newfirelock My great great grandfather, Hillary Bruce Bush, came to Texas from Scotland in 1836. He came across the Atlantic on a sailing ship, apparently landed at Baltimore, and then traveled overland to the Red River, where he took a ferry down to the new settlement of Bois de Arc, later renamed Bonham, after James Bonham, one of the heroes of the revolution of that year. As the revolution unfolded and Texas became an independent nation, my great great grandfather, along with other settlers who had arrived with him, carved out a niche for himself on the land he had acquired. He built a house, started growing crops, and married the daughter of his neighbor, the esteemed Edwin Clay Rogers. Eventually Hillary bought a slave to help with the work on his land, had four or five children with my great great grandmother Angeline, and joined with other Texas pioneers to petition the new government in Houston to name their part of Texas Fannin County, after James Fannin, another hero and martyr of the revolution. During the Cherokee War of 1839, he joined a militia, formed by local men to defend the community against Native American "trepidations," called the Fannin County Mounted Gunman. Hillary died young, either from disease or at the hands of the Comanche or some other tribe, and Angeline got remarried to a man named Stephenson, a widower with several children of his own. She then, apparently, died shortly thereafter, and two of her sons, from Hillary, went on to fight for the Confederacy. After the South lost the civil war, and the Bush family lost land they had acquired on the Red River, the sons of both Hillary Bruce Bush and Stephenson, which included my great grandfather, also named Hillary Bruce, went off, in hopes of striking it rich, to Leadville, Georgetown, and Silver Plume, Colorado to dig for silver in the mines there. They never did get rich, but during that time my great grandfather did meet my great grandmother, Amelia Celia Tregoning, a tin miner's daughter from Cornwall, and they had several children, including my grandfather, James. The Hillary Bruce Bush family eventually gave up mining and moved back to Texas, where my grandfather met my grandmother, whose maiden name was Minnie Lee Rambo, and they had my dad, Joseph Jesse, who went on to be a war hero and survivor of the infamous Bataan Death March and three years in Japanese prisoner of war camp. The story continues from there, and there is much more to it, but suffice it to say, I was originally attracted to 'The Son,' on AMC, simply because it was about Texas pioneers. But as I continued to watch, I became more and more impressed by how it really does capture the spirit of Texas, and the guts and guile that enabled Texas to survive and thrive. 'The Son' also effectively dramatizes the conflicts that often occurred between father and son. The disagreements between Eli McCullough and his son Pete, over Eli's tough traditionalism and Pete's softer modernism, accurately portray some of the same conflicts I had with my father and he with his. For example, after the war my father married my mother, a Spaniard with the maiden name Iglesias, and when my father and grandfather argued, my grandfather would often bring up and criticize the fact that my father had married a "Mexican." In 'The Son,' the combination of light and dark, positive and negative, are well portrayed, both by the great writing and fine acting, which very ably expresses the truth that, in the creation of Texas and in the taming of the Texas territory, good and bad, and right and wrong, were not simply or easily defined. As I said, it took both guts and guile to make Texas what it is today. Finally, I've just had the privilege of working as an extra on an episode of the second season, and while I am not at liberty to discuss the episode, I can say that it was a real pleasure to work with a great bunch of background actors, an exceedingly friendly, welcoming, and helpful crew, and a very gracious bunch of professional actors. Especially Pierce Brosnan, a man who appears to bring a 'down to earth' friendliness to the set, which is apparently appreciated by all concerned. I'm looking forward to the second season of 'The son.' And, if you haven't watched it yet, I would highly recommend that you check it out. It's a good one.

brooksrob1 I just saw the entire series over the last two days...The show shows different perspectives of the people in that region. Knowing that history as I do, it's a fair representation. Pondering what it must have been like to ward off an Indian attack. Or, moving about in hostile territory. Fighting and conquering and taking what you want. It was a very important time for the west, the actions taken in those days are still influencing these days more than a century later. All the actors do a great job in their roles and the action is very believable...A good job by AMC to bring a top quality show...I look forward to more seasons. Watch it; it's very entertaining.

bryantsboxing I love this show! I can't wait until season 2 ! This show is a really good show!! I pray it doesn't get canceled it seems like every time a good show comes out, you get really interested in it and bam they cancel it! Like long Mire! Thank God Netflix picked it up! Thank you AMC for putting great shows like this on! I'd love to see more westerns or pioneer movies! Movies made from the 1800 early 1900's PD?

justincward Visually lush, ambitious docu-soap along the lines of "Boardwalk Empire" set in 1849 and 1915; but no gangsters, just (no offence intended) pesky Injuns and pesky Mexicans. Parallels drawn between the struggles of the 1840's Comanche (who have captured Young Eli), and those of 1915's Old Eli as the Mexicans and the banks try to take his farm away - except his over- acting granddaughter just discovered oil.It's about time! After six episodes, I've seen all the ambushes, bodies, beatings, shootings, torturings I need. How about some PLOT, guys? The outright bad guy, an obviously racist troublemaker, is so two- dimensional that he disappears if he turns sideways. And of course, there's a Magic Black Man. Very slow buildup,and only four episodes of this season left. If there's to be a second, they need to sharpen up.Pierce Brosnan sort of works as the patriarch of the Old Texas farm, but he hasn't quite mastered the accent. And others have pointed out that if as indicated, he was kidnapped 66 years ago he's looking very sprightly for a guy who must be in at least his mid-70's. In 1915 that was OLD.Good to look at - CGI has come along way since Boardwalk Empire. The Son looks a lot more expensive than it must have been, but that's about it. Plot- wise, it's sub-Dynasty. Things happen because the script says they do, not because the characters are driven by anything apart from killing Mexicans or Indians.The Son is probably strongest on its sympathetic, uncompromising depiction of the Comanche, and its staging. It's weakest on everything else.