'Barkskins' Episode 8 Review: An impressive conclusion draws curtains on Wobik and the Nat Geo period drama
Spoilers for 'Barkskins' Season 1 Episode 8 'The Black Sun'
And just like that, the National Geographic period drama 'Barkskins' brought its first and final season to a grinding halt. The limited series, which aired over the course of last month, began with a massacre of settlers in New France in the 1690s and has now come to a shocking conclusion in a similar manner — with a massacre. And the sobering reality is that the English are behind both mass murders.
Wobik was nearing a deadly sabotage at the hands of the English (the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Iroquois. While the Iroquois have their personal vested interests of revenge against the French (although it has been long revealed that the English are guilty), the English are only here to eradicate the French from what they plan to make their territory. In this ongoing battle, innocent lives are going to be lost — lives that are not going to be accounted for, not then not ever.
Mathilde's (Marcia Gay Harden) proposal sparks hope in Elisha and Delphine (Lily Sullivan) — two loners who would do well with each other. But their plans are cut short by Charles Duquet (James Bloor).
Can we just bring everyone's attention to the sheer connivance of Duquet? Had it not been for him, the Iroquois, scantily unarmed with their indigenous weapons against the pistols owned by the French, wouldn't be able to attack Wobik. If anything, that would have soured relations between the tribe and the company. But Duquet, who doesn't have an iota of good conscious in him, overrides Elisha Cooke's (Thomas M Wright) plans of arming the French instead of the Iroquois for some coins.
Over the course of the season, Duquet's cunning could be applauded for being a survival strategy to help him navigate the perils of a treacherous new frontier. But by supplying the guns, he proves that all he needs is money and not a squeaky clean conscious. Faraway from Wobik in his doma, Claude Trepagny (David Thewlis) is torn between Melissande (Tallulah Haddon) and Mari (Kaniehtiio Horn). A solution suggested by his French wife seems doable but not before it brings doom. For whom though?
In this primeval story of survival and the quest to build a civilization out of the endless forest, unlikely alliances were forged, old antagonisms deepened and new families formed. Yet the collision between civilization and commerce is made into a timeless story that depicts the survival of the fittest. Directed by Lukas Ettlin, finale episode 'The Black Sun' packs a punch as it bids farewell on a sobering note. One could argue that it took in a lot more than it could handle, but we say the conclusion was crisp and terrifying — foretelling its death and destruction.
Midway through the episode, it is evident that there is no hope for survival for those living in Wobik right now. Even so, it is difficult not to root for the characters, in particular, Claude Trepagny, whose murder comes as a predictable yet shocking blow. The only saving grace for the episode is the seemingly resolved end that breathes life into the possibility of redemption. However, we won't be seeing any of that.
With this episode, 'Barkskins', which was touted to be a limited series, has run its course on National Geographic. All eight episodes are currently streaming on Hulu.