plays than that displayed here by Cara Gee (Cat Loving) and Terry Chen (Ling). I'm sure you could find better ways to spend your time.

A poor choice for cancellation

[misscrient · 9/10 · 2 October 2015]

It seems inevitable that a series as captivating as this one should not be renewed. The sets, costuming, and script is of such quality. that it is much cheaper to pursue the dregs of reality TV. This show takes place in an odd location, in the 19th century with women dominating the strong characters of this series. The diversity of actors and situations culminated in my devotion which has now been betrayed by the head of CBC programing. I lament your decision profoundly. It is rare in todays choices to find such a unique premise. TV today is dominated by violence, "reality" TV and a preoccupation with advertising sales & viewer numbers. That is capitalism of which government is meant to fill in the gaps or failures of private sector productions. CBC failed in this endeavor by canceling this show after ONLY ONE season. I am disheartened.....again.

Really Bad

[twolfe13 · 1/10 · 24 March 2018]

The acting is so bad it is laughable. I can't understand where the favorable reviews came from unless they are Canadian bots. Don't waste your time on this garbage.

Brilliant

[MaddCatter · 10/10 · 31 August 2015]

Westerns have been popular since the beginning of film. But Strange Empire is unique in that it is an Estrogen Western. The reduction of testosterone is long overdue. This refreshing series is well written, innovative, and imaginative while featuring strong women as the main characters. The acting is excellent and the camera work is exquisite. The muted tones of the beautiful scenery work well to set the tone. Can't help but feel the series could have found its audience if given more than one season. I would have liked to see the characters be given a chance to develop and Janestown be given a chance to grow. But the powers that be cut the heart right out of it. So very unfortunate as this is a true gem. I just found it on Netflix and was captivated.

They were so close

[brejanelsolmone · 2/10 · 30 November 2017]

We go through all this sisterhood foolishness and the woman we see getting raped is the one pretending to be a man. The lesbian, the queer woman. Then you guys have her show sympathy for her rapist and only one person feels sympathy for her. I was getting into the show but season 1 ep 12 put an end to that.

A fascinating "what if" with an intriguing female cast

[rapierdon · 8/10 · 5 May 2018]

I stumbled upon this series and found it an enjoyable escape but with a strong feminist message. I think that the women's lib aspect is what drives the low ratings. This is a beautifully filmed series with excellent attention to period costumes. Though the dialogue is sometimes stilted, the characters are compelling and well portrayed by the cast. My only real disappointment came when I learned that there was only one season. A pity, as I was left wanting to know what becomes of the characters.

Don't Waste Your Time

[barbvt-29544 · 1/10 · 7 August 2021]

This TV Series is just plan awful. Bad acting, writing and tired worn-out concept. I cannot believe how terrible everything was thrown together.

My wife & I rather enjoyed it.

[felix-39039 · 10/10 · 30 January 2018]

The editing was rough, the content was interesting and probably regarding the women not so far off the truth of the suffering & indignities women endured on any frontier. We thought it a refreshing take on the old west even with it's plot, cast & spotty editing drawbacks