Acting and visuals are a 10 and the writing is superb. That being said I almost stopped watching at the end of episode 2. After an exciting episode 1, episode 2 is talky, meandering and does little to move the story along. That is resolved for the rest of the show more or less though. I think an hour could easily have been cut from this 6 hour tale and made it flow better.
The main problem with the English for me, is how the sweeping tale was laid out. Two main issues there. The time going back and forth between 1875 and 1890 was utterly confusing. The whole time I was thinking Blunt and Spencer met in 1875. I bet I am not alone there. They did not meet until 1890 though. So as the story unfolded, keeping the chronology straight was horribly difficult. Also I think the writer in an effort to create plot twists and shocking reveals sacrifices cohesion. I should probably watch it again just to remove the confusion factor. This is not a spoiler, this is just a helpful tidbit. Our heroes meet in 1890.
But it is a beautiful and unique story with the feel of an old sweeping David Lean epic film, that will have you grabbing your box of tissue in Episode 6. I wept like a baby. Highly recommended overall.
The main problem with the English for me, is how the sweeping tale was laid out. Two main issues there. The time going back and forth between 1875 and 1890 was utterly confusing. The whole time I was thinking Blunt and Spencer met in 1875. I bet I am not alone there. They did not meet until 1890 though. So as the story unfolded, keeping the chronology straight was horribly difficult. Also I think the writer in an effort to create plot twists and shocking reveals sacrifices cohesion. I should probably watch it again just to remove the confusion factor. This is not a spoiler, this is just a helpful tidbit. Our heroes meet in 1890.
But it is a beautiful and unique story with the feel of an old sweeping David Lean epic film, that will have you grabbing your box of tissue in Episode 6. I wept like a baby. Highly recommended overall.