Cherished – As the finale of The English begins, Tap O’Neil (Tadhg Murphy) rides up to Thin Kelly (Steve Wall) in Powder River. Tap is taking off because he doesn’t want the other side of his jaw snapped off. Kelly reminds him that he allowed those cows to get chopped up on his watch, but Tap says they were never going to live alive. Kelly suspects Tap is going to try to move his house and fool the government. He admits he is after 60 acres. Tap reveals that David Melmont has faith in him so he is going to get rich. Kelly is warned not to cross him because he can get real nasty. Tap tells him that David has a thing that does stuff for him including slashing the cows. When it comes for him, he isn’t ever going to wake up again. Kelly wants him to tell his boss that he’ll be sleeping with one eye open. David Melmont (Rafe Spall) watches over the men working on his land.

After the intro, someone on a horse uses fire arrows the burn the hay on Thomas Trafford’s land while two men watch. The men are killed before their scalps are taken as trophies. Sheriff Marshall (Stephen Rea) asks Martha Myers (Valerie Pachner) if she knows about Fetterman. It was the biggest Indian fight before Big Horn. The Sheriff says 80 some soldiers were mostly mutilated. He notices the words Chalk River and tries to find out more about it from Martha who says it is a bourn that comes when it floods near Busted Belly. Kelly and Thomas (Tom Hughes) find out about the attack and contemplate traveling north. Kelly believes they’ll kill him next before getting Thomas. He wants Kelly to go to Alberta and tell them he is coming with the whole lot because this is not what defeat looks like. Thomas orders Kelly to cut the Myers cattle out and give them back because she deserves a better hand than his. In Hoxem, Sheriff Marshall learns that Billy Myers was given a dishonorable discharge.

He asks Red Morgan (Malcolm Storry) to go to Fort McKinney to find out why and to ask them about Chalk River. Once he gets there, he is told that Myers, Flynn, and McClintock got a dishonorable discharge for consorting with prostitutes while absent without leave while the civilian got a fine. Red knows they took part in an unauthorized massacre of Cheyenne Indians. Captain Knox (Sule Rimi) tells him about Stella Shriver who used to run a place called the Hog Ranch outside of Fetterman where they got picked up. She likely still has something to say. Red Morgan tries to track down the Black Widow. Kier Grant (Ian Pirie) talks to the Sheriff about Trafford admitting defeat and moving up to Alberta. During their conversation, Sheriff Marshall mentions that the cattle must be branded on the left-rear hip and that makes him think of something. He checks the pictures of the dead men to see if the marks could be TT.

Sheriff Marshall visits Thomas to talk to him before he leaves for Alberta. He wants to know why Thomas put brands on Timothy and Billy. Thomas tells them about the killings and how Myers and Flynn tried to join their outfit. Melmont is gone because he had a claim on the Alamosa. Even though he struck gold, he came back because it isn’t enough for men like him just to succeed. He bought plots for Myers and Flynn to rub his nose in it. Thomas denies killing Martha’s husband before showing the Sheriff the marks on his arm. He claims the shame was on all of them. The Sheriff believes they’ll name this town after him one day before Thomas reveals they called the area Chalk River when they first game out here. The Cheyenne Indians called it The Stench or bad luck because it happened over there. Thomas says they’re buried right there and he built the town right on top of them. He reveals that the word the Cheyenne use sounds like “Hox-om”.

Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) finds a surgeon and asks him to take care of Cornelia (Emily Blunt). Red Morgan manages to find the Black Widow while Cornelia talks about ruin and other things. She has marks on her hands. Later, she tells Flathead Jackson (Jack Klaff) that it is syphilis. She knows the four stages and that she is in the fourth stage. Cornelia says she will experience erosion of the soft tissues and bone as well as blindness and deafness. She may even develop mental insanity. Her son was born with it and she nursed him all his life. Jackson isn’t going to blink at a mother’s love. In some ways, he was the parent because he showed her the way. Jackson says it can take many years. For Cornelia’s son, it took 14 years. He tells her that the chest is worrisome so he is going to give her a dose of mercury vapor. It should get her to wherever she wants to go. They discuss whether Eli knows before the doctor says the boy has a broken leg.

Since the boy can’t travel, Cornelia offers Jackson money to take him. Jackson says he is looking for a backer in a new venture. He shows her a sketch of the future Flathead Jackson’s Wild West Show. She agrees to back him in exchange for a photograph of the boy at 18 to show her that he made it. Cornelia believes she can trust him based on the way that he looked at her son. She wants him to take a photo of Eli and her tomorrow while she still looks like this. As they prepare to take the picture, Cornelia tries to tell Eli something but he already knows. Cornelia turns her head just before the picture is taken. Once they’ve finished, they agree leaving the boy was the right thing to do. Cornelia asks Eli to not put himself at risk no matter what happens next. Red returns to Hoxem where he learns from Kier that Trafford pulled out yesterday. He is told that the Sheriff is delivering cattle to Martha Myers.

They talk outside just as Cornelia and Eli arrive. Cornelia tells them that they’re looking for David Melmont. They won’t say. However, they say Billy is in the graveyard and Red is going to Martha’s place right now. The Sheriff returns the cattle and asks Martha why she married Billy. She says she didn’t. Her folks went down to Alamosa in ’77 and David played her father for the fool he was. She was defiled by David. Martha didn’t have any choices since she was a woman with a child. Jed (Walt Klink) notices that Kelly is coming toward them and he is seriously hurt. Before they can take him anywhere, Eli and Cornelia arrive. As they remove the bullets, Eli says they’re from a Gatling gun. When asked about Billy, Marshall says it was more like Martha was his housekeeper. Timothy Flynn is dead. Eli remembers Jerome and David Melmont. Marshall tells them about the massacre that they took part in.

