Blue Ridge

8.5 by the time I finished 1.5 houts later.

It is dreadful. There wasn't a single 'actor' in the cast.

One cliche would instantly get chased of the screen by the next cliche. The fight scenes were school play level. The compulsory bumbling deputy, male of course, couldn't even find a hat that fitted. The 'bright young thing', female of course, was not actually very bright. The cafe owner love interest to the 'protect and serve' former green beret.

The dialogue! Oh! Dear! Seriously, seriously bad! I like westerns but this is an insult to them and perhaps most disgraceful of all: they gave the 'hero' a Clint Eastwood cowboy hat - not by accident, I'm sure - but so misplaced it's laughable. The hopes I had at 9.2 went down the toilet faster than a too spicy chicken vindaloo!

If you watch this rubbish, after reading my review, you only have yoursef to blame!

The first thing I thought of when I started watching this was "not another series with an ex and a teenage daughter! " What is it with this theme. We've had Justified, Bosch, The Lincoln Lawyer, Goliath just to name a few. I only recognised one actor from the cast and he was in Longmire the rest were just unknown to me. The acting is awful and the storylines even worse just totally unbelievable! The fight scenes with the sheriff were actually laughable! The sheriff has the most annoying voice ever and is definitely miscast. I've just read they are making a second season please don't bother!!!!

The story begins with the Sheriff (Jonathan Schaech) driving by a couple that he finds suspicious because the woman in the vehicle looks like she has been beaten.

Sheriff turns around, asks some questions, and the abuser attacks him. After a brief battle where the punches were way off by far, the bad guy runs off and the Sheriff runs after him. Bad guy gets arrested, Sheriff turns him over to his deputies, and then gets back on the road in the opposite direction he was originally going. That was a dumb error.

Some town villain has just died, and the Sheriff wants his entire department at the funeral to show respect. One of the deputies calls up her friend to guard the Sheriff's Office and jail. He goes off to get some delivery food at the back of the building, and when he comes back the Sheriff's Office and jail are burning down.

Right there, my credibility in this show died. Any sheriff that is too dumb to care about the security of his own HQ and jail is a total loser. His team that just call up a random goofball to take care of the HQ are losers too.

The only good actor in this series is A. Martinez, and he is playing the same role of a wealthy tribal villain that he did on Longmire.

It is almost like this show is a spinoff of Longmire with cheaper actors and dumber stories.

It's hard to say what's worse - the lack of originality and predictability or the truly bad dialog and acting. There's nothing new here - nothing. Even the few actors we expect more from, like Graham Greene, are given poorly defined tropes instead of characters, and disappoint. There's something charming about it, nonetheless, but it's like a mockery of a southern town, rather than a real one. The soundtrack is so jarring, it seems obvious that the showrunners wanted to promote the bands of their friends and family and somehow got away with it. Unless they step up the plot, soundtrack, dialog, fight choreography and acting going forward, this is a one season series.

As someone born and raised in the Blue Ridge, I knew I had to give this series a shot. Now I am 3 episodes in and plan to be a regular viewer. It feels like an old-school serial Western but placed in modern times, showcasing many of the genre's best attributes. The lead character, a former Green Beret turned sheriff, is an honorable and courageous man driven by a deep convictions and a desire for law and order. Despite some morally ambiguous supporting characters, the show maintains a clear sense of right and wrong. Beautiful mountain scenery from the real-life Blue Ridge provide a wonderful sense of awe and authenticity. The show suffers from some significant weaknesses, namely uncompelling fight scenes, flat dialogue, and an awkward relationship between the lead and his former love interest that feels more like a distraction than serious character development. One of my favorite parts of Westerns are the dramatic and quotable one-liners, but sadly this series has precious few. Nevertheless, I think the show has great potential, and would love to see a season 2 to rectify these shortcomings.