J B

Aggressively mediocre and filled with as much cliché as thoughtfulness 1883 straddles the line between historical fiction and pulp western comic. Though it shares some of its lineage's starkness and brutality in fair measures and has some good to great set design and dressing, it's just not that well assembled and the standard for authenticity in the narrative presentation vacillates wildly. This is often the case with first seasons but compared to its progenitor, it's an oddly unequal shadow of an affair. Good casting will only get you so far.

This has been a good dog, but it's time to let it rest. The writing has been in steady decline for well over a decade and now only occasionally produces a cold open sketch that MIGHT get traction on social media. Otherwise it has become about as entertaining as a lukewarm bowl of water. Sadness.

Almost magically I've gone from not being a viewer to actively campaigning against this show.