Roush Review: ‘The Son’ Is a ‘Terrific, Dynastic Saga’

Matt Roush April 7, 2017, 2:00 pm

Henry Garrett and Pierce Brosnan in The Son — Van Redin/AMC

Henry Garrett and Pierce Brosnan in *The Son*

We are all savages: That’s the underlying principle guiding terrific dynastic saga, The Son, a darker-than-dark Giant introducing lean, mean “first son of Texas” Eli “Colonel” McCullough (a steely Pierce Brosnan).

Pierce Brosnan Goes West in the New AMC Series 'The Son'

“This is what men do to things: soil to sand, fertile to barren, fruit to thorns,” he tells his adoring granddaughter, Jeannie (Sydney Lucas). Eli preaches a nihilistic philosophy, “Those who don’t live by the sword die a hell of a lot quicker,” that he comes by honestly.

Kidnapped in 1849 as a teenager (well played by a coltish Jacob Lofland) and raised by Comanche in riveting flashbacks, Eli learns a brutal code of honor that shapes his destiny as a cattle-ranch baron coldly eyeing the future fortune oil could bring. In a parallel 1915 storyline, Eli’s ruthless ways clash with the ideals of youngest son Pete (Henry Garrett), who yearns for 20th-century civility, though a brewing race war with Mexicans threatens to push him toward violence. “You want to raise your kids in peace? Figure out a way to change human nature,” says Eli.