Outer Range: Season 1 – Review [Prime Video]

OUTER RANGE on Amazon’s Prime Video is a new mystery series with elements of drama and sci-fi. The season has 8 episodes and features an amazing cast. Josh Brolin stars in the series and it is full of quirky and intriguing characters. Read our full Outer Range series review here!

OUTER RANGE is new Prime Video series starring Josh Brolin. It’s officially a “drama mystery”, but could just as easily be described as a sci-fi western. Whatever you want to call it, expect a slow-burn story that never becomes boring. Both due to the big mystery and continuing plot developments over the course of eight hour-long episodes.

More than the plot, however, this is a very character-driven series. And the characters are fascinating in their own right. Many are over the top and very quirky, but you also have the “straight man”-type of characters to highlight just how off those other characters tend to be.

Continue reading our Outer Range series review below. The series premieres on Amazon’s Prime Video (with two episodes) on April 15, 2022.

The Abbott family ranch

Josh Brolin (Oldboy remake) and Lili Taylor (The Conjuring) are very laid-back characters that come across as calm and reasonable. Well, for the most part anyway. Their names are Royal and Cecilia Abbott and they live on the Abbott far, which has been in the family for more than 100 years. Royal (Josh Brolin) has a fascinating origin story in his own right. You should experience that for yourself when watching.

The other “straight man”-type characters in Outer Range are the Abbott sons, Perry and Rhett. They’re played by Tom Pelphrey (Banshee, Ozark) and Lewis Pullman (Them That Follow) respectively, and portrayed perfectly by the two actors. Other more laid-back characters include Amy Abbott (daughter of Rhett) who is portrayed by the young Olivia Abercrombie (The Haunting of Hill House).

During episode 1 of Outer Range, a stranger shows up. Her name is Autumn River, which almost sounds like a fake name. For reasons unknown, Royal trusts her instinctively and allows her to camp on one of their vast pastures. However, there is definitely something strange about Autumn and as played by the always intriguing Imogen Poots (Green Room), she makes no effort to hide her weirdness.

Also, there’s the acting sheriff Joy Hawk (Tamara Podemski). She’s technically the Deputy Sheriff and currently up for election. If elected, she’ll be the first Native American and gay sheriff in town. Since a death occurs very early on in the series, she is a key player in this plot as well.

Get ready for the Tillersons!

Then there are all those quirky and strange characters, which we’ll find primarily in the Tillerson family. They own the neighboring farm and want to take over part of the Abbott family’s land. This is just a minor subplot really, but that’s only because not all is as it seems on the surface.

The Head of the Tillerson family is Wayne Tillerson, who is portrayed brilliantly by Will Patton. Most recently, we’ve seen Will Patton in the Halloween requel trilogy being released these years. But really, he is just a consistently good actor who always leaves a huge impression. The character of Wayne Tillerson is no exception and boy, is he umm different!

Wayne Tillerson has three sons – because, of course, a man like him has three sons. The sons are Billy (Noah Reid from Schitt’s Creek), Luke (Shaun Sipos from The Vampire Diaries), and Trevor (Matt Lauria from Kingdom). These three are very different with Billy being a singing cowboy who starts singing in all kinds of strange situations.

Overall, the Abbott family is the one you’ll probably be rooting for, but the Tillerson family is extremely entertaining to watch.

In fact, the Tillerson family is very similar to the Kleinsasser family in the final half of Big Sky season 1. In that series, the head of the Kleinsasser family was portrayed by Ted Levine and to me, Will Patton and Ted Levine are (in some strange way) very similar. Well, in the sense that they portray both very strange and dangerous men as well as completely laid back ones. Though mostly the former!

Watch Outer Range on Prime Video now!

Outer Range was created by Brian Watkins who is both a writer and an executive producer on the series. It’s the kind of series that has a certain Stephen King vibe to it. Think The Dome series, but in a much more laid-back way. Darker and more character-driven but with a strange paranormal plot at the center of it all.

To me, the most fascinating part (aside from the huge hole in the west pasture of the Abbott ranch), is watching Josh Brolin in particular. So much is said without words when it comes to this character. This goes for all the members of the Abbott family, whereas the Tillerson family members are very loud and boisterous in various ways. You’ll see!

After the first two episodes, you may not know that much about the mystery. But you will in the coming episodes. Time jumps and flashbacks (with glimpses into both the past and the future) will keep you hooked. It certainly managed to keep me wanting to watch more when each episode ended.

The first season of Outer Range will consist of eight episodes, with two episodes premiering every week starting Friday, April 15, 2022, on Prime Video worldwide.

Details

Creator: Brian Watkins
Directors: Jennifer Getzinger, Amy Seimetz, Lawrence Trilling
Stars: Josh Brolin, Lili Taylor, Noah Reid, Imogen Poots, Lewis Pullman, Tom Pelphrey