It looked really promising - heavily touted as a period drama about the arrival of women in the new world colony that has been solely inhabited by men for 16 years. What a great concept! Plenty of tension and conflict in that! But there just isn't. Tension between the sexes seems to fizzle almost immediately as all the women settle into their relationships with barely a murmur - Verity complains more than most, but even she doesn't seem overly bothered about being sold in marriage to the local drunk. And the early thwarted romance, which might have provided romantic tension and some much needed 'will they/won't they?' drama, is unthwarted by episode two.
The 'political' plot involving the authority figures of the colony never gets going, and the baddies are just a little bit too stupid and pathetic to provide any proper villainy. Whatever conflict briefly raises its head in the form of a love triangle with the blacksmith is quickly resolved when he turns out to be a nice guy and politely steps aside, and the fact that the secretary's wife actually ADMITS TO HAVING MURDERED A MAN is just quietly brushed under the carpet when the governor's devoutly Christian wife decides she's been through enough already, poor wee lamb.
I was shocked when the series had ended, because there was no sense of it either building to anything, or completing a story arc. In fact, there's no clear series storyline at all - events just seem to happen one after the other in a seemingly unconnected succession without ever amounting to anything. With the exception of Verity and Meredith, who provide some mild comic relief as the most unlikely couple ever, there's really not a single character I care two hoots to know what happens to. I can't believe that forgettable, lacklustre fair like this gets a second season, when the hugely enjoyable (if equally silly) Halcyon gets canned. I hope season two ups the drama, but if it's anything like Downton, it'll just keep going downhill to dullsville...
The 'political' plot involving the authority figures of the colony never gets going, and the baddies are just a little bit too stupid and pathetic to provide any proper villainy. Whatever conflict briefly raises its head in the form of a love triangle with the blacksmith is quickly resolved when he turns out to be a nice guy and politely steps aside, and the fact that the secretary's wife actually ADMITS TO HAVING MURDERED A MAN is just quietly brushed under the carpet when the governor's devoutly Christian wife decides she's been through enough already, poor wee lamb.
I was shocked when the series had ended, because there was no sense of it either building to anything, or completing a story arc. In fact, there's no clear series storyline at all - events just seem to happen one after the other in a seemingly unconnected succession without ever amounting to anything. With the exception of Verity and Meredith, who provide some mild comic relief as the most unlikely couple ever, there's really not a single character I care two hoots to know what happens to. I can't believe that forgettable, lacklustre fair like this gets a second season, when the hugely enjoyable (if equally silly) Halcyon gets canned. I hope season two ups the drama, but if it's anything like Downton, it'll just keep going downhill to dullsville...