We see a reenactment of some stupid event in "history" where a Native American marries a white woman with the blessing of her father, the sheriff. One of the people in town is himself Native American and is critical, so the young people try to talk him into showing his side of the story. Then it all falls apart and get sort of ludicrous. I know another reviewer likes to use the "woke" word, which is getting really tiresome. The fact is that many minorities were mistreated, abused, and killed because of their skin color. The problem here is that the script just doesn't work or send any sort of message.
3 Reviews
A Historical Story Ends the Season
Gislef17 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Okay, it's a reenactment of a historical story. And like most such horror stories in such a setting, it turns out that the past is much darker than the reenactors tell it.
Writers Ryan Harris and Migizi Pensoneau have a lot to cover in 30 minutes or so. They take shots at the "authenticity" of reenactments, and the whitewashing of Western history, and the treatment of Indians, and prejudice, and journalists. There isn't any room for anything other than broad characterization and story strokes. I'm still not sure how Claire got injured. Yes, Jeremy got knocked into her and she fell down, but that doesn't seem to be responsible for the near-crippling injury she has for the rest of the episode. Frail bones, I guess.
Joel Oulette does the best he can with what he's got. He's not bad in the part, he just doesn't have much to do. But he has more to do than anything else, so there's that. The character, Jeremy, does have at least one strong moment when he sees his spiritual name tattooed on his wrist and throws off the spell.
Credit also to Brian Cyburt, who plays an actor who is essentially as clueless as at least one such character in every similar episode. And Steve Bacic, a TV veteran who doesn't have much to do but does "imposing" very well as he often does.
But at least the "wokeness" has something to do with the story. I'm torn between wokeness being tossed in just for the sake of it, and "wokeness" for the sake of the story. Overall, I think I prefer the latter. And at least there's something "real" at the heart of the episode: the treatment of Native Americans. Even if the focus is more on a historical reenactment than a TV or movie. I guess the producers didn't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
There are several plotholes, which is pretty typical for "Two Sentence". it's a reenactment, but who are the spectators? I mentioned Claire's injury earlier. Why does Jeremy's blood in the cemetery trigger the entire thing? And it would have been nice to have an ending. Jeremy just... walks away. Claire is stuck in Cain's End in the "role" of the daughter.
Do the townspeople go back to normal, or what? And what happens to them? It would have probably been more than the episode could handle to show the aftermath of the massacre, but I would have liked to see it. "Your Honor, my client were under the influence of a curse and collectively killed dozens of people."
Overall, "Manifest Destiny" is a decent ending to a so-so season of "Two Sentence". I suppose they'll bring it back again when they need a filler. It's probably cheap: "Manifest" with the outdoor shooting and costumes probably blew whatever budget they had. I don't suppose we're ever going to get 'Twilight Zone'/'Black Mirror'-quality horror/anthology, but "Two Sentence" doesn't do much. It's just frustrating to see the production staff do so little, when you get the impression they're trying to do more.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Writers Ryan Harris and Migizi Pensoneau have a lot to cover in 30 minutes or so. They take shots at the "authenticity" of reenactments, and the whitewashing of Western history, and the treatment of Indians, and prejudice, and journalists. There isn't any room for anything other than broad characterization and story strokes. I'm still not sure how Claire got injured. Yes, Jeremy got knocked into her and she fell down, but that doesn't seem to be responsible for the near-crippling injury she has for the rest of the episode. Frail bones, I guess.
Joel Oulette does the best he can with what he's got. He's not bad in the part, he just doesn't have much to do. But he has more to do than anything else, so there's that. The character, Jeremy, does have at least one strong moment when he sees his spiritual name tattooed on his wrist and throws off the spell.
Credit also to Brian Cyburt, who plays an actor who is essentially as clueless as at least one such character in every similar episode. And Steve Bacic, a TV veteran who doesn't have much to do but does "imposing" very well as he often does.
But at least the "wokeness" has something to do with the story. I'm torn between wokeness being tossed in just for the sake of it, and "wokeness" for the sake of the story. Overall, I think I prefer the latter. And at least there's something "real" at the heart of the episode: the treatment of Native Americans. Even if the focus is more on a historical reenactment than a TV or movie. I guess the producers didn't want to bite the hand that feeds them.
There are several plotholes, which is pretty typical for "Two Sentence". it's a reenactment, but who are the spectators? I mentioned Claire's injury earlier. Why does Jeremy's blood in the cemetery trigger the entire thing? And it would have been nice to have an ending. Jeremy just... walks away. Claire is stuck in Cain's End in the "role" of the daughter.
Do the townspeople go back to normal, or what? And what happens to them? It would have probably been more than the episode could handle to show the aftermath of the massacre, but I would have liked to see it. "Your Honor, my client were under the influence of a curse and collectively killed dozens of people."
Overall, "Manifest Destiny" is a decent ending to a so-so season of "Two Sentence". I suppose they'll bring it back again when they need a filler. It's probably cheap: "Manifest" with the outdoor shooting and costumes probably blew whatever budget they had. I don't suppose we're ever going to get 'Twilight Zone'/'Black Mirror'-quality horror/anthology, but "Two Sentence" doesn't do much. It's just frustrating to see the production staff do so little, when you get the impression they're trying to do more.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
Terrible acting
smrobs84-924-2039022 September 2022
Terrible. Acting was simultaneously stiff and way over the top. Plot was kinda lame and predictable. Script was stilted. Honestly this episode sucked. Mostly due to the acting.
Honestly, I've seen better acting in middle school dinner theater. It was downright painful to watch, so ridiculous.
This episode made me lose all momentum in my binge. Most the episodes so far have been really good, so I'm not sure what went wrong with this one.
The good news is, the following episode, "Gentleman" has redeemed the series for now. I just hope there aren't any more episodes like this one.
I'd really recommend you just skip this episode entirely. You'll be better off.
Honestly, I've seen better acting in middle school dinner theater. It was downright painful to watch, so ridiculous.
This episode made me lose all momentum in my binge. Most the episodes so far have been really good, so I'm not sure what went wrong with this one.
The good news is, the following episode, "Gentleman" has redeemed the series for now. I just hope there aren't any more episodes like this one.
I'd really recommend you just skip this episode entirely. You'll be better off.
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