Critic Reviews

This is a firmly grounded and compelling drama that’s both ripe for lampooning on Saturday Night Life and rich in story possibilities. Its us-against-them template holds solid over the first five episodes.

These extended sojourns on the mountain, though beautifully shot, are self-serious to the point of spoof. That said, the performances--a supremely shaggy David Morse as Big Foster, a mercurial leader of the clan, Joe Anderson as Asa, who returned to the fold after a decade in the outside world, and Thomas M. Wright as troubled deputy Wade Houghton Jr., with a mysterious link to the Farrells--are strong throughout. And there's much in the material that resonates.

Though Outsiders seems to have high ambitions and a complex story to tell, it’s not pretentious. There are great elements to it that are reminiscent to the FX series Sons of Anarchy and Justified, although it also occupies its own unique space.

The pace and writing are meaningful and sometimes verge on elegant, as Outsiders patiently explores the power dynamics in the town and the strange world on the mountaintop above.

Sweeping and complex with a large cast of characters to delve into, The Outsiders isn’t necessarily new or gripping television, but it’s structured drama that delivers results thanks to the likes of Peter Tolan and Paul Giamatti at the helm as executive producers.

The program remains steadfast in its ability to build a unique fictional Appalachian world that makes Outsiders unlike any other serial in prime time.

The world of the show feels lived in, especially once it discovers its sense of humor, evidenced by an escalatingly destructive drinking-and-bonding session between Foster and Asa. For all its essential artificiality, Outsiders’ cast resolutely keeps things natural.

Outsiders is slow going in its opening chapters, and the best hope for the 13-episode run is that the series does generally improve as it progresses, by the fourth and fifth episodes finding moments of dark humor, while hostilities between the corporate interests and the family gradually escalate. Although Morse is compelling as always--boozing, scheming and defiant by turns--the real standout is Wright as the stammering, weary sheriff.

Some of the scenes verge on action-movie absurdity (most of the stuff involving all-terrain vehicles feels like a real-world hiccup of the Mad Max series), but there are low-key, even tender moments, too, sometimes with a touch of odd humor.

Outsiders is a decent addition to the [bearded strongmen struggling for power] field, with just enough peculiar intrigue, world-building, and acting heft to make its existence--sorry--justified. [29 Jan/5 Feb 2016, p.103]