The Red Road 

I was extremely optimistic about this show. I'm always up for a small town drama. Sundance brought us "Rectify" and that show is a masterpiece. I am only 2 episodes in, but the acting is just plain awful. The main characters are still developing and the dialogue is fairly strong but it is being demolished by this terrible cast. Perhaps it is poor direction? Jason Momoa was great in Game of Thrones... because he merely had to look pretty. His acting here (thus far) is empty and shallow. His style is reminiscent of Paul Walker's contrived and self-aware, clumsy delivery. He hides behind an annoying smirk every single time he delivers a line with any weight. I'm sure the idea is to appear ominous and scary but it comes off as amateurish and annoying. I know we're not allowed to discuss race anymore in society but I have a very hard time seeing a German-Hawaiian mixed man portray a Native American.

I'll give Martin Henderson a temporary pass because his character so far seems a bit bland (so I don't think he has much to work with) but he certainly doesn't stand out in this gang of duds. Julianne Nicholson (as Jean) is atrocious. I feel completely removed from each dramatic scene involving her. Instead of being enveloped in Jean's despair, Julianne has me picturing her standing in front of the mirror practicing her lines... never finding a comfortable/ natural way to deliver them. Again though, I'm only 2 episodes in.

Allie Gonino as Rachel makes me cringe. I feel embarrassed for her. Kiowa Gordon seems to be reading his lines off a tele-prompter. I wanted so badly to skip over the scenes between them. Clumsy, dispassionate and awkward. As is every scene involving Gordon.

Annalise Basso does a great job as the younger daughter but her role thus far is small and not nearly enough to redeem the others.

All of that being said, I'm going to watch a couple more episodes and hope for improvement.