Fantastic historical drama. Fascinating characters, beautiful settings, visceral action sequences - terrible abrupt ending. Like screeching tires abrupt. I kept thinking maybe there was another episode or two... maybe a second half of the season coming later? Nope. Seems like that was it. I know it was adapted from a much longer novel, but the amount of unresolved plot was distressing. If this is all there is, with no further seasons/episodes, I will leave with a horrible taste in my mouth.
Add a Review
-
chakraroc17 June 2020A little hard to keep the characters straight at first but that clears up quickly. This show gives a pretty authentic look at how people lived and how brutal their lives were. It also takes a swipe at racism towards Indigenous people which is more than most historical entertainment does. Europeans were every bit as brutal and doublecrossing as portrayed.
-
I read the novel and was a little surprised at complete shift in focus- some of the characters' names and general circumstances were the same but the storylines very different. I would say the phrase "based on" when referring to the connection to the book should be applied very loosely. However, the book spans such huge time and themes that this is to be expected. The acting was fantastic, though I wish Harding and Thewlis had spent more time with a coach working on their French accents, sometimes they sounded like parody. (Thewlis in particular sounded like the Monty Python "Your mother was a hamster" sketch.) I'm hoping for a second season and for it to be more centred on the perspectives of the Indigenous characters, as Proulx did with her shifting narratives in the novel. All in all, the atmosphere, the historical precision of the art direction, and especially the performances were top-notch and I'm excited for more seasons- 8 episodes was too short.
-
atlasmb28 May 2020I never read the source novel by Annie Proulx, and maybe that's an advantage, but I found the first two episodes to be enthralling. It's as if you have been inserted into a foreign society and you are trying to figure out the norms and the rules that govern.
The world of Wobik, "New France", and its surroundings feel authentic. An uneasy and changeable peace exists between the various cultures in the area, and justice is usually negotiated at the end of a knife. It's a look at one of the antecedents of modern society. Within this grimy province lie dreams of homesteads, cities, and even empires.
The acting is strong and the sets evoke the ethos of a burgeoning society, rising out of the mud and darkness.
It helps to pay close attention to the character's names so as not to be confused in the first episode. But like the best historically-based narratives, it is worth the effort. -
Barkskins is set during one of my favorite periods of Canadian and American history. The series is populated with a number of unusual but sharply drawn characters driven by diverse set of motives as only Annie Proulx could write them. Entertaining and highly educational, Barkskins paints a detailed portrait of an important and interesting period of Western history.
-
tvviewer123-0613817 June 2020I believe from some people that this series doesnt have a 8 or 9 score on IMDb is because of the darkness. as someone who watched tv series for 10's of years this definitely is a VERY good series. i rated it 9/10 and from what i hear is that the showrunner is wanting a season 2 and so do i. make this happen please.
-
owen-watts17 June 2020A bloody and characterful glimpse into the world of "New France" - frontier times in Canada/North America. The cast are irresistible and the variety of distinctive characters are engrossing - the particular highlight being Thewlis as the wildly delusional and strident Trepagny. It put me very slightly in mind of Deadwood, which is I should warn you, my favourite series ever made. Both in its density, violence, vivid ensemble and propensity for moral grey areas. The sets are enormous and the vibe is impressively consistent.
Where it falls down for me are some clear end-series "cliffhangery" decisions which may not even pan out. Given the chronological breadth of the book - they clearly hope for more and the blunt rush of the final few scenes seem off. However, the biggest issue has to be a creative decision they made about portraying both the French and English on screen. Rather than having French (or French speaking actors) they opt to have the French folk of Wobik speak with a strange exaggerated way that put me in mind of Monty Python.
"AH'M FRENCH. WHY DO YOU THEENK I HAVE THIS OUTRAGEOUS ACCENT?"
Which is a shame, because otherwise the semi-realism, the casting, the nice sets and the tone would be near-perfect. -
ruthburley16 June 2020I loved this historical series & hated for it to be over. I'm hoping it continues for more seasons... I am planning on watching the first episode again to put the rest in context. The first couple of episodes were a little hard to place everyone, but well worth hanging in there..
