‘Outer Range’ Throws Josh Brolin Into a Trippy Western That Threatens to Get Lost Down Its Own Void: TV Review

variety.com:

Caroline Framke Chief TV CriticFor some TV viewers, the phrase “Josh Brolin in a sci-fi western” will be enough to lure them into “Outer Range,” Brian Watkins’ new drama built around that exact premise.

For others who may need a bit more context and/or incentive, “Outer Range” will provide — up to a point.Premiering with two episodes on April 15 on (Amazon) Prime Video, the series does indeed center on an especially broody Brolin as Royal Abbott, the gruff patriarch of a family ranch on a plot of Wyoming land with a gaping secret.

More specifically, the western patch of the Abbotts’ ranch is home to a wide, black hole, the origins of which are unknown but which has a pulsing power clear to anyone who stumbles upon it.

In the pilot, directed with a sense of creeping unease by Alonso Ruizpalaicos, the hole’s lingering presence looms large over most everything that happens outside of it. (Its pitch blackness also appears to take over many of the show’s nighttime scenes, which tend to be shot in such muddy darkness that there might be no way to see what’s onscreen unless you’re screening “Outer Range” with the aid of heavy blackout curtains.) Royal, whose own origins remain a mystery to everyone from his wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor) to himself, is particularly drawn to the mysterious spot, which he resentfully deems “a void.” In one particularly powerful scene that calls upon all the fire, brimstone, and pure disdain Brolin can muster, Royal hijacks the dinner prayers to condemn it, and whichever god might have brought it to his doorstep. “I’m asking you to fill that void,” Royal spits, as his confused wife and sons, Perry (Tom Pelphrey) and Rhett (Lewis Pullman), look on.