Netflix’s ‘Godless’ Is The Best Western Of 2017 [Bingeworthy™ Breakdown]

So, what’s Steven Soderbergh’s deal with the show? He’s all over the credits.
Soderbergh and Frank go way back. Frank wrote 1998’s “Out Of Sight,” the film that put the “Sex Lies and Videotape” director back on the map when he had three major flops in a row and it looked like his career was over. So, Frank in a way was instrumental in helping to save him and they’ve been friends ever since. Not for nothing, Casey Silver, who used to run Universal Studios and green lit “Out Of Sight” with Soderbergh at the helm when no one would hire him, is the executive producer here.

Soderbergh used to tout “Godless” way back in the day when it was just a traditional movie script and said he would’ve directed it himself, but he’s afraid of horses. He’s said it was a fantastic Western just sitting there that no one wanted to make it. So Soderbergh, who’s obviously a mentor to a lot of filmmakers and friends, suggested to Frank to expand the movie into a mini-series and bring it to Netflix. Soderbergh’s name obviously helped it get made and many, many filmmakers lend their imprimatur to get a project green lit. But make no mistake, this is a Scott Frank movie through and through.

What’s good about it specifically?
Everything. What I find additionally absorbing about “Godless” is how it makes room for all of its main characters, their stories and their emotional arcs. Even supporting characters get their basic mini arcs fulfilled too. The cast is excellent, including Jeremy Bobb from “The Knick” as a weasely journalist, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (“Game of Thrones”) as a cocky, trickgun deputy sheriff, Sam Waterston as a U.S. Marshall on the hunt for Griffin, and let’s give a massive shout out to Merritt Wever as Mary Agnes, one of the women of the town widowed after the mining accident that took the lives of 90% of the men in La Belle. Unlike the others still in some form of mourning and grief, or worrying about how they’re supposed to survive, Mary gives zero fucks, is extremely brash and has learned to carry herself well with a gun. She’s not an unknown, she won an Emmy for her supporting role on “Nurse Jackie” in 2013 and she’s been on “The Walking Dead” and “New Girl.” But because those are shows I haven’t really watched, she’s the discovery of the mini-series. Wever is just outstanding and don’t be surprised if she gets a second chance at breaking out again in a big way.

What’s not to love about it should be the question. T. Bone Burnett is a music supervisor and Carlos Rafael Rivera’s score is probably the only TV music of the year that I can remember other than the music of “Stranger Things” — it’s that memorable and hooky. The cinematography by Steven Meizler and direction is aces, too — it’s just a fantastic package.

What’s it really about.
As the title suggests, “Godless” speaks to the mercilessness that is core to the show’s point of view. Man is cruel, the world is severe and depraved, and there’s no salvation coming. God doesn’t care about you and it’s all tied into Frank who is a “preacher” and I use quotes because he has a righteous code — a perverted sense of good and evil — but of course it’s self-serving and distorted to reality. This is part of what causes the fissure between he and Roy, that hypocrisy. So how do you live, survive, but perhaps most importantly, spiritually go on in a god forsaken world? “Godless” isn’t an existentialist show at all, but that texture flows through it and gives it moral and thematic weight. There’s many themes about fate and destiny too which I won’t get into, but it’s essentially classic storytelling executed extremely well with top-shelf actors that make the material sing. There’s also a soulfulness to the entire affair. As bleak as it all is, the thread of hope is the humanity that exists even through its most inhumane characters.

If you had to rank the cast, how would you do it?
Jeff Daniels is #1 by far. He’s been on such a tear in the last 10 years, kind of revujenating his career ever since “Squid And The Whale,” and he’s never looked back. Michelle Dockery, whom I never really thought I loved in “Downton Abbey,” is fantastic and I see her in a whole new light. She pulls off her enigmatic, aloof character very well. Scoot McNairy is always consistently strong. It’s actually Jack O’Connell who is perhaps a hair behind everyone else. I feel like his performance is slightly hampered by trying to nail the Southern American accent (he’s very British), but he’s still a magnetic actor to watch.

So, you recommend it.
Yes. It’s the best Western of 2017 and it’s absolutely one of the best uses of longform narrative to tell what is essentially an expanded movie. I can’t stress enough just how perfect that expansion is. Another filmmaker or series would go on for thirteen episodes like a lot of Netflix shows, and it would honestly kill it and or severely diminish its impact. Part of the brilliance of “Godless,” is that it gets out when the going is good, and leaves you wanting so much more. That’s how storytelling should be. [A-]

“Godless” premieres on Netflix on November 22nd.