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Rutherford Falls from NBC Peacock is another small series with a big heart which you would love watching from the get-go. Ed-helms stars and co-produces this show along with Michael Schur, known for Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office, The Good Place, and more.
Plot of Rutherford Falls Peacock Series
The plot of this series revolves around the friendship between the naive Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding). While Nathan is well-intentioned and has a good heart, he is also blissfully ignorant of his white privilege and dwells mostly in the past.
He works as a town historian for Rutherford Falls which was founded by his ancestors by brokering a treaty with the Native American Minishonkas.
As an Indian myself, it would be nice if people stopped using the wrong term to refer to Native Americans. Just because Christopher Columbus mistook the USA for India, the natives of the land were called Indians. Every movie and series I see is littered with references to this massive mistake by Columbus.
Reagan on the other hand is a highly driven native American who has had to struggle to achieve things that have come easily to Nathan. It is also nice to see an actual native American - Jana Schmieding playing the role of a fictional Native American. They do have a great friendship and a meaningful bond despite these differences.
Terry Tarbell (Michael Greyeyes) is another important Minishonkan character in this series who owns a casino and has learned to thrive out of bare-knuckle necessity as he puts it. The sleepy town of Rutherford Falls wakes up to exciting things one day when a dispute over the location of a statue becomes a point of contention between the two communities.
Nathan is seen being used as a pawn by Terry to ensure his Minishonkan (fictional tribe) community gets its due which has been denied for centuries by the white man. Reagan is also eventually recruited into his crusade against the Rutherfords to bring justice to the Minishonka.
Cast
Ed Helms plays a role similar to the shy persona of Dr. Stuart in The Hangover and Vacation. It's not groundbreaking in terms of the work he's done before but is definitely a treat to watch. Michael Greyeyes is an Aboriginal Canadian actor and director who has a few lesser-known movies to his name.
He plays the role of the two-faced Rutherford falls casino owner with a huge chip on his shoulder and a point to prove. He is effortlessly funny and is a versatile actor - the scene where he gives a reporter a dose of reality is particularly hilarious.
He seems to turn from menacing to fake pleasant on a dime in this scene. There are also his interactions with Reagan that are really humorous.
Jessie Leigh, the non-binary actor plays the assistant to Nathan well, shadowing him in lieu of experience and maybe even actual monetary compensation. He reminds me of Colin Farrell's doe-eyed assistant in the first half of the movie Phone Booth.
The incredibly beautiful and stunning Julia Jones plays Sally the casino employee along with Bobby Wilson playing Wayne as her colleague. They never miss an opportunity to roast Reagan and her boring life, with Reagan rolling her eyes right out of her head.
Should You Watch it? - Absolutely!
This is an original take on existing issues and hints at current events, such as the confederate statue takedown hinted at by the Rutherford structure. There is also the struggle of the minority communities in the US, white privilege, nepotism ( Re: Terry eviscerating Blake Jenson ) corporate apathy, and more.