Hatfields and McCoys

While The ITV were trudging to the end of Homefront,  BBC1 had Melissa George going from room to room, yet again, in Hunted and Channel 4 had a town with tourettes, Channel 5 stole a march on all of them with what might well be the series of the year Hatfields and McCoys. The show is based on true story of the famous feud between the two families just after the American Civil war and the opening episode was class from start to finish. 

Kevin Costner plays Devil Anse Hatfield, yeah I know great name, who deserts the rebel cause, after realising the war could not be won. This naturally angers his friend Randall McCoy, played by Bill Paxton. Randall gets furthered miffed when he is taken prisoner and suffers badly in captivity while Devil prospers back home. Small things start to build as the enmity rises between the two families. The odd rash,drunken  comment leads to murder, a stolen pig escalates to all out war. There is also a Romeo and Juliet type story line which you feel will end up pretty similar. Hatfields & McCoys certainly doesn't skimp on the body count front.

If you had to quibble, there are a lot of characters to get acquainted with and it takes time, but it is worth it. The pace is not exactly break neck, but it never runs out of steam. The performances are excellent, Tom Berenger is full of menace as psycho uncle Jim Vance, Bill Paxton oozes righteous rage as Randall McCoy, you feel for Sarah Parish as Lev Hatfield. But it is Kevin Costner who really commands proceedings, I don't think he has ever been better, making Devil a complex character you like and are shocked by in equal measures. Even if you have never warmed to Kevin Costner in the past, this is the time to pack away those feelings and start watching this superior show. Like Lonesome Dove and Deadwood, before it the characters in Hatfields & McCoys are of their time, killing first and worrying about the consequences later and the consequences come thick and fast.

Unless it really messes up, and I can't see that happening, Hatfield's & McCoys will be able to sit with Lonesome Dove and Deadwood as one of the greatest western series ever made.

Over