The Wounded Wolf – As this episode of The English begins, it is 15 years earlier and Thomas Trafford (Tom Hughes) and his group approach Tobias Biskind (Christian Patterson) who has brought them the mules as requested. Thomas tells him they’re getting to know the land so they can raise cattle and he should come back in a couple of years to see them. Tobias mentions the outfit he is wearing and how he saw a Cheyenne Indian in something similar. Once he realizes that they’re short on money, Tobias grabs his gun and points it at Thomas. He wants a hundred dollars extra or twenty-five per mule. When Thomas questions him, Tobias asks for thirty per mule. Thomas asks David Melmont (Rafe Spall) for the money so they can pay him. David reveals he took a walk around Tobias’s town and discovered that he had a reputation for doing this sort of thing. He has hidden a little bit of cloth about a mile back.

If Tobias doesn’t take it home and hoist it up his flagpole at home, David’s man is going to kill his wife. Once Tobias relents and agrees to the deal, David won’t tell Thomas whether or not he was telling the truth. After the intro, David, Thomas, and Kelly (Steve Wall) find a man who has been strung up by the Cheyenne. Thomas thinks they should bury him. David argues that he’ll scare everyone so they can keep this place to themselves. Around the same time, Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) meets Sergeant Ellroy (Andy Williams) who tells him that Corporal Jerome McClintock has gone AWOL with Troopers Myers and Flynn. They’ve gone hunting Indians even though they were ordered to leave them alone. Eli says it is none of his business since he is heading home. David shoots at a wolf but doesn’t kill it. Then, he promises to go after it and bring it back so they can make a nice stole out of it for Thomas’s fiancé. Although Thomas doesn’t think she knows he exists, David knows all about Lady Cornelia Locke.

As David leaves, Kelly accuses him of talking loose to the man who pays his bills. Thomas doesn’t pay his bills though since the board of directors does. Kelly doesn’t think it is good when a servant tells his boss what to do. Thomas tells him now to worry about that because they have a class system in England and David knows exactly where he sits. Kelly warns him to keep an eye on him because they don’t have that here. He has seen what happens to men like David in a place like this and freedom isn’t always pretty. When David goes after the wolf, he finds a camp nearby. When the wolf growls at him, he acts like he is going to hit it with his rifle, but it ends up running away instead. David rides back to tell the others about the Cheyenne camp he found. They believe it is best to leave them alone. While stopped, they discuss the risks and Kelly notices that one of the mules is lame so he’ll have to keep an eye on it.

David tells Thomas what he should expect in the next few years and how he’ll face more competition. He believes he’ll go bust by the tenth year. David goes on to suggest that they could be partners one day. He gets in his face and tells him that he doesn’t have a clue who he is. Jerome interrupts their conversation to ask them if they can approach. Jerome (Julian Bleach) introduces them to himself, Billy Myers, and Timothy Flynn. As they share a drink, Jerome learns that Thomas has only been out here for 12 days. They try to find out more about the unofficial business Jerome and his men claim to be on. Jerome admits they’re on execution patrol on behalf of the First Regiment of the Colorado Volunteers. They’re after an Indian named Running Hawk who killed Billy’s brother. Kelly asks if they were at Sand Creek where there were all kinds of horrors from what he heard. He believes they made purses out of women’s private parts. Jerome says he still has it if they want to take a look, but Thomas quickly says no.

They talk about wanting them to leave even though David would prefer they stay. He begins telling them how they’re going to bring 50,000 head of cattle here by this time next year. David can’t have anything stopping that including Indians although Kelly says there aren’t any. David doesn’t agree with that comment. Billy wants to do to Running Hawk what he did to his brother. Kelly thinks they’ll get court martialed for doing that. David understands them and how they do things that must be done when others won’t. After David says he has seen Indians, Thomas tries to get him to shut up. He gets mad at David and sacks him as David continues laughing at him. Once Thomas is forced to sit back down, Jerome knocks him out with the butt of his rifle before asking David to show them where the Indians are. David leads them toward the Cheyenne camp nearby. Kelly and Thomas hear gunshots in the distance moments later.

