Note: This review is based on season 1.
Texas Rising is an excellent series that tells a truly inspiring tale of an underdog victory. At first, I was upset that the series began after Alamo's defense because that is an amazing story in itself, but I quickly understood the narrative that the screenwriter hoped to achieve. The story provided ample background and time to convey the extremely desperate situation of the Texas rebels, slowly revealing how high the stakes were raised and how unlikely it was for any rebel to survive, let alone win.
Unfortunately the story peters out during the finale, Part 5. This part wraps up all the loose ends of the series, but 1.5 hours of winding down drags excessively. Assuming a second season is ever made, I think the first season should have left out the whole story of the cabin outside of Victoria. It awkwardly interrupts the main story, and it's much better as a background for the Comanche Wars since it doesn't affect the Texas Revolution story at all. The cabin story, plus the Comanche portions of Part 5, should have been reserved as background for the intro to season 2, which would make season 1 flow much better and would remove much of the fluff from Part 5.
The best part of the series was the phenomenal cast. This show uses dozens of fairly big names, even in minor roles, and it pays off tremendously. Every single recurring character was given so much depth and personality that it was easy to care for each one of their stories. The dialogue was filled with fantastic colloquialisms and spot-on slow-speaking southern drawls.
Thanks to other negative reviews, I feel obligated to comment on the historical inaccuracies. The details like the flags and building designs were inexcusable, but the other changes made the show better for the most part. There's no real basis for the Lorca story arc, but it substantially improves the show's emotional depth, so it's an excellent addition from a storytelling point of view. Emily West didn't have the major role that she has in the show, but it's fun to give her a more interesting reason for becoming the Yellow Rose of Texas. Finally, we all know Texas doesn't have Utah's mountains and rock formations, but western films widely popularized the idea of those formations as part of the wild west, so it's easy to see those rare scenes more as homage than a presentation of a historical fact.
Texas Rising is an excellent series that tells a truly inspiring tale of an underdog victory. At first, I was upset that the series began after Alamo's defense because that is an amazing story in itself, but I quickly understood the narrative that the screenwriter hoped to achieve. The story provided ample background and time to convey the extremely desperate situation of the Texas rebels, slowly revealing how high the stakes were raised and how unlikely it was for any rebel to survive, let alone win.
Unfortunately the story peters out during the finale, Part 5. This part wraps up all the loose ends of the series, but 1.5 hours of winding down drags excessively. Assuming a second season is ever made, I think the first season should have left out the whole story of the cabin outside of Victoria. It awkwardly interrupts the main story, and it's much better as a background for the Comanche Wars since it doesn't affect the Texas Revolution story at all. The cabin story, plus the Comanche portions of Part 5, should have been reserved as background for the intro to season 2, which would make season 1 flow much better and would remove much of the fluff from Part 5.
The best part of the series was the phenomenal cast. This show uses dozens of fairly big names, even in minor roles, and it pays off tremendously. Every single recurring character was given so much depth and personality that it was easy to care for each one of their stories. The dialogue was filled with fantastic colloquialisms and spot-on slow-speaking southern drawls.
Thanks to other negative reviews, I feel obligated to comment on the historical inaccuracies. The details like the flags and building designs were inexcusable, but the other changes made the show better for the most part. There's no real basis for the Lorca story arc, but it substantially improves the show's emotional depth, so it's an excellent addition from a storytelling point of view. Emily West didn't have the major role that she has in the show, but it's fun to give her a more interesting reason for becoming the Yellow Rose of Texas. Finally, we all know Texas doesn't have Utah's mountains and rock formations, but western films widely popularized the idea of those formations as part of the wild west, so it's easy to see those rare scenes more as homage than a presentation of a historical fact.