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The Red Road, Ep. 1.06, “The Journey to the Sunrise”: Strong performances can’t save unfocused season

The Red Road has had an uneven season. It’s struggled to make the most of its unique setting and promising characters, but it’s given leads Julianne Nicholson and Jason Momoa some of the most interesting material of their careers. It’s taken surprising turns in its small character moments while sticking to the familiar with its plot points. After this week’s season finale, it seems unclear what kind of show The Red Road wants to be, and this lack of focus robs the season of narrative urgency and emotional depth.

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The Red Road, Ep. 1.05, “The Great Snake Battle” a disappointingly standard season finale setup

After last week’s character-centric outing, this episode ramps up the plot, preparing for next week’s season finale. Unfortunately, little we get here is as compelling as the thoughtful interpersonal drama of the previous installment. The elements of this series that should set it apart, its unique setting and characters, are mostly set aside this week in favor of tired crime procedural dramatics (accusations of police corruption, moves and countermoves between Philip and Harold, a police shootout), and it’s disappointing.

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The Red Road, Ep. 1.03, “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” is an entertaining middle installment

The Red Road continues this week with an entertaining, if not hugely memorable, table-setting episode. With only six episodes in the first season, there’s not much opportunity for multiple dramatic peaks and valleys, so it’s not surprising that episode three features some fallout from the characters’ various poor choices in episodes one and two and a few new touches, but no fireworks. These are presumably coming later, as we build towards the finale. As a middle episode, however, “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” works well, expanding Phillip’s circle and focusing in a bit more on Rachel.

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The Red Road, Ep. 1.01, “Arise My Love, Shake Off This Dream” a promising, but uneven opener

With Rectify, Top of the Lake, and The Returned, SundanceTV made a name for itself in 2013, creating and/or distributing thoughtful, stylish short-run television. The Red Road, their first series of 2014 and only second original series (the first being Rectify), doesn’t live up to these antecedents, at least in its pilot, but is nonetheless interesting. While it lacks the emotional depth and gorgeous visuals of these other series, the pilot makes the case for following for this first, six-episode season thanks to two of its central performances and its unique setting.

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Twelve Very Promising New TV Shows To Watch In 2014 (Part Two)

6. The Spoils of Babylon The Spoils of Babylon is an upcoming American comedy miniseries by Saturday Night Live veterans Andrew Steele and Matt Piedmont, directed by Piedmont (Casa de Mi Padre), and starring Tobey Maguire, Kristen Wiig, Tim Robbins, Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Sheen, and Will Ferrell. It’s doubtful that any …

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