When Thomas tries to grab his rifle, Kelly takes him down and keeps him there to stop him from doing something dangerous. Kelly tells him that there is nothing he can do because they’ll kill him too. He wants to ride down to Fort Fetterman to report it. Eli comes across their bottle and hears the shooting moments later. He runs into Jerome moments later. Eli sees the chaos before telling Jerome that it isn’t any of his business. David grows at Eli and accosts him before he leaves. 15 years later, Kills on Water (William Belleau) tells Eli that the people killed there was part of his family. He knows that it was Jerome, Billy, Timothy, and Melmont. Kills on Water asks him where they are. 15 years earlier, David visits Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt) at home. They talk about the painting on her wall and how David has been there for real now. David says what he is about to tell her is best for only her ears because Thomas is in jail. He tells her that it started with a wolf before giving her a rundown of what happened.

David doesn’t know what made him do it although he thinks it might’ve been the country. He was all for getting him straight out and keeping it quiet for the company and himself. David gets emotional as he confesses that he couldn’t save him. He says the guide went to the fort to report it so they sent out a search party. They were eventually found in a wh0re house. The soldiers were dishonorably discharged while Thomas is awaiting payment of a fine. Cornelia suggests he should just serve his time. David claims he is being held in a well and will likely drown when the rains come. She learns that they want two thousand pounds. David came to her because Thomas had proposed although she says she is not his fiancé. He hasn’t told her father yet. This was Thomas’s last chance and he will never get another. Cornelia admits she was responsible for getting her father to invest.

Her father spoke about him and how he got his start. They agree that they cannot leave Thomas stuffed down a well. Cornelia sometimes wonders if there is horror in them all. David says there is. Cornelia says she’ll get the money. Later, she receives letters that confirm Thomas wasn’t arrested. She knows that he was lying. David tells her that he learned that hate is a lot warmer than a bear skin coat. The fine was very steep so it almost cleared him out. Cornelia threatens to tell on him and warns him that he won’t make it as far as the street corner. David says he is going to Colorado and he is going to use her money to buy a stake in a gold mine. He wants to make sure they never talk about this. Once he finishes talking to her, David goes downstairs to talk to the piano tuner. He tells him that she has taken to her bed and he’ll show himself out. Cornelia is shown lying on the floor with a letter supposedly written by Thomas in front of her.

David walks outside and hands the case to Jerome while telling him a deal is a deal. Thomas knows the horror wasn’t his by design, but he made the choice to come to this place. He alleges that the Devil followed his trail. Thomas must stay and test himself in this country. He warns Cornelia to never come to this place so she can live her life in perfect safety half a world away.

 

The English Review

The fourth episode of The English finally got into the backstory of Thomas Trafford and explained his connection to Cornelia Locke. Due to the editing and the multiple storylines being told simultaneously, it is hard to know whether Thomas’s scenes in prior episodes were in the past or present. Once again, The English feels like a slideshow of video clips that have been randomly pieced together due to the lack of linear continuity.

The episode was heavy on dialogue that mostly made sense, but there are still conversations in which the characters seem to be saying things that have no meaning or purpose. Truthfully, entire episodes and characters could’ve been removed from The English and it likely would’ve been a more successful project overall because the pace is frustratingly tedious. It may end up being memorable as a whole, but large chunks of each episode will be forgotten before the next one even begins.

The scenery is still gorgeous and it is great that it was filmed in such an authentic location. The performers have done admirably with their respective roles although the mix of accents can be a little too much sometimes. It isn’t bad, but the jumbled storytelling means that viewers will have to put in a lot of effort to get anything out of The English, and even then it is hard to say whether they’ll be rewarded for their time.

The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of The English are available on Reel Mockery here. Want to learn how to support our independent website? Click here.