The Son Series Premiere – “First Son of Texas” Review. Not for the Faint of Heart

Season 1, Episode 1

Air Date: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 9/8c on AMC

Rating: ★★★★★

“I’ve done a lot of bad things in my time.” – Eli

<i>The Son</i> Series Premiere – “First Son of Texas” Review. Not for the Faint of Heart 1

Eli McCullough

On March 12, at the SXSW red carpet premiere of AMC’s new series The Son, I spoke to Philipp Meyer, Kevin Murphy, and Pierce Brosnan about their show. Produced by Murphy, the 10-episode series was created by Meyer and is based on his 2013 novel of the same name. Brosnan, who has been absent from television for many years, joined the cast after Sam Neill dropped out due to personal reasons.

Set in the Texas frontier in 1849, The Son is the epic tale of young Eli McCullough (Jacob Lofland) who becomes the sole survivor of an attack by Comanche Indians. He is taken to become a slave for Toshaway (Zahn McLarnon), the Comanche war chief. Toshaway helps Eli assimilate into the Comanche life and eventually begins to view him as a son.

The series jumps forward to 1915 where a grown up Eli (Pierce Brosnan) is now a vicious cattle baron. Eventually making the shift from cattle to oil, Eli finds himself struggling to keep a hold on the McCullough empire when Texas is consumed in the Bandit Wars of South Texas. The harsh times call for even harsher measures and Eli is definitely up to the task.

One of the problems The Son faces is by utilizing the dual storylines, the series takes away much of the suspense young Eli faces as a slave. We know he goes on to live a long and prosperous life, which makes scenes that should be intense to watch have little impact. At times, it’s hard to feel invested in the young Eli because you already know his fate.

Instead, the writers focus on exploring Eli’s mental side, centering on how his traumatic upbringing and indoctrination into the Comanche tribe shape his worldly views as the wealthy cattleman we see portrayed by Brosnan. There’s a duality to Eli that’s fascinating to watch, especially as his Comanche upbringing occasionally rears its ugly head.

In many ways, The Son reminds me of The CW series Arrow starring Stephen Amell. Both shows utilize multiple flashbacks that offer insight into why the protagonists’ lives turn to violence after life changing events. One of the things that bothers me about The Son is each flashback slightly changes how we view the older Eli, sometimes for the good, but also the bad. As the story progresses, it appears more and more like the young happy-go-lucky Eli might have had a dark side long before the Comanche attack.

The Son is also similar to the late ‘70s series Dallas, complete with feuding families and unlikely alliances, both professional and romantic. Not for the faint of heart, The Son is an exquisitely shot epic tale set against the beautiful Texas landscape. And while the dialogue is hokey at times, I’m curious to see what Eli’s future, as well as his past, has in store for the McCullough family.

The Son premieres Saturday, April 8, 2017, 9/8c, only on AMC.

Following is my video interview with Meyer, Murphy, and Brosnan.

Tweet me @Staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about AMC’s The Son.

For more information on The Son, visit the official website.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.