The show is beautifully shot, well directed and with some fantastic performances. Unfortunately, as the series progressed, the stories drifted farther into pure HBO level cartoonish fiction.
Bass Reeves was a great and legendary lawman, and it is sad that his story couldnt be told simply and truthfully. I guess his 14 kills in 32 years of being a lawman werent considered dramatic enough for us 2020's folks who need explosions and green screens. It detracts from the man's greatness when his long service to law enforcement is reduced to some magic-tinged fight between good and evil, mysticism and wild conjecture. By the time I reached episode VIII I grew disappointed that the heroics I saw in the early episodes--which I had thought must be accurate--were most likely complete fiction.
This show was perhaps the biggest chunk of all my reasons to sign up for Paramount + and I will not watch any of the upcoming Lawmen seasons supposedly portraying famous lawmen. It's a shame.
This is worth the watch, at only 8 episodes, and as I said it is very well done.
