2 l November
6 - 12, 2022
Northwest Oregon Screen Scene
BY JAY BOBBIN
Prime Video’s ‘The English’ a parable
on race, power and love in the Old West
Chaske Spencer and Emily Blunt
star in “The English,” premiering
Friday on Prime Video.
A woman’s quest to avenge her son’s death launches
her into an epic adventure across a violent 1890s
landscape in a Western series coming to Prime Video.
In “The English,” a six episode series premiering
Friday, Nov. 11, Emily Blunt (“A Quiet Place”) stars
as Lady Cornelia Locke, a British aristocrat who
arrives in a lawless Kansas town and crosses paths with
Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer, “The Twilight Saga” film
series), a Pawnee ex-Cavalry scout about to be killed
by a gang of local thugs. She bargains for his life and
is almost killed but through a series of events both are
freed.
He has a mission of his own – to claim land as a
military veteran under Abraham Lincoln’s Homestead
Act but soon discovers that that doesn’t mean much
for Native Americans. So the pair head off for Hoxem,
Wyo., on a quest to find the killer of Cornelia’s son
but encounter much more than they anticipated.
Filmed on location in Spain, the series from writer/
director Hugo Blick (“The Honourable Woman,”
“Black Earth Rising”) features lush photography and
a solid cast that also includes Stephen Rea, Valerie
Pachner, Rafe Spall and Thomas Trafford.
“I think revenge and identity are, at its core, the
main themes,” explains Blunt, who is also an executive
producer. “You’ve got Cornelia’s character, who is
seeking a blood revenge, and if she’s able to carry that
out then she sees a reclaiming of who she is. And
you’ve got Eli Whipp, who’s just seeking a land claim.
It sounds simple, but that is his way of reclaiming
his identity after leaving the U.S. Army and all the
atonement of guilt he has to go through.
“But tonally, the story is told in this very intimate
way that’s funny, violent, but also epic. We haven’t
seen that for a while, something so epic and so
beautiful with something that has modern intimacy
to it.”
Indeed, there is an intimate power in the
performances of both lead actors, particularly Spencer,
who brings a stillness to the role of Eli.
“It’s a beast of a role,” he says. “To me, I saw him as
a modern-day biker, an ex-veteran. Someone who has
seen war and been through tragedy. If Eli were alive
today, he would be riding a Harley Davidson with a
big beard and tattoos, and he probably would have
met Cornelia at a truck stop.
“When I was reading through this, my imagination
was going with that,” he continues, “and I hope I
can represent that in him, because I do see him as
an ex-vet. He suffers from PTSD and loneliness, and
throughout the story you see those walls start coming
down – with both characters, Cornelia and Eli. That’s
what I wanted to bring to Eli, to make him as human
as possible.”
In Focus
“When I Think of Christmas” (Hallmark Channel
— TV movie premiere, Nov. 20)
Sara (Shenae Grimes-Beech) returns to her home-
town to help her mother (Beth Broderick) move and is
surprised to find her ex-boyfriend Josh (Niall Matter) is
back home. The two had once planned a life in music
together but Sara left to study law. When Sara makes
a surprising discovery, she and Josh forge a bold plan
for the upcoming Christmas concert that will lead them
back to their musical roots and make this a holiday to
remember in this 2022 romance.
“A Waltons Thanksgiving” (The CW — TV mov-
ie premiere, Nov. 20)
This 2022 drama reunites the Walton family as they
prepare for Thanksgiving in 1934. The Depression
has reached far and wide, but John Walton Sr. (Teddy
Sears) provides for his family through the farm and
by doing odd jobs from the eccentric Baldwin Sisters
(Susan Savoie, Annie Cook). And it’s also the time of
year for the Annual Harvest Festival Fair, where car-
nival rides, talent shows and pie contests become the
center of attention. Logan Shroyer, Marcelle LeBlanc,
Rebecca Koon and Bellamy Young also star.
“Criminal Minds: Evolution: Season 1” (Para-
mount+ — series premiere, Nov. 24)
This new iteration in the “Criminal Minds” franchise
follows the elite team of FBI criminal profilers who
come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub
who has used the pandemic to build a network of
other serial killers. Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten
Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget
Brewster reprise their roles from the original series,
joined by Zach Gilford.
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