Barkskins

There is simply not enough of Barkskins. In its first seven episodes, it opens up so many worthy narrative threads and lays the groundwork for such a deep, sprawling series that there is no way it can wrap things up in its final hour. And it doesn’t. Though there is a satisfying final moment, it acts more as a launch point than a conclusion.

Barkskins’ first season doesn’t really capture the environmentalist bent of Proulx’s book. Even so, it improves with every episode, in large part because its performances become richer the more they’re given time to develop, and breathe.

Where most historical fiction seems like it’s arcing toward some grand thesis statement of a fixed point in time, “Barkskins” is just as much about foreshadowing the problems of the resulting generations as it is capturing a bygone moment. It might not always lead to the tidiest, easy-to-wrangle storytelling, but it ends up reflecting its time and our current one in a way these kinds of shows are not always able.

'Barkskins' is well-acted and looks fantastic, but it's too confusing at the start

The handsomely produced Barkskins becomes a grueling but routine melodrama of corruption, savagery and betrayal. [25 May - 7 Jun 2020, p.3]

[Barskins] is crowded with scheming characters but thin on reasons to care about them. And the show's Game of Thrones-esque indifference to differentiating its menacing beardos doesn't help. ... Since we know little about each character's past, the transformations they undergo in the New World resonates little. The production is further hobbled by most of the cast speaking in all manner of French (or French-ish-esque) accents, which can make the dialogue sometimes difficult to understand.

Great story. Great acting. The characters are very engaging and the world is moody and beautiful. Like Game of Thrones without all the stupid.