Composed of seven episodes, Godless is a western mini-series created by Scott Frank -- notable works on Minority Report and Logan -- and published by Netflix.
With an excellent performance by Jeff Daniels, the show follows his character Frank Griffin and his gang of outlaws searching for Roy Goode, a former member of the gang that went rogue. Hiding in a small mining town called La Belle, Roy Goode quickly establishes himself among the community as they discover his goodwill among his troublesome past.
Becoming a vital part of the community, upon news of Frank Griffin's upcoming arrival, the town settles up to defend both La Belle and Roy Goode from the revenge-hungry gang that's coming with Griffin.
With the western genre slowly making its way back into popularity with successful entries like There Will Be Blood and Westworld, Godless manages to add itself to that successful lineup through its unique story and additional elements that distinguishes it from others; the town of La Belle is formed mostly of women, which may seem forced to some, but actually works quite well in forming a narrative that displays the opposite of what's typically expected in the time and place it's set in.
The characters are gritty, rundown by the heat and desert over the years, for example, Scoot McNairy's character is the town's sheriff, struggling from a slow loss of vision, something that can be fixed these days with a quick prescription of fitting glasses, but back then, something that could be relatively hard to come by in a small town surrounded by sun, rock, and gangs with ill intent. He's a liability when it comes to protecting the town, and his deputy Whitey Winn (Thomas Sangster) is far too young and fragile to really protect an entire town from gangs.
For seven episodes, each around sixty-minutes long, there's certainly a lot to take in, and it really doesn't feel like a mini-series with a small budget; it's home to a lot of character, a lot of individual narratives that entwine and further develop things, and that's how the western genre should be: strong character development with a connecting narrative, not just all-out gunfights and southern accents.
