“Regular followers of the CBC are sure to be in for quite the surprise with Strange Empire’s debut—the female-led Western from Durham County’s Laurie Finstad Knizhnik just might be the darkest show yet to come from the public broadcaster. While the series plans on following a group of women as they try to establish themselves in North America’s wild west (Knizhnik is quick to point out the boundaries between the countries hadn’t been determined yet), it begins with a brutal attack that leaves Empire’s women stranded and dependent on the mercy of John Slotter (Aaron Poole, Copper), the man who arranged the whole thing hoping the desperate women would then agree to work in his brothel.”
