‘The Bastard Executioner’ Episode Three Sets Up Some Major Butchering, But Leaves Questions In Its Wake [Spoilers]
The Bastard Executioner aired its third episode, “Effigy/Delw,” this week and it accomplished a number of goals. First off, the episode set the stage for the level of butchery that will come at the hands of the executioner, Wilkin Brattler. Brattler must punish a peasant woman for removing the nose of the effigy of the Baron and does so by cutting off her nose. Brutal for sure! But that’s the way show creator Kurt Sutter likes it – and he’s good at pulling brutal off in a way no one else can.
Here’s the promo for the episode.
Uproxx reveals that although there was a main storyline to the third episode, there was a lot of background noise that left some unanswered questions. One of these questions was, what was up with all the dead bodies with severed limbs, but director Paris Barclay had an answer for this one.
“The bodies aren’t arbitrary. People are losing their lives in pursuit of someone or something. Annora seems to be the one who has the overall view of this, but she’s not sharing that with all of us yet. As each episode goes on, you’ll learn a little bit more about what’s actually happening and why these bodies are there, and why they’re arranged in such a way, and how that ties in with the whole mythology of our series.”
Many critics, including TV.com, feel the gory show is getting off to a slow start.
“The problem with the pilot of The Bastard Executioner is that the long form and slow burn of its two-hour premiere was a bloviated mess of a kid playing with his new toys in his new sandbox for the first time.”
It might seem that it began slowly, but there is such a story line and ensemble of characters to establish that it takes time to set the stage. The ratings for the show also got off to a slow start, but according to Entertainment Weekly, John Landgraf of FX defended the series.
“With Kurt, he’s just not a guy who loves exposition and setting up these really complicated multi-layered worlds.”
The Bastard Executioner is most certainly complicated, but it has so much going for it, including a loyal and growing fan base and Ed Sheeran performing the theme song, that it is sure to build up a stronger fan base as the show progresses this season.
[Photo: The Bastard Executioner Official Instagram]
