Path of the Dead – The second episode of The English starts in Caine County, Wyoming in 1890. A man arrives to get Thomas Trafford (Tom Hughes) so he can see something for himself. When he arrives, he finds a man being subdued by others. Thomas hits him a few times before asking his men to show him. After the intro, they ride into the newly created town of Hoxem. Thomas approaches Sheriff Robert Marshall (Stephen Rea) who admits he hasn’t arrested anyone yet. Thomas shows him a dead 13-week gestated prized Longhorn Hereford cross. He imported the bull from England at a huge expense. There are a hundred more up there all ripped out the same. When the Sheriff asks what was responsible, Thomas quickly blames the homesteaders. Trafford complains about everyone coming in after he opened it up and how they’re trying to drive him off his land.

The Sheriff reminds him that he is grazing public land according to the statutes. Although Thomas claims he made these lands, Robert says God did that. One of the members of Thomas’s night watch gets off his horse and collapses. Robert would like to talk to him when he gets his jaw back on. He asks Thin Kelly (Steve Wall) if he reads this the same. Kelly says maybe since the sod-busters are up to shoot or rustle. He goes on to say that animals have been sliced up and he doubts it was a wolf. He remembers something similar happening against the Cheyenne. They were killing pregnant women. Kelly doesn’t think it was Indians or pig farmers. They question what type of community the Sheriff has up here. In Grasslands, Kansas, Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt) tells Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) that she won’t tell him no matter how many times he asks her. Eli tells her about the message that comes in a dream.

Once she says her dreams are wild, Eli tells her that she should go to an Elder because they can help her understand. He mentions the Path of the Dead although Cornelia calls it the Milky Way. Hans Steiger (Maarten Dannenberg) begins praying when he is confronted by three men. They try to communicate with him, but Hans can’t speak English. Captain Clegg (Jan Knightley) can’t understand him. He believes Hans is saying his wife is pregnant so he tells him to go back to her. Once Hans runs, Clegg tells Charlie that his heart will be full of hope when he puts an arrow through it. Hans is shot and killed. Eli shows Cornelia each of the directions. He tells her that he is going up there for a land claim. He questions why she came from the south. Cornelia says she should’ve left from Liverpool and understands that now, but Southampton was closest. She was in a hurry and her son had just died so that is how she ended up in New Orleans. She knows where the man who was responsible is and that is where she needs to be.

They talk about her shooting before she reveals that she is good with a bow and arrow too. As they continue, Cornelia asks Eli if he’ll teach her to follow the stars at night only to be told no. She questions if his family and her boy are in the next world. Eli asks if he died violent or ill since violent takes a short road and ill takes the long road. Most of his loved ones took the short road. Eli says the English gave them all kinds of illnesses and some say that is the short. When he says short, Cornelia says they’re looking at the same road. They arrive at allotments that Eli says could be Kickapoo land. They’re noticed by the locals below. A short time later, Eli believes they’re being followed so he decides to find out. When they’re approached by three people, Eli tells her to take out her rifle. Charlie introduces himself before saying they fought together in Cheyenne County. Once Eli tells him he fought well, he is told that Captain Clegg wanted to meet him. Clegg invites Eli to join them. Eli doesn’t sound interested in bushwhacking.

He says he will go on his way and let them go on theirs. After Clegg asks what is in her bags, Eli says nothing worth dying for. The Captain wants the bags. He warns Eli that the last man in his position could only pray. Charlie encourages them to give him the dang bags. Soon, the shooting begins. Two of the men are killed while Charlie manages to hobble away. Cornelia finishes him with her bow. Then, they find Hans’s wagon surrounded by coyotes. Eli checks inside the wagon and finds Hans’s wife dead. He tells Cornelia that he can try for the child. He admits he has done it before but only for horses. As Cornelia begs him to save the baby, Eli instructs her to go find some sugar. While searching for sugar, Cornelia finds a child hiding in the storage portion of the wagon. Eli successfully saves the baby before they try to find a way to feed it. Cornelia doesn’t want to let it take milk from her. He warns her that the baby won’t last long on sugar water. Cornelia wants to get her to a doctor.

