Mayor of Kingstown and The Madison

Another pair of Taylor Sheridan shows!

Mayor of Kingstown

Kingstown must be a crappy place to live, especially if its only feature are the number of prisons nearby. The titular "Mayor" is not actually the real mayor of the city, but a fixer (played by Jeremy Renner) who tries to find creative solutions to keep the peace between the cops and the various warring gangs. He's definitely well connected, isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty, and usually doesn't have things go his way which makes for an interesting show, even if he spends at least 40% of each episode talking on the phone while driving ins his car. I'm just curious why everyone seems to listen to him? Still I've very much enjoyed the four seasons of this so far and am looking forward to seeing how it concludes in the fifth.

The Madison

This so far one season "slice of life" show follows a woman played by Michelle Pfieffer and her city based family deal with the sudden loss of her very outdoorsy husband, and finally going to his favorite spot on Earth (the Madison River) to visit his now empty cabins. While the main theme of this show so far seems to be dealing (or not dealing) with grief, there are some funny moments and some introspective ones too which make it interesting. I did not like the extended time in the opening episode on fishing though, but hey, that's just me. It's funny how easy it is to hate some of the characters though. That's something Mr. Sheridan writes really well. :P Not sure yet if this is recommendation worthy, but I'll be watching season two when it arrives.  

Skald: Against the Black Priory and Blood West

Two more horror themed games.

Skald: Against the Black Priory

This old school pixel fantasy RPG tasks you with rescuing a lady from some distant islands (the Lovecraftian "outer isles") and rather quite immediately, bad stuff starts to happen. While the writing is solid and really gets you immersed in the world right away, the combat can get a bit tiresome especially in the narrower zones where some of your party of six will find themselves with nothing to do. Protip: get everyone bows and arrows when you are able. Still a fun ride, but as it is with most Lovecraftian tales don't expect a happy ending.

Blood West

This FPS western has you play an undead cowboy in a desert already crawling with undead. The pixely graphics belie a pretty decent game though, which includes skill upgrades, stealth, rewards for being a good shot and full inventory management (the kind that is annoying at times as you can't tetris all the loot into your pack to sell later). While the quests have some interesting stories attached to them, the respawning bad guys when you rest bit does suck as there's limited fast travel. Not one I finished due to these gripes, but at least it had a strong start?

Those about to Die, 1883 and 1923

TV dramas set during historical periods.

Those about to Die (Season 1)

Ancient Rome is cruel to everyone from its Emperors to its slaves, and underworld figure Tenax (Iwan Rheon) deals with both as he navigates the ladder of improving his own position. While there are gladiators its worth pointing out they aren't the main focus (at least in season 1) as the Coliseum is still under construction. Instead there are a lot of chariot races with budget CGI and maybe a few too many characters but at least the death count cleans them out a bit. Definitely one we enjoyed for the spectacle rather than for the plot, but we'll definitely watch a season two of it if it comes around.

1883

This Western focuses on an expedition from Texas to Oregon led by an old veteran (Sam Elliot), is filled with beautiful cinematography, and almost all the main actors are mounted on horses for most of the time. Story wise it drags a little at the start but picks up rather quickly along with the death count when we witness just how unprepared most of the settlers are as they go through very dangerous territories whose "laws" don't really protect anyone and just give people an extra reason to kill. There's so much killing, it's great! Recommended.  

1923 (Season 1)

The continuation of 1883 which focuses on the Dutton family led by an elderly but grizzled patriarch (Harrison Ford) as a locust plague causes violent clashes between his cattle herd crew and a neighboring sheep herd gang. That sounds really tame how I wrote that, but while the death count so far is lower than 1883 there's still a good amount of shooting with a side of lynching. Strangely, there are three plot threads going on here and one that starts in Africa certainly gets the "adventure" segment of the show and feels like its the main story. As such while we did enjoy it, it sure feels like season 1 was just setting up the characters with no resolution. We'll need to wait for season two to see how everything ties together.

Walker: Independence and The Winchesters

Prequels of other shows.

Walker: Independence (Season 1)

After an ambush Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara) makes her way to the town of Independence to try bring justice to the criminals that killed her husband, the only problem is her suspicions mostly fall on the little town's new sheriff!

This Western's first season is much better than the series that spawned it. Thumbs up for likeable characters, decent acting, nice sets, and most importantly an interesting plot. I'm hoping it gets a season two.

The Winchesters (Season 1)

After returning from war, John Winchester (Drake Rodger) gets entangled into the life of hunting monsters and other things that go bump in the night which sets up the Supernatural series - but does it really?

Good on them for trying to use creatures mostly not used in the original show, but its telling of the budget that most of them are either person shaped or "possess" people. It's also very strange that there's a notable absence of firearms but it's alright. I'm neither here nor there if this one gets a second season as its fine to end it where it did.

Longmire

Home of the Red Pony and continual soiree.

Don't mess with him, cause he really doesn't let things go.

When crimes happen in the small county of Absaroka, it's up to Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) and his small band of deputies to keep the peace. It is well written, has great cinematography and makes good use of even minor characters who re-appear every now and then - which makes sense for a small town and it also helps most of the "villains" are very human too and really by the end we were cheering for some of them.

I also learned a lot of stuff in regards to firearms and American Indian reservations which gets an extra thumbs up. Definitely enjoyed this series and highly recommend it. I give it three and a half broncos out of five.

A Million Ways to Die in the West

Toilet humor must be one of them.

In this comedy western, a sheep farmer (Seth MacFarlane) tries to win back his girlfriend with the help of a new comer to the town (Charlize Theron). With a predictable story you'll mostly hang around for the jokes and gags which will be hit and miss, mainly depending on how much you enjoy Seth MacFarlane's material. I found it funny enough, and was entertained by the surprising cameos.

Favorite character. :P

Not sure I'd recommend it though. I guess if you like Seth's other works such as Family Guy or American Dad! then this might be for you, otherwise it's your mileage may vary... you might end up counting sheep. I give it one and a half hat turds out of five.