Taking cues from Robin Hood and Braveheart, The Bastard Executioner is a tale of a warrior who has been forsaken by his kingdom and now on a warpath for vengeance. Instead of doing the stealthy guerrilla warfare, he opts for infiltration and direct slaughter. There are many fantasy aspects at plays here, from the unlawful monarch to supernatural premonition, but aside from extreme gore The Bastard is hardly memorable compared to other fantasy series.
The setting is in medieval Wales, where aristocrat rules with iron hand. There are many corruptions and Wilkin (Lee Jones), as one of the knights suffers from the repercussion of the ruler's ominous act. He escapes his destiny by donning another man's identity.
Perhaps the most hindrance this series has to deal with is how to differentiate itself. At times it looks a lot like other medieval action. The cast consists of many actors who have experience on TV series, although aside from Wilkin and a couple of other characters, they seem too identical to stereotype knight, shady magistrate or lady royalty.
Its introduction to these characters is plenty, yet majority of them don't have the hook for audience to invest in. Furthermore, the use of premonition, warrior deserter and awkward CGI has been done so many times by movies or other series. It does set a world filled with anguish and while the bleak ambiance can be engaging, there's barely any charm here.
The best set pieces it has to offer is definitely the action sequences. It's one of the most brutal showings in recent TV. Blood and limbs fly relentlessly, it doesn't even try to hide the massacre as camera intentionally focus on the killing. While this may seem excessive or blatant, it at least dares to depict the appropriate bloodbath fitting of its theme.
However, simply having chaotic action isn't enough to substitute its fundamental drama. There's certainly an effort for political or private relationship and The Bastard Executioner is decent enough to be an alternative medieval series, but it's just not the same level as Vikings, Game of Thrones or even Sons of Anarchy.
