The Bastard Executioner

You've probably already heard Executioner is slow to get into. That's true. But (I think) the setup works, and (also think) it promises a satisfying series.

"Sons of Anarchy's" outlaw motorcycle-gang members, while splendidly portrayed, never struck me as particularly sympathetic. No, not even the cute one with the Hamlet complex. But transplant all that blood-soaked angst to early 14th-century Wales, as "Sons" creator Kurt Sutter has in his new drama for FX, The Bastard Executioner, and it's easier to find old-fashioned romance in a man compelled to do horrific things to prevent even worse horrors.

This resulting premiere is an offering that feels haphazardly stitched together--the audience often left pondering the relevance of each scene. By Episode 3 that pace and journey shift to relevant and thoughtful, but it sure is an exhaustive journey to finally get there.

By the end of the third episode (the premiere will include the first two), it is still not clear what The Bastard Executioner is about. It has many promising elements: evocative locations, a potentially fascinating time period (hey, everyone, the Black Death looms!) and a very strong cast (Matthew Rhys plays a rebel leader, and Timothy Murphy is a priest reminiscent of Derek Jacobi's "Cadfael")

The series is packed with intriguing characters and great performances in a mostly untapped period. If only we could tolerate watching through covered eyes, cringing and fast-forwarding through the goriest scenes, we'd probably be in for a rich and rough drama.

The images have a tactile richness but are never purely pretty. Unfortunately the script assumes an inherent level of interest in these characters that the dialogue and situations don't do enough to earn.

An incoherent Game of Thrones knock-off full of senseless carnage, wooden performances, a dash of nudity, and a few scenes so poorly executed they play like farce.