I really know nothing about this series other than A) its existence from it popping up on Netflix as an original series and B) my knowledge of the original movie that I just watched. I'm a little excited to truly and completely have no clue what's coming. I also haven't really seen any of the DTV sequels, so if anything that pops up is a reference to those, I'll completely miss it. Most of my experiences going into some show or movie without any preconceptions / seeing any sort of trailer have gone pretty well.
The first episode does a pretty good job of setting up some of the major characters despite some of the head-scratching changes and additions to the original story. I'm not sure if this was produced as a pilot, or with the knowledge that it would be completed. Either way, any first episode has to be good enough to convince you to watch the rest of it. The entire episode takes place at a liquor store in Texas, but the episode still makes sure to show the evil Aztec horror to come through the cold open and some of the small touches and moments creeping in the periphery.
Once it's established as a standard retelling of the Gecko Brothers fleeing the law to the Titty Twister bar in Mexico, it makes a lot of sense to expand the opening liquor store robbery/shootout into its own standalone episode. However, it's anticlimactic even to someone that had never seen the movie. The old grizzled Texas Ranger is immediately shown in some pointless, boring flashbacks giving his rookie partner sage advice. By the time he reveals that he's counting down "how many good days I have left", he should have a gaping chest wound already. There's still the exact how's and the why's of the Brothers' escape, and the show milks some tension from that. Despite some mildly egregious slow-motion and bad one-liners, the ending shootout and payoff for the simmering tension is well-done.
Most of the changes from the movie creep in somewhat slowly. The biggest is that there is no twist regarding the supernatural here. The cold open features a truly horrifying ritual involving snakes that basically shows what would have happened in Raiders of the Lost Ark if Indiana Jones wasn't a superhero. Richie Gecko's role seems to be beefed up as well - he spends most of the episode switching between generic leering at the (thankfully) older female hostages and being tortured by demonic images. Seth Gecko's boss in Mexico advises him to take Richie's visions seriously, because he has "the sight". It's a good tease of what's waiting for them in Mexico seeing him working alongside Aztec symbols briefly.
Is Richie having a bigger role in the second half of the story a good thing? The actor comes across like a bit like a cross between Cillian Murphy and Michael Shannon. If he can bring half the intensity to Richie's "sight" as Michael Shannon, it'll be a treat. Seth Gecko's a little harder to read. Sometimes he seems like he's trying a Clooney impersonation, sometimes he's NAILING a Clooney impersonation, and sometimes he's in between. Don Johnson is great as the ill-fated Earl McGraw Texas Ranger character, but the flashbacks and pumping up of his story came off as padding. Also, John Hawkes was dearly missed as the liquor store cashier.
The younger ranger, Freddie, gets the most problematic start. He's set on a path of righteous vengeance on the brothers for killing his partner. However, not content to let this easy setup be enough, the near-death partner orders him to "follow them to the gates of hell". This is unforgivably bad and on-the-nose even for a pulpy TV show like this. What should be a good and defining character beat for him is made laughable when the exchange from not 5-10 minutes earlier in the episode is repeated in ghostly voice over before he sets out after the brothers. Freddie is a good addition to the show at large though, having a law enforcement pursuit with a face and a character is a good thing. Here's hoping he evolves into more of a character as the show goes on.
I'm going to keep watching! I don't know when, or if there will be entries for the later episodes, but I'm curious to see where this goes and what more changes. The cast list showed Robert Patrick (presumably as the Harvey Keitel father role) coming up later. I tried to avoid any looking up on the internet about this so I wouldn't spoil how many episodes someone may or may not be in. Also, Wilmer Valderrama was unrecognizable as Seth's Mexico boss. That will also probably be a decent and much-expanded role now that he is in on whatever horror is going on down south.
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