Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsCanceled after season 2
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024
Perhaps the most frustrating part of enjoying TV shows in the modern era - really going back at least 15 years is cancelled TV shows with a ton of merit... Cancelled, incomplete TV shows with a ton of merit... Cancelled, incomplete, well cast TV shows with a ton of merit... Cancelled, incomplete, well cast, well produced (?) TV shows with a ton of merit.
Well produced? Maybe only well produced in the nuts an bolts creation, because it's a producers Job to make sure their TV show Isn't cancelled. If a producer is part of a well made, well cast TV show with a ton of merit, and they are part of the reason their own show gets cancelled? Then they are a bad producer. Of course this is a business and everyone wants to get paid. But especially when a show is produced by a streaming platform - the reason Outer Range shouldn't be cancelled is to add value and merit to the streaming service. Do right by projects that deserve respect, please!
If Outer Range was canceled on some budget minutia, or projection of earning that hasn't occurred? That is a disgrace and a black mark against the streaming service.
Not only do I like Outer Range - I Love this show! I love the characters, the interesting circumstances, and the unique production. I really looked forward to the 2nd season, and it was Better than the 1st! And it stayed on target, and looked to be right in the middle of a very interesting full series arc. But I guess now we'll never know, and being incomplete? Pretty tough to recommend.
Regardless? I do recommend this off beat western, told in present day - that includes time traveling elements and other reality bending outcomes for the main characters. Outer Range takes place in Wyoming, but the writers clearly have an idea of the region, and people from Montana, Idaho, Colorado will be right at home with the characters, dialog, situations. Outer Range is really pretty grounded in terms of character and character presentation. It's the story that gets really wild, placing ordinary rural people in extraordinary, cosmic situations.
Without getting into specifics, characters time travel and are forced to live lives in different times - completely turning life upside down, and putting important life concerns into a new context. I'd say the juxtaposition of grounded characters and life with the environmental weirdness is one of Outer Range's best qualities. Watching the characters go through disbelief and acceptance of impossible truths is rewarding and an entertaining watch.
Very disappointed in Amazon for selling on one of their best intellectual properties. I feel like streaming platforms need to re-evaluate what is important for their platform in terms of content and continuation of their shows. Simply cutting off a quality, fan favorite show feels like destroying themselves - making me as a viewer respect the platform less, and having less faith in trusting their judgment for future content, and maintaining what is already good. Sometimes it is more important to do right by merit and quality over what an economist says, especially in artistic projects.