-
alex-fry11 July 2020... the ending is rather open-ended. More like wide-open-ended. Conclusions are hinted at, but never quite revealed.
-
Loved it! Immediately immerses you in another world, full of characters with depth and intrigue. A great mix of factual history and drama - I even learned a couple of new things along the way. Surprised to see there aren't yet plans for a second season - hopeful they'll press on with this one!
-
Overall I really enjoyed it and binged it over the course of a few days. Good character development, wide range of characters and some historical stuff.
Only disappointment was the final episode. Apparently it was originally scheduled for 10 episodes and was cut to 8 because of filming issues and it REALLY showed. The final episode felt rushed and don't even get me started on certain characters that just completely vanished into nowhere.
If there is a season 2 I will certainly watch it, if only because there are a lot of loose ends from season 1 -
Great acting - started watching for two personal favorites, Zahn M. & Aneurin B., who happily for me are paired together. However David Thewlis & Marcia Gay Harden are giving amazing performances. It is a complex story, and starts off with a "who is that" issue that plagues the beginning of many worthwhile mini series - I did rewatch each of the first 2 episodes, both because I enjoyed them enough to do so, and also because I knew I would pick up on more with the rewatch. Personally I enjoy having to think about the story: for me that is the fun of a good show or a good book. So a viewer who similarly likes to be invested will find this worth their time; someone who's taste runs to lighter simpler fare will no doubt be bored and dismissive as evidenced by the lead review on this page. To each their own - but imo great tv!
-
Opinate21 June 2020I liked this series tremendously for the locations, mood and acting. Less so for the storylines / characters who, although I tried to find some connection with, I didn't care much about, with the exception of Marcia Harden Gay's character and the girl she saves, although she does not feature much in this first season.
I did not find the series too dark figuratively or literally - it takes place in New France in the middle of the woods for the most part, before electricity, so it should be dark in mood and look. I had no problem seeing any part of it. I love David Thewlis and he was great.
I found myself looking forward to the next episode and also being a little disappointed by most episodes - I am not sure why but I think it might be because there was not as much tension as the story should have had given its various events: possibly not very effective direction / screenwriting effecting the pace. Perhaps we are so accustomed to the GOT-type pacing that a quieter more thoughtful piece of historical fiction seems flat.
This is not a fast paced nail-biter of a series, but it is well-wrought and gives you a view into a different time and place. If you are looking for a new world opened up for you I highly recommend it. -
ekontrovitz26 May 2020Just watched the first 2 episodes of Barkskins. The story is interesting, the acting really good. The problem, and it's a big one, is that everything is so dark, as in not enough light, I barely know who is doing what! I can't even identify the characters a lot of the time. I get there was no electricity, and the forest at night is dark, inside houses is dark, candles were expensive, seldom used, and offered little light, but cinema veritas only goes so far. If I can't see the actors, or the sets, or the action, what good is it? This could have been outstanding, instead it's annoying as hell.
-
WizardOfWhoopee21 June 2020I like these re-enactment series' like Jamestown. It brings new light to those boring old History books from school in the 1970's. Someone should snatch up the rights and bring the whole book into a series. I hear this was just a few chapters of a epic novel.
-
romeyyy-7641627 May 2020A little grimy, but well written and great acting followed by a very interesting story line. Based in the old days. A great new show about new lands and how people lived a different kind of life. I watched 2 episodes and couldn't help feeling like I needed more episodes. I look forward to more if this. Side note: I read some wrote it was too dark to see any if the characters. I would disagree. I never once thought that from the episodes i watched. But just my opinion. Worth the watch.
-
idonotexist10 December 2022The show aims to be historically accurate so names of companies, mythology, places are all real. You can see or hear something in the show and look it up and learn more about the real entity at the time. I like that, wish there was more of that incorporated.
Acting is great. Actually more than great, rather excellent in fact. Total joy to watch, dialogue is very well scripted, delivery is smooth, characters sound and act unique enough yet not out of place. Events taking place are realistically portrayed and completely plausible.
