Western Fans Must Watch Jason Momoa's 3-Season Hidden Gem
If you've run out of dusty main-street shootouts, here's a switch-up worth your weekend: Frontier. It's three seasons, Jason Momoa (movies and tv series) at full tilt, and a Western that doesn't look or act like the ones you grew up on.
It's cold, it's brutal, and the bad guys already hold the keys to the kingdom. You're not waiting for trouble to arrive. You're watching people fight to take their home back.
Why Frontier Hits Different
Frontier starts in the late 1700s fur trade, not the usual sunbaked West. No saloons. No white hats. It's canoes, muskets, and alliances that shift with the wind.
Momoa plays Declan Harp, a man of Cree and Irish heritage, hunting the Hudson's Bay Company after they tear his life apart. He isn't a sheriff keeping the peace. He's a storm trying to break a monopoly.
The Faces You'll Follow
Alun Armstrong (movies and tv series) is Lord Benton - cold, calculating, and always two steps ahead. Landon Liboiron (movies and tv series)'s Michael Smyth (movies and tv series) is the hungry Irish stowaway who learns the game fast. Jessica Matten (movies and tv series)'s Sokanon is the sharp edge of the show's conscience, and William Belleau (movies and tv series)'s Dimanche has that quiet loyalty you feel in your gut.
Together, they're not building a town. They're building leverage. And that's way more fun to watch.
A Western That Got Better With Time
The first season sets the board. By Season 3, the show is bigger, meaner, and more sure of itself. Multiple plots run at once, and no one (movies and tv series) is exactly who you think they are.
Critics noticed, too - Frontier now sits in the mid-70s on Rotten Tomatoes, a nice jump from its early reception. Sometimes shows find their gear late. This one did.
Based on Real, Bloody History
Harp is fictional. The world around him isn't. The North American fur trade was a money machine that pulled Europe and Indigenous nations into uneasy partnerships and constant conflict.
The Hudson's Bay Company? Very real. Founded in 1670, it grew so large it once controlled a gigantic chunk of the continent. For a clear primer, The Canadian Encyclopedia's overview of the company is solid and straight-shooting: read it here.
Momoa's Strongest Work
Look, Momoa can swing a sword or a trident. We know that. Here, he brings the muscle and the ache. Harp moves like a man who's lost too much and is willing to lose more.
The performance has weight - the kind you feel in the pauses. He doesn't just threaten power. He threatens the story we're used to about who gets to have it.
The Ending We Didn't Get
Frontier was clearly aiming at a fourth season. Hints were dropped. Plans were teased. And then… nothing official. Cast and creatives moved on, and Momoa later signaled that Harp's story was done.
Season 3 leaves real questions hanging - Harp's son, the balance of power after Lord Benton's fall, and whether the alliances Michael is threading can hold. It's frustrating. But it's not hollow. Plenty of arcs land with force.
So, Should You Watch a "Canceled" Series?
Yes. Three tight seasons, high stakes, and an angle on Western storytelling that actually feels new. You'll get closure on key threads, and the rest lives in your head - the way good stories do.
Where to Watch
Frontier is streaming on Netflix in many regions. Availability can vary by country, so give it a quick search before you settle in.
Evan Jonigkeit (movies and tv series) holds Grace Emberly (Zoe Boyle (movies and tv series)) up against a hay bale in Frontier (2016).
Quick Reasons to Queue It Up
- A Western set in the icy North - visually fresh, morally thorny.
- Jason Momoa's most grounded, lived-in performance.
- Indigenous characters with agency, not as afterthoughts.
- Smart political maneuvering without the lecture.
- Three seasons you can actually finish in a week.
Why It Matters
There's a bigger story here about what audiences want from Westerns now. Less myth. More consequence. Frontier makes space for the people (movies and tv series) usually pushed to the edge (movies and tv series) of the frame, and it does it with tension you can feel.
And maybe that's the point. The genre isn't dead - it's just colder, harsher, and closer to the truth. Frontier proves it.
