Is it me? Or the writers?
I thought Elsa said goodbye to Sam last week, but strangely he's still there. As is the man with the awful beard (Taylor Sheridan) who rides out of the blue (and to the rescue) last week, hangs around for long enough to mumble a few words of wisdom (and prevent a massacre) then rides of into the sunset. Give me a break!
They're going to Oregon... no, Denver! No, Oregon. Shea has a sulk and packs his bags, but, in a bitter twist, Thomas says he ain't comin'. So Shea changes his mind - mid sentence! Elsa shows up at the exact moment and says she ain't goin' to Oregon! But then she IS going to Oregon - at least that's what she tells her long-suffering mother. So, they set off. Ride for a whole day. And Sam is with them. Yay! Apparently Sam is going to Oregon too. But, wait a minute, hold your horses, no he's not! He's going back to his own place, and the plan is for Elsa to meet him - on that exact spot (not his own village) in June next year??!!!? How does that make any sense at all? What the heck? How would she ever find her way back there - unless in two nights with Sam she's absorbed some remarkable Native American sense of the land. Would she ride alone??? I just don't get it.
The Comanches are in the camp, then suddenly we're in their village. Was it just over a rise??
The cook is butchering deer, and giving culinary life lessons to the kids - what was that about?
James was along for the ride, now he's the leader. Shea was... well, I don't know what Shea was doing - apart from worrying and mumbling a lot, but now it seems he's just along for the ride. And for Thomas.
Which brings me to Elsa. I've had no problem with her narration up until the last two episodes. Now it's wearing thin. And her story cannot be taken seriously - I think it's only been a couple of weeks since her first lover died. So much for that! I like the idea of the relationship between her and Sam, but it's not unfolded well - the loving, the grieving, the loving, the leaving... it's too much.
So, are we meant to think of her as a mature young woman? A heroine? Or a confused and suffering teenager. I don't think the writers know the answer to that question, if they did, they would make her a more responsible character.
The final scene was tragic to me, and perhaps not in the way it was intended. I did not see a courageous young woman leaving the second great love of her life, I saw a teenage girl in fancy dress, having a breakdown on a horse.
There's a lot I love about this show. Cinematography, acting, attention to detail... first 6 episodes were a treat. But the writing has become sloppy and corny. It's just losing me.
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