There is some supernatural overtones in there but it seems to be mostly just to create some mystery to lure you in; so far it has had no actual impact on anything and i do not expect it will ever. Even that weird mute girl turns out to be rather conventional once the Cross arc comes into reveal.
Unfortunately i have to mention that this show is one massive feminist propaganda piece which is anything but historical. It has some very cringe moments there in both trying to give women power through their worst qualities and trying to vilify men for the most weird of weird things. No, there is no man on earth who will not bed/have a life with a great looking woman because she has a knife scar on her body. Yet this is made to be some sort of complete taboo. Perhaps the writers forgot that between lack of baths and work related injuries starting with childhood years (yes kids worked back then) it is virtually impossible to not have scars by the time you reach adulthood and nobody in the colonies was ever really clean for long anyway. Yet they make it like its some thing that no man in all of france (their words) and now the new world will have you as a woman because of it. Alright.
Moving on to more absurdity, i find it very hard to buy that a woman will not cook or clean or do any household chores and the man will just kick in and start chopping asparagus on screen after being ordered to cook something. Even if said woman is pretending to be from a fancy family, it makes no sense. I understand her entire character is a gold digging manipulative entitled person, but still, the way it was force was just.. unbelievable. Everything on that topic is just forced into some alternate reality that even in 2022 will make you go HUH???.. and people today are far more spoiled than people back then. If you remember BLACK FLAG, that show had some truly well done representation of how women got their way and ran things in that time period. And at the end, they pretty much ran half the show, while here, these are just edgy for the sake of being so but having no impact on the storyline itself. And that is just insulting to everybody.
Or let's talk about how they made a whole scene about how another peasant lady (these were poor girls with no prospects in france in life who went to the new world for that reason, they are literal peasants, often homeless even) who was crying her heart out how she was so unhappy that her husband she picked only had a very normal looking stone cabin in the woods, a well outside it for water (so you dont have to run to the creep for water), and her kids all had a full set of clothes (something they would not have had, not in the summer time at least, if we are to be historical here). She was so dejected by that she hated him... I mean honestly?! What the actual scrtipwriting here.
It gets better. We also have abortion rights thrown in there. "you can choose your life or your husbands wishes" fast forward to an instant abortion scene an hour after some magic plants were ingested. Why is any of this there? It's like 2 shows being collided. It's annoying, it is just irrational. There are literally feminism movies that are most realistic than this show which is supposed to be based on history. Yet they toss it all out to push forth some agenda topic line on the viewer. And there is a lot more than that, but these are the highlights of absurdity so far.
That said, it is still good. I cannot knock it for it because i watched everything and wanted more. The show just keeps you going because the backstories keep you drawn in. You want to know about cross, you want to see what will happen with cooke, his apprentice, bouchard, that nun woman... the two indian tribes... that weird bill character. All of those things you want to know about and the show pushes all of those lines non stop. There is always something happening with at least one of them and in a well done manner.
And between the storylines and the acting, you just keep watching. At the end of the day, this is what a good show is about. Engaging the viewer and making people crave more. And as you can see, if you get these things right, you can have all the absurdity in between and it will still not ruin your show. -
TruthSeeker4Life9 June 2020This show is absolutely one of my new favorites! I am not sure what people are talking about when they say its too slow because for me it feels like the episodes go by WAY TOO FAST! I am fascinated with the past and how people lived back then. I wish I could time travel or have existed back then because the lifestyle and the untouched nature was amazing. The mystery of life was so much greater back then because everything and so many were exploring to find new worlds and civilizations. Ahhhh I can only imagine what it must have been life crossing the Atlantic and coming to America during that time. But I digress.
The acting is phenomenal and the directing! Everything is well done and seems to fit perfectly! Its one of those shows were everyone seems to be in sink and working well together which makes a really excellent product. I cannot see how anyone can talk badly about the show. Maybe the time period etc isn't their favorite but don't knock the show because this is great quality and I wasn't expect something this good from the History channel! -
rposhea12 July 2020Stumbled across this on NatGeo (Australia) and was excited, it's a fascinating period in history but .,.. the director/producers decided to shoot many scenes in almost complete darkness. It serves no dramatic purpose- many of these scenes would work perfectly well in daylight- and points more to the pretentiousness of the filmmakers. Also was it really necessary for the British/Irish actors playing French characters to put on "ze Fronch" accent? And also the female characters seem remarkably clean and well-groomed for downtrodden peasants struggling to survive in the mud and forests of New France.