Eli wonders if they should’ve left the coyotes to it. Cornelia notices that he keeps saying these negative things, yet he always ends up doing the opposite. Eli suggests he better start listening to himself. He mentions that she doesn’t talk about that fight. They talk about Eli’s time in the Army and how he signed up because he has enemies. Eli confesses that he is just looking for a piece of land. Cornelia reveals the same thing happened to her father and he got a peerage and half of Devon. Although she lived with her folks, it was in a different house on a separate part of the grounds. They discuss how Eli and his people don’t write things down. She asks about pausing on his shot and whether killing him would’ve killed the story. Eli says he was dead already and he doesn’t think he had a say in it. Cornelia claims she’ll willingly tell his story. Then, Eli tells her why they can’t go to town and have to go back. Moments later, they run into Katie Clarke while she is out hunting.

As they follow her to the camp, Eli reminds Cornelia not to tell anyone about her money. John Clarke (Gary Farmer) tells Eli about his tribe and Katie’s. They discuss the land in Oklahoma before John says they had to dig through 20-foot of rock till they hit it. He claims that the greatest enemy to an Indian is their past. They have to turn their back on it if they have any hope of surviving. Katie (Kimberly Guerrero) asks him to stop lecturing. She recalls the family that lost a babe. When they admit they aren’t sure how they’d take it, Cornelia says she has money and will offer to pay. Katie thinks God can find a way. The young girl from the wagon, Rachel, enters and speaks German. Katie remembers the father because there were Mennonites that came through here about five days ago saying there was a wagon down. They were heading to Oklahoma for another land run. Cornelia wonders if John and Katie could ride to them, but they don’t want to do that.

Eli and Cornelia admit that they have reasons not to go backwards too. Cornelia tells Eli that they must. Once they go outside, Cornelia tells him about the supplies they were offering. Eli still isn’t eager to go back because they have already gone far enough back. He tells her about the boomers that steal the land that had just been given to the Indians. Eli says they should leave them local and be on their way. He tells Cornelia about the time he traveled through her with his family before and the tragedy that took place. By the time the Army came to get him, he was living for nothing but the blanket that covered his head. He knows why she has to do what she has to do, but he isn’t going back. In the morning, Cornelia prepares to travel back so she can drop off the baby. She drives the wagon over to Eli who learns that they switched wagons. Cornelia left the money since she met someone she can trust. He tells her to keep her knife close because her face will give her killer pause. Eli warns her that scorpions are dangerous to themselves.

It works so hard trying to kill its prey that it ends up stinging itself. Eli gives Cornelia a compass before revealing he bought it from them or at least offered to work it off. Cornelia was hoping he’d say more about what is up there and such. She thanks him for the compass before leaving.

 

The English Review

The second episode of The English followed the same path as the first while adding new characters that weren’t explained nearly enough. Both episodes have suffered from pacing issues, but the second might’ve been even worse. At this rate, The English is never going to get out of the first gear and reach a genuine level of excitement achieved by other westerns. At points, The English appears to have focus issues since it is halfheartedly introducing new characters and again dropping them into scenes viewers know nothing about.

All the while, time is being taken away from Eli and Cornelia who need to be developed more thoroughly. Besides the relationship between the two main characters, everything else is slightly disconnected. It feels like a video slideshow with many pieces that are only loosely connected. While everything will likely come together in future episodes, this hasn’t made for captivating television yet.

If the characters’ motivations were better explored and they were actually working towards achieving those goals, the show likely would’ve had more focus and more purposefulness. The best thing about The English through two episodes is the stunning scenery and the main performances are solid too. It just doesn’t feel like the script is capable of replicating the success of other western dramas. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The English can be found on Reel Mockery here. Are you using an ad blocker to improve your browsing experience? Consider supporting our work by clicking here.