I made a post the other day after watching the first episode of Frontier, which is about to release a third season. The show stars Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, as a wilderness fur trapper in 1700's Canada, who is pursuing a vendetta against the Hudson's Bay Company. After watching the first episode, I definitely wanted to see more. The premise is right up my alley - gritty historical drama, an interesting period in North American history, Native American tribes - but after a few more episodes, the show has failed to live up to my expectations.
Some of the acting is great, or at least good- Momoa, Alun Armstrong as Lord Benton, Zoe Boyle as Grace Emberly- but some of the actors are not really pulling it off for me. Evan Jonigkeit as Captain Chesterfield seems like he's really trying to be Tom Hardy, and his brooding dangerous vibe is a bit over the top. His character, like many others in the show, seems too one-sided and hackey, like the writers had a single clichéd character trait and never bothered to really think about it again.
And that's my biggest problem... the writing is really bad. With such a great setup, there could be all kinds of interesting situations happening, but instead I'm just bored. The characters are making decisions that don't make much sense except to move the plot along to very obvious points. The side stories are boring and overdone, leaving me wishing they would just stick to Declan, his Native Allies and their war with the Company. All the other stuff is just filling time and leaving no room for any character development, which I have seen absolutely none in 5 episodes. Even though I have only one more episode left in the first season, I don't even want to finish it.