Fortunate Son

Fortunate Son starts out strong with intriguing first two episodes. The show doesn't bother with much exposition or set up, letting the audience figure things out as the episode progresses, which makes for an interesting and suspenseful start. The first episode gives you just enough information to hook you in, leaving you excited for the episodes to come. The sets and costumes are excellent and really help set the tone for the series. The characters are realistic and the cast is phenomenal. Kari Matchett,usually known for supporting roles, absolutely shines as main character Ruby. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

Pandering to the false narrative that everyone alive at the time was either jive or stupid. I was there and I experienced some really messed up chit, but the backstory was much more complex than this Popsicle pablum could relate. Is this crap that your parents told you? Did anyone bother doing some real research? Or hire some technical advisers whose salary wouldn't amount to the first episodes catering bill? This is a story long overdue to be told, but when you fumble the plot so badly that it become farcical and unable for today's generation to relate to - you poison the field. All for a buck - can't be for any artistic motives, or you would have done due diligence. I hope you choke on your exploitative paycheck and the lavish luxuries it affords.

{Initial Response} A dive into the cross border (🇺🇸 and 🇨🇦) drama around the Vietnam war. For a series that depends on high emotion (personal and political) it struggles to find its footing (the news footage helps). It suffers, a little bit, by having every character having a disparate crisis. There is no steady ground, no safe place for them to land, no hope for the struggle, no destination for the journey to take, which makes the turmoil chaotic rather than forge a narrative. There are also some sloppy mistakes (the border crossing incident should have been on the American side not the Canadian side, what's with the gate at the border?, and how did Hunter know where to meet Lang?) but it has a good cast who are giving good performances (🇨🇦 produced, 🇨🇦 supporting cast and crew). Based on the first episode, I'm giving this series a tentative 6 (wistful) out of 10, hoping that they will begin to ground (and clean up) the story. {Drama}

I've watched all eight episodes of the first season, and I'm so glad I stumbled upon "Fortunate Son" on CBC Gem. I was intrigued by the show's premise of the draft dodger experience in Canada during the Vietnam War. I feel like this is a story that hasn't been told before. I grew up next door to a draft dodger and his family, but I was always too polite to ask about their experiences and why activism was so important to them. Now that I'm much older, I have a greater understanding of what they must have gone through. What made me fall in love with the show was the writing. It was very clever to write a spy/thriller series with an American family as its focus and to show how activism puts a strain on their relationships with one another. I also appreciated how the characters are written smart--they sometimes make poor decisions, but I never questioned their intelligence. The actors also give topnotch performances. Stephen Moyer plays menacing so well, and Kari Matchett's Ruby is the heart and soul of the show. Darren Mann (Travis) and Kacey Rohl (Ellen) are young actors to watch, and I was impressed by the intensity they brought to their roles. The two cops played by Patrick Gallagher and Ty Olsson also inject some much-appreciated humour into the show with their witty asides ("Hippies--what did we do to deserve them?"). I also loved the attention to detail, from the episode titles based on songs of the sixties to the props (hey, I recognize those coffee cups). The ending was kind of left open (Ralph, watch out for those redheads!), so I hope CBC picks the show up for a second season. If you're on the fence about watching it, I say give it a try. The retro vibe of the sixties is fun to watch (the clothes, the music, the vintage cars), but it will be the writing and the characters that'll make you want to stay along for the ride.

Kari Matchett is far too good of an actress to be involved in this propaganda play. It is obvious to anyone who experienced the late 60's that what is being offered up by the writers is pure biased speculation with no research being done at all, and it is a shame.

I was in the Navy as a corpsman, my brother a Marine in the swamps of Vietnam. We both knew people who objected and people who ran. I am sure at least a few are still alive and could have been used as advisors for continuity, correctness, reality... three factors lacking from the script.

I suggest the tag line, based on a true story be removed for honesty's sake.