From John Doyle:
The thing about Strange Empire (CBC, 9 p.m.), which continues to blast along exultantly, is that it sets out to upend expectations and at the same time is soft-hearted and gee-whiz good-natured.
Tonight’s powerful episode (directed by Anne Wheeler, written by Jackie May) has several key scenes and twists that more or less justify the on-screen warning of adult scenes, violence and so forth. Last week’s episode and tonight’s contain serious shifts in the narrative. In the hallucinatory-strange western outpost where events unfold, in 1869 somewhere in Alberta near the border with Montana, a woman, Kat (Cara Gee), is now the sheriff. Last week the dangerous buffoon Sheriff Little decided that in wanting himself a whore, he could view all the women there as whores. Continue reading.
I feel like the show has a lot of good moments but I find the `hallucinatory`or fantasy aspects kind of off-putting. I wish the show wasn`t so strange (yes, I realize the title, but I was hoping it was a different kind of strange they were going for). I was hoping for more of a raw historical-based drama type of show but instead the show is too artistic for my liking. I watch the show and it goes back and forth between scenes I really like and scenes that really annoy me. The show is also too feminist. The male characters are all one-dimensional. The Slotters are a major part of the problem for me with this show: Isabelle is ridiculous and John is too over-the-top. I will continue to watch the show throughout its run in hopes that it`ll get better but I just wish it would cut the bulltweed. I really enjoyed the first episode but since then I`ve only really liked 50% of the show.