Red says they got syphilis from a lady’s house they went to. The woman who told him had it on her face. Sheriff Marshall says Flynn killed his wife because she had it on her hands. That is why Billy dug them up because he was looking for signs of it. Cornelia says David has it too before Martha tells Jed to get outside right now. Jed gets angry and destroys Billy’s sword on his way out. Martha tells them that the boy is Melmont’s son, but Cornelia explains why she doesn’t think they have the disease. Cornelia knows because he gave it to her before. Kelly warns them that they better get out of there before Jerome comes. They fortify the house only for Jerome to jump on the roof and begin firing. Kelly is shot and ends up knocking over a lantern that causes a fire in the house. Eli runs out and shoots Jerome who flees on his horse. Eli fires another shot at him as he goes.

Martha finds out that her son is gone so the group decides to go confront Melmont. They decide to split up because Jerome went in one direction and Jed went in the other direction. Before they can leave, Trafford’s manager Clay (Cristian Solimeno) arrives to tell them that Trafford killed the herd in a flash flood like he has never seen before. They tried to save him but he drowned. Although Cornelia claims she will find him, Clay doesn’t think he wants to be found. This is what Trafford wanted since he opened up this whole place and the least they can do is let him be a part of it now. At Busted Belly, Jerome’s body is found. Eli tells Cornelia that they’re going to part soon. He knows she is angry, but sometimes just seeing a thing is enough to let it go. Eli tells her that she is about to see him before a man appears on the rocks above them. Simon approaches and tells them that they’re up there.

Simon (Benjamin Victor) tells him that the Mojave paint on his face means he is ready to die since it is his ticket to heaven. They go with Simon and find Jed tied up nearby. David says hello to Cornelia before telling her how Jed came at him with a broken sword. She tells him about Thomas and suggests they might’ve shared a life together if it wasn’t for him. When he says she would’ve drowned with him, Cornelia shows him the sores on her chest and says she died years ago when he killed her. As for David, he admits it came, went away, and never came back. He notices the picture of their boy she is wearing. Cornelia says she cherished him because he never gave up. He suffered and taught her to do the same. Cornelia claims David was the part that he was fighting and she was the part that kept him alive. David remembers that the music was pretty. He points to Eli and says he recalls him.

Eli reminds him that he wasn’t the one covered in blood although David says he was watching. David warns them that he has a man who looks out for him. When Cornelia pulls her gun out, David says she isn’t going to kill him because there is a little bit of her boy walking on this earth. David shows her his damaged gums. Martha shows up and shoots him instead. Eli shoots Simon before checking on Cornelia since she fell to the ground but she is fine. Eli goes over to David who asks him who did it. He takes the sword and says he did before stabbing and killing David. Sheriff Marshall says he is going to have to arrest them both now. Eli claims he’ll only need to arrest him. Marshall gives them advice for staying alive since David’s workers will try to lynch them once they find out. Later, he tells Eli that they’re going to hang him right in front of his store. That is how this story is going to end but not for Eli. The Sheriff removes his handcuffs and reveals the story he is going to tell everyone.

The only way for that to work is for Eli to disappear and never look back. As for Cornelia, she has her own journey to face. Once Eli gets on his horse and begins looking around, he hears Cornelia calling his name in the distance. Robert complains that this shouldn’t be happening. Eli tells Cornelia it is time to go home, but she isn’t ready to do that. She says home is here with him. He says he’ll go back to Loup because you sometimes need to see it to let it go. Eli tells her they’re only here for a moment. The next time she looks at her star she should look to its right. The wolf beside her will never change. As they hug, Robert yells that they have to go. Cornelia gives Eli the bottle of wheat seed and he gives her something in return. Cornelia rides away with the Sheriff. As they ride away, Eli begins yelling “I cherish you”. 13 years later in 1903 in London, Cornelia leaves home in a carriage. She goes to Flathead’s show where White Moon is part of the action.

He remembers her. White Moon tells her about traveling the world and how he likes Hastings the best. She offers to help him leave if he wants, but he doesn’t seem interested in going to one of them schools or becoming an American. He tells her who he is because revealing that he plays Sergeant Whipp. She came to give him what Eli gave to her before they separated. He puts it in her bag. White Moon lifts her veil as she says the shame, but he says it isn’t for her. As the episode ends, it says Buffalo Bill’s Wild West toured English and Wales in 1903 with members of the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho Nations as well as ex-scouts of the Pawnee Battalion.

 

The English Review

The finale of The English was likely the best episode of the season even though David Melmont went out with a whimper. The episode did a great of mostly explaining everything and conveniently ending the story although it would’ve been nice to know more about Eli’s fate. Truthfully, viewers could probably watch the first and last episodes without missing much and still getting the same level of satisfaction or possibly even more.

The series would’ve been more effective if it had a linear storyline that was easier to follow. The accents and Cornelia’s makeup are two other things that people will likely complain about. Chaske Spencer was perfect for the role of Eli Whipp though and probably stole the spotlight. Most of the other actors and actresses were great as well, but their characters weren’t really explored enough and that includes Thomas Trafford.

Although The English is far from perfect, the ending makes the series a little better even though several episodes could’ve been skipped or removed completely. At the very least, the series is worth watching for some of the characters and the respective performances especially that of Chaske Spencer. The finale scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of The English can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find our site helpful? Consider supporting our work then! Find out how to do so here.