Godless, a Netflix original, that to be fair may be buried in your account, is a must watch for any young woman. While the idea of an “Old Western” show may not be the most appealing, trust me you are going to want to watch this show.
Without giving too much away, this is not your “traditional” Western show. Sure there are shootouts and horses and all you’d typically expect, with one major difference. It takes place in a town completely run by women.
La Belle, New Mexico suffered tragedy when nearly all the men in town descended into a mine, never to come out. An explosion left them all dead and the women to fend for themselves. The show starts about two years after this has happened, and these women have become bad*sses.
There’s Mary, the sheriff’s sister, who really runs the town and starts wearing her husband’s old clothes because, honestly, who can be bothered to wear all those skirts and corsets? And then there’s Alice, played by Michelle Dockery for any of you Downton Abbey fans. She’s a bit of a loner, up on a ranch just outside of town with her mother-in-law and her son. But don’t let her fool you, she can shoot a man off his horse in the middle of the night, and she does in the first episode.
Now of course, to the men of the time these women can’t be left alone. So it doesn’t take long for a Pittsburgh steel man to come in and buy the mine leaving his men to “protect” these fine ladies. They act big and tall, spit on the ground and talk big, but when real threat reaches the town, their true character comes out.
It’s these bad*ss women who strategize and protect their town in a shootout that would rival and modern action packed movie. The fascinating plot of this show and its incredibly strong female characters hooks any viewer. The seven episode miniseries is definitely binge worthy, and can be easily finished within a few days – and it is definitely worth it.
Coming at an incredibly timely portion of modern history, this show hooked me immediately. From its complete disregard for stereotypes to its normalization of LGBT couples, I found it a breath of fresh air.
They’re calling 2018 the year of women. It’s only March, and we’ve seen the second annual Women’s March, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements dominate awards shows, and on the 14th girls across the country staged a 17 minute school walkout in support of these movements. We have more than 400 women running for Congress this year, which is twice as many as 2016.
If 2018 is the Year of the Woman, it’s off to a pretty good start, and sure, Godless being directed and written by a woman too would have been icing on the cake, but seeing these strong women constantly across my screen in the news and in my entertainment has got me feeling a lot more hopeful these days. Here’s to 2018.
Cover image via Godless on Facebook.