Vultures on the Line – The third episode of The English begins in Hoxem on the Flynn family homestead. A woman tries to flee only to be shot and killed before she can escape. The man puts his gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. Billy Myers (Nicholas Aaron) wakes up and walks outside to ask Martha (Valerie Pachner) if she heard the gunshot. As he goes back inside, we see some of the scalps he has collected. There is also a picture of Billy with Timothy Flynn (Miguel Alvarez). After the intro, we see the gravesites of Timothy Flynn and Alice Flynn. Sheriff Robert Marshall (Stephen Rea) tells Red Morgan (Malcolm Storry) about Timothy shooting his wife. Red knows that he killed himself after that. He doesn’t think the cemetery will fill up too quickly since those days are done. Billy Myers visits the Sheriff when he returns to his office. At the Myers fence line, Martha notices that the fence has been damaged.

Martha rushes into the house to tell Jed Myers (Walt Klink) that there has been a cattle break. She gets mad when she learns that Billy isn’t home. Billy asks the Sheriff about Timothy shooting himself. He wants to know if Timothy had any marks on his body, but he won’t give the Sheriff any further details. Robert talks to the man who buried Timothy and he says he only took him down to his johns because it was a closed casket. Mr. Melmont paid for the coffins. The Sheriff learns that Mrs. Flynn had cowpox. Martha rides to the Thomas Trafford Co. Corral and traps her animals. She tells Clay Jackson that the cattle belong to her. He ends up throwing her to the ground to get her to calm down. Martha argues with Thin Kelly (Steve Wall) about whether the cattle belong to her. He reminds her that unbranded cattle on the open range become the property of the Stock Growers’ Association. Since she isn’t a member, the stock does not belong to her. Thomas Trafford (Tom Hughes) picks up her hat and hands it back to her.

She tells him not to mistake that he is a gentleman, but Thomas already knows that. Martha is glad they sliced up his cows although he calls that a crime. Thomas goes on to say it was a mistake to give Billy Myers and Timothy Flynn the chance to start again. He encourages her to lock her gun box since Timothy just shot and killed his wife. She slaps him. Thomas is adamant that he is going to keep the cattle. As she rides away, Thomas asks Kelly if he rounded them up deliberately. He says anything with Billy Myers’s name on it is fair game in his book. Once she gets home, she learns that Billy is still gone so Jed leaves to look for him. When the Sheriff finds marks on the body, he says they need to talk to Billy. Jed finds a man who has been hung before he notices someone watching him. On the Kansas border, EJ Jenson (Nathan Osgood) lets Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt) look at haematozoa using his microscope. He tells her how they work and how you can end up with a thousand head of dying cattle. He believes he has found a way to combat it by killing the parasite and putting it back into the body.

Jenson says all the ills of the world could be treated this way whether it is a tick or an Indian. When asked how, he says acculturalization before explaining that society must absorb the Indian. He wishes her well and praises her brave intent for trying to deliver the children. Jenson is shot and killed so Cornelia grabs her bow in hopes of fighting back. Then, she lies on the ground and pretends she is dead. An Indian approaches and sits down. He tells Cornelia that he knows she is not shot because he didn’t aim to shoot her. The Indian uses a rope to pull Jenson’s body into his wagon. Cornelia points her rifle at him. The Indian tells her not to bother sending anyone after him because the vultures in Kansas leave no trace. Cornelia asks where she shouldn’t go since that is why he killed Jenson. He leaves seconds later. Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) hangs out with John Clarke (Gary Farmer) who tells him about his bone meal. John heard that the women did all the farm work in the Pawnee tribes. Eli asks how he makes his money since the market has been dead for corn for a year now.

John asks him not to try to guess his business. Eli tells him not to tell him who to be, but John says he can be who he wants as long as he pays his debt for the compass. John puts him to work. He tells Eli that someone is interested in buying the wagon he came in on. Although it isn’t Eli’s to sell, it sounds like John is going to sell it anyway. Evan Morgan (Arturo Vazquez) tells his mother Black Eyed Mog about the wagon nearby. When Cornelia sees them, she tells Rachel that it will be fine. Mog (Nichola McAuliffe) believes they can get 180 for the wagon and more for the horses. She says they can go right ahead if they want to dip their wicks into something warm, but she’ll save her snatch for something bigger. John talks to two men about Clegg’s line and how it is up for grabs now. The competition is Black Eyed Mog and her boys. John claims they got someone else in mind and can take her out. They haggle over the wagon with the body that they’ve brought him. John argues that everyone has a price. Eli looks at the money in Cornelia’s bag.

