''The Son'' is an American

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series based on the 2013 novel of the same name by

Philipp Meyer Philipp Meyer is an American fiction writer, and is the author of the novels '' American Rust'' and '' The Son'', as well as short stories published in The New Yorker and other places. Meyer also created and produced the AMC television show b ...

. The show was created and developed by Meyer, Brian McGreevy, and Lee Shipman. Twenty episodes over two seasons aired from April 8, 2017, through June 29, 2019.

Plot

In 1849, Eli McCullough is kidnapped at the age of 13 by

Comanches The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

and raised as an adopted son. In 'present-day' 1915, he is a powerful, ruthless cattle baron turned oilman, and struggles to maintain his business empire as he looks to pass it on to his sons and grandchildren.

Cast

* Pierce Brosnan as Eli McCullough, a Texas

cattle baron Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes re ...

who takes an interest in the oil industry :*

Jacob Lofland Jacob Seth Lofland (born July 30, 1996) is an American actor best known for his role as Neckbone in the film ''Mud'' and for his role as Aris in '' Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials'' and '' Maze Runner: The Death Cure''. Life and career Lofland w ...

as young Eli (known to the Comanche as Tiehteti Taiboo "Pathetic White Boy") * Henry Garrett as Pete McCullough, Eli's youngest son *

Zahn McClarnon Zahn Tokiya-ku McClarnon (born October 24, 1966) is an American actor known for his performances in the Western crime drama series '' Longmire'', the second season of '' Fargo'', and the second season of ''Westworld''. In 2022, he played the le ...

as Toshaway, a Comanche

tribal chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...

who views young Eli as a son after capturing him *

Jess Weixler Jess Weixler (born ) is an American actress. She played Dawn O'Keefe in the comedy-horror film ''Teeth (2007 film), Teeth'' and Jordan in the comedy ''The Big Bad Swim''. Early life Weixler graduated in 1999 from Atherton High School, Louisvil ...

as Sally McCullough, Pete's wife *

Paola Núñez Paola Núñez Rivas (born April 8, 1978) is a Mexican actress and producer. Personal life Núñez was born in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. She started acting in theater at the age of 12. At the age of 16, she began her full-time career as ...

as María García, Pete's childhood friend who becomes complicit in some of the escalating violence in South Texas * Elizabeth Frances as Prairie Flower * Sydney Lucas as Jeannie McCullough, Eli's granddaughter and Pete's daughter, who becomes a key figure in the family business :*

Lois Smith Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film ''East of Eden (film), East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles i ...

as Jeannie at age 85 *

David Wilson Barnes David Wilson Barnes (born October 30, 1972) is an American actor. He has appeared in '' Capote'' (2005), '' The Company Men'' (2010), '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012) and '' Bridge of Spies'' (2015). Barnes was born in San Diego, California. His ...

as Phineas McCullough, Eli's middle son.

Production

Originally,

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

was set to play the main character of the series, but left due to personal reasons. Pierce Brosnan was cast to replace him. The production of the series started in June 2016. The series was filmed in and around Austin, TX. A 10-episode season premiered on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

on April 8, 2017. On May 12, 2017, the series was renewed for a second season. The second and final season premiered on April 27, 2019.

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2019)

Reception

The first season received mixed reviews among critics. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season has an approval rating of 52% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The Son'' epic narrative and strong central performance are crippled by sluggish pacing, hasty direction, and superficial execution." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the series has a score of 57 out of 100, based 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Son, The 2010s American drama television series 2017 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings AMC (TV channel) original programming English-language television shows Serial drama television series Television shows based on American novels Television shows set in Texas 2010s Western (genre) television series