-
eapreston3-885-42282718 June 2020Really good look at a place and time on the historical edge; three empires compete (English, French and Iroquois) for land and power. Major plot hole from Episode 7 to 8, but well done nonetheless. Curious how they will deal the time span of the novel.
-
fglt26 May 2020The limited series starts off gritty and, while it's a slower build, it seems to keep things interesting combining an early American historical setting with an element of mystery - shady characters, native American lore and a mysterious beast. I personally can't speak to how closely it follows the book but I thoroughly enjoy this genre, historically-based thrillers that build on mystery without turning into a complete fantasy. The program bears a similarity in style at least to The Terror which aired on the History Channel a few years back and was an amazing limited series. If you happened to enjoy that program, you likely enjoy this one as well.
-
sdmcxian26 May 2020After reading the book, I was excited about NGTV bringing this to life. However, the life it brought to it was a bizarro life. Although the characters had the same names as the book, their character details were blatantly different. In order to get through the first two hours I had to pretend I never read the book, it was the only way to try to enjoy it or rather get through it. I completely understand and appreciate edits and screen writing rewrites, therefore in an effort to offer no spoilers, but a hint at my concerns, can you imagine in the Harry Potter movies had they written Ron's character as the one that was book smart and Hermione needed his intellect guidance...that would have thrown you for a loop ?? I just don't know that I will finish it.
-
Epic saga with great character development, a beautiful set, and great writing. I am particularly pleased with the depiction of the natives -- it helps when actual native actors are provided great lines and characters without the usual trope. Additionally, it's a girl power story like no other. Beautiful attention to detail. I can't wait for season 2!
-
immameer4 June 2020If you followed Jamestown, Frontier and similar series you will enjoy this one, too. Thewlis, Horn, Wilmot, Barnard and co-actors give a good performance; let the story unfold itself, I like to have a glimpse of life in the New World during these days.
-
DragonFireBreather19 June 2020National Geographic hit it out if the park on this one. Absolutely fantastic series! My gosh, I couldn't wait for Mondays! I sure hope there will be a second season because they left us hanging so I'm hopeful we'll get another season.
David Thewlis's character Trepangny totally stole the show for me. I loved his character and the last scene of him up on the look out point that his indentured servant Rene built was brilliant. What a perfect way to end it knowing that he wasn't actually dead but put in a dead like sleep by his jilted lover Mari. Perfection.
I also loved Marsha Gay Harden's character Matild. A strong wise woman and smart as a whip. It looks like Captain Bershards character is a goner and that is a bummer because I thought he was really good with her and I enjoyed him. His best and funniest line in the show when asked by Trepangny to help save his servant Rene from the Iroquoi Indians "I'd rather die for my hat!" lol... classic!
Then we have the take of two indentured servants from France wanting you start a new life in a different place. One whose name is Rene, has integrity and the will to work for his freedom. His loyalty to his boss Trepangny is endearing. The other whose name is Charles, is a cowardly snake looking for a way to cut the line. These two men could not be more different and their stories are both engaging.
I liked Hamish and his Indian companion from the Hudson Bay Company as well. Hamish was a very dark but complex character I would of liked to have gotten to known better. Lots of layers there made me very intrigued. I hope he is not a goner after getting shot by his fellow Hudson Bay English counterpart.
I also hope there is a good ending for Delphine. Very surprising the connection she had with the Englishman Mr. Cook. And I think Mr. Cook may have a decent soul and will not care that she has been mutilated. I'm hopeful for these two having a happy ending.
This was an absolutely amazing series and I hadn't been this excited to see a show in a long time. Very good National Geographic.. very good indeed!!! 10 out 10!!!