While searching the wagon, he also finds what appears to be the case for the compass. Cornelia checks the compass while Mog’s group watches her wagon from a distance. As one of them approaches, she tells the girl to get down in the back. Cornelia tries to flee. She continues until she sees a camp in front of her. The man behind them begins yelling to stop before yelling for Rachel. Herr Brubacher (Christian Stamm) tells them that someone came to the camp and told them of terrible happenings. Cornelia tells them about the Indian couple and how she found them. Katie (Kimberly Guerrero) approaches Eli to ask about him not eating with them anyone and the tongue lashing he got from John. He isn’t used to having another man around, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying. They talk about being fathers. Eli asks her about the compass before Katie admits that her husband can cut a deal. She claims they got it from an Englishman who was passing through.

She explains that people cross oceans to get where they are and always come up short so they’ll sell anything at any price to get a little further. Eli calls them hucksters, but she argues these people are just trying to take what was already theirs. Herr gives Cornelia seeds to thank her. She tells them that the man who saved them was Pawnee and they’re taking the land that was his already. Cornelia describes it as stealing. Herr disputes that by saying the land is God’s land. If he did not want them to have this land, he would not have delivered them here. Cornelia learns that it was her horse on the farm. The horse with white socks on its front feet was taken by the bad men or the farmers. Cornelia asks for a saddle so she can rush back to the farm where Eli is busy working. He finds what appears to be hands. When he tries to leave, he is stopped by John who says he is going to hold him to his debt.

He is taking Cornelia’s stuff too. John says she owes him a wagon, but Eli claims it buys his silence. Eli shows him the case he found in the German wagon. John says he doesn’t make the mess even though he gets paid to clean it up. Eli knows he tells the bushwhackers about everyone who comes through here and gets a cut of whatever they bring back. He understands that John has to keep his hand using any means necessary. They gave him the land because it isn’t suitable for growing crops. John reveals they only strip down white people. Eli says that isn’t what he is looking for. John has someone looking for him though. They believe he saw something during his soldiering days that no one else was allowed to. John lets him leave only for Katie to knock him out as he goes. Cornelia makes it back to the farm and begins looking around. She finds Katie in the middle of digging a grave. Katie claims Eli is already gone while pretending he ran off with her cash. She says the grave is for her dog.

They begin talking about the children they’ve lost. Katie doesn’t think Cornelia has the stomach for this so she begins taking the rifle away from her. They get into a brief scuffle with Katie being stabbed in the side. Cornelia continues her search for Eli after Katie hits the ground. She finds a dead body that John was going to dispose of. Cornelia confronts John to ask where Eli is. She finds out where he is keeping his money. She wonders how he is going to pay for his wife now that he has given up everything to save himself. Cornelia tells him about her previous exploits and says there is something about this country. John learns about his wife’s nasty wound. Cornelia again asks where Eli is. At the bootleg compound of Kills on Water, the Indian (William Belleau) introduces himself to Eli. He has been looking for him for a long time. Kills on Water wants to know everything about the massacre at Chalk River.

 

The English Review

Despite some intense scenes, The English remains hindered by a lack of focus with the show introducing new characters and taking sidesteps in each new episode. Without so many side stories, it is likely there never would’ve been six episodes of The English so that might’ve been the main goal and it was achieved regardless of the cost. Unfortunately, I am struggling to care about much because we know so little about most of the characters and their motives.

Even the two main characters have only been briefly explored in this regard. The highlight of the series has consistently been the beautiful scenery even though certain scenes could use a bit more lighting. While some of the accents are odd, the performances are good enough to make The English feel genuine. Truthfully, the series is interesting enough to keep viewers interested through three episodes, but some may begin to lose interest and others will find it to be a forgettable experience.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The English can be found on Reel Mockery here. Using ad blockers to improve your browsing experience? We humbly ask you to consider supporting us anyway. Learn how to do so here.