FX’s The Bastard Executioner: Worth Your Time

FX, the relatively small TV channel compared to other big TV channels like HBO, has been making a huge push to compete with other big TV show dramas, with mostly positive results.
Their latest big shows have been things like “The Strain,” a mix of the zombie and vampire genres, with decent characters and a good mixture of science and mythology. Another solid FX show is “Tyrant,” about an average man being invited to live with his family, a brutal dictatorship in a third world country.

Their latest endeavor has been quite interesting, however, with it breaking the mold from the other shows it’s released, “The Bastard Executioner” is a fascinating mix of history, religion, and mythology, while keeping a fascinating plot.

The story follows an English soldier turned farmer and rebel in English-controlled Wales, which is under an apparent French and English dual monarchy. While the date is never specified, it is assumed to be around the late middle ages, 1500s to 1650s. Kurt Sutter plays Wilken Brattle, with a past he attempts to bury, but still experiences vivid hallucinations, unsure whether the visions are from God or from PTSD.

The little we know is that a baron betrayed him, sent him and his unit on a suicide mission against Scottish forces. From these dreams he has of his betrayal, the only thing we see is dead corpses surrounding him, a maiden in white speaking riddles, and a blood dragon that attacks him and ends the dream.

Now he has moved on, put his past behind him and has a beautiful wife and child, but tragedy strikes, with the same baron as before doing unspeakable things, and he is forced to pick up his literal buried sword. Now with a group of rebels and a Pagan-Christian prophet of sorts, who sets off in a new life, disguised as a executioner that he killed, to seek revenge on those who took everything away.

On the surface this can sound a tad cliche, but the show handles it in such a way that it’s captivating, believable and fascinating. While the story may sound a tad barebones, that’s the general summary. In the first two episodes there are major plot twists, with several main characters dying and also many shocking, brutal events taking place. That’s the other thing; this show is brutal. Its violence is comparable to shows such as Game of Thrones, one of the goriest shows out there, but it’s on cable television. The amount of stuff they show is quite shocking, and not for the faint of heart. There are brutal torture scenes, where you see flesh flayed off the back in grisly detail, children slaughtered, etc. The battle scenes are just as detailed, with accurate sword fighting techniques, decapitations, and more brutal ways of death.

The show isn’t all just about the violence. The show actually does an excellent job delving into the medieval political system and explaining it without any exposition dumps, and does a great job of comparing religions, showing the good and evil sides of both. Although if you want a much better example of that, I would recommend the History Channel’s Vikings. The characters are quite good as well, with many of them filling into a grey void between good and evil, which is a much more realistic take on how people would act in these situations.

Now, while the show has a lot of positives, it’s by no means perfect. Despite being historical fiction, it does require you to suspend your disbelief for some moments when they seem magical or otherworldly, which sometimes fit in well with the religious themes, but other times not. It also can be too brutal for some, and this could throw off newcomers, and those without any knowledge of medieval times might find the plot confusing, such as why a woman baroness is such a big issue.

Despite these faults, the show is overall quite good. I would recommend giving it a try. The first episode is nearly 2 hours long, so after watching that you should have a good idea whether or not you’re interested.