‘The English’ Recap: ‘What You Want & What You Need’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘The English’.
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We are taught from a very early age, of the dangers of revenge. Of how it can consume us and ruin us and how we should never indulge within it. For there is always a better way to make peace when we’ve been wronged by someone. But despite having that lesson hammered into our minds… at some point we commit to it, and it usually takes the fallout of that one ugly sampling of vendetta for us to truly learn its power and steer clear of it for the rest of our lives. But some folks have been so deeply wronged and so deeply hurt and consumed by the embers of pain within… that an eye for an eye is the only way they believe they can find peace in this life, and when we encounter a person like that… it is best they are left to their own devices.
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For that person is indeed dangerous and ready to strike and convincing them to take the right path is nothing short of a waste of time. But while we know it is the right thing to just let them barrel toward their own fate, one cannot help but wonder… what that kind of life is like. For that is a rare sight, one that few will ever understand and well… to satiate our curiosity revolving around that kind of fury, a new series on Prime Video explores such matters in a supremely unique way. For not only does The English take us into a grand quest for revenge for a mother that has lost her son, but it accomplishes that particular feat by plunging us into a period of American history where such an act could have played out in an unfettered manner.

Specifically… the Wild West. For frontier era America was about as lawless as can be. For resources were spread thin, lawmen were as well and that left a great deal of people to deal with their own problems in their own way and well… that really is the perfect way to set up a tale grounded in the power of the vendetta. One that also takes the time to explore the injustices of the era as well. For before we meet our antihero in ‘What You Want & What You Need’, we are introduced to a man named Eli Whipp. A Pawnee scout ready to move on now that he has completed his work with the United States Army. A move that of course, brings forth great trouble for Eli. For the rest of the world isn’t quite as kind to the Indigenous Americans that land is being robbed from, as the Army happens to be, and that puts him in a bind.

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Wherein he finds himself captured and tortured by a local and ruthless hotel owner on his way back home. And had it not been for the arrival of a well to do woman named Cornelia Locke, Eli likely would not have survived and it is that meeting and the subsequent revenge that Eli even takes part in, that begins the exploration in question. For when the dust settles from making the crooked hotel workers pay for harming a woman with a right cross to the face and torturing an innocent man because they didn’t care for the color of his skin… we get to learn about Cornelia’s plight, and how revenge has consumed her and brought her to the Wild West with every last penny she has in the hopes of meeting the man that killed her boy face to face, before putting him down to find peace.
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Which in turn presents us with a sorrowful answer to our question. For Cornelia truly is broken and consumed with rage. One that she keeps hidden beneath the surface to stay under the radar of the man she wishes to bring to his end and that truly helps to inform us that being consumed by the power of revenge, is a miserable life. For the person now consumed needs revenge like they need oxygen and rely on that fury to function in their daily lives, for they need its power to move, to eat, to do anything and that makes for one powerful exploration and one equally as powerful ending. Since Eli agrees to help her along to get to her destination so she can complete her mission, one that he hints at understanding on some level.

That of course, sets the stage for a grand and sorrowful and violent adventure. One that will undoubtedly dive deeper into the nature of revenge and how people function with it when it is their sole focus, and it may even ponder upon what becomes of the person that completes their quest, if by chance Cornelia is successful in her endeavors. But while we wait to learn more about these characters as we indulge in their dark journey, we can celebrate one incredible series premiere. One that not only set the stage for the darkness ahead but offered up a true Western through and through. Complete with visuals and musical stings and villains that evoke that sense of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. All of which will nurture this story as we barrel toward a dark fate for Cornelia and possibly Eli. Until next time.

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