‘Bastard Executioner’ buries its promising premise in a pile of corpses

The least profane part of “The Bastard Executioner” is its title.

For its first two hours, every aspect of FX’s new medieval drama is obscene, from the needlessly degrading sex scenes to the gleeful throat-slitting. Its most heinous offense is burying its promising premise in a pile of corpses before a talented cast can find the story’s pulse.

“Executioner,” set in medieval Wales, sprang from the mind of Kurt Sutter, creator of FX’s celebrated biker gang drama “Sons of Anarchy.” The network clearly has high hopes for Sutter’s new project: You don’t spend the money to re-create a 14th-century village, complete with stone castle and sheep extras, and then let it go to waste.

“Sons of Anarchy” quickly became known as “SOA,” and this new show has already been branded as “TBX.” Beneath all the arterial spray, the establishing scenes of “TBX” feel a lot like 1986’s fantasy classic “Highlander.” A bloody battle in Scotland leaves our hero presumed dead, then saved by divine intervention. Except that Wilkin Brattle isn’t an immortal, he’s just been chosen to fulfill a mysterious quest to “live the life of a different man,” according to an angelic vision.

Wilkin doesn’t quite understand his hallucination’s cryptic instructions, but he lays down his sword. Just like the Connor MacLeod in “Highlander,” he finds domestic bliss as a farmer with a beautiful blond wife until trouble comes calling. Unfortunately for us, it’s not Sean Connery in a peacock-feather cape, but the evil tax collectors of the local English baron.

A few bloody clashes later, complete with the explicit murders of several Welsh children,Wilkin is forced to embrace yet another new life. This time he’s undercover as a “punisher by trade,” having taken over the identity of an odious sadist named Maddox. Soon, he’s working at Castle Ventris for an evil henchman named Corbett (Stephen Moyer of “True Blood”) as a torturer and executioner with more toys at his disposal than Batman.

His precarious position soon forces him to rip off fingernails to extract information that could lead to the downfall of his friends, who have joined the rebellion led by The Wolf (Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” under a fake beard in want of a trim). The only glimmer of goodness in Castle Ventris is English actress Flora Spencer-Longhurst as a woman unironically named Baroness Lowry Love. Everyone else might be in a gritty period drama, but the glowing baroness is a walking Noxzema commercial.

Lee Jones, an untested Australian actor, does what he can as Wilkin/Maddox, balancing rage with the discipline required for survival. But even Jones’ relatively restrained performance can’t keep the story from descending into ridiculousness when Katey Sagal, who is both Sutter’s wife and a Golden Globe winner for her work on “SOA,” shows up as black-robed “healer” Annora of the Alders.

Annora, who dispenses mysterious potions and cliched wisdom (“We flee the darkness.” “We make our own demons.”) with a forced Slavic accent, is so ridiculous that she evokes thoughts of Billy Crystal as Miracle Max in “The Princess Bride.” It’s embarrassing to watch Sagal — assisted by a few other “Hobbit”-esque cohorts — conjure magical snakes and quote the Qur’an for yuks, especially amid the determined grimness of this world.

Sutter didn’t exactly take it easy on the characters of “Sons of Anarchy,” setting them on fire, gouging out eyes, biting off tongues, burning off tattoos and so on. But those episodes of violence were sprinkled over seven seasons to add flavor and moral resonance to the Shakespearean tragedy as it unfolded. “The Bastard Executioner” treats the mayhem like an appetizer.

Those who make it to the second week will be rewarded with the seeds of a compelling struggle between Wilkin and his new employers. They’ll also see our hero engaging in scenes of torture Mel Gibson would be proud of, which is fitting for a show set in the age of “Braveheart.”

Sutter once joked that “Sons of Anarchy” didn’t pile up Emmy nominations “because they’re not wearing costumes.” Well, now he has costumes, good ones, and couldn’t resist soaking them in buckets of red death. And don’t forget what else comes out of people when you stick pointy things in them, the intestines and the … you know what? I’ll stop. Someone should.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 12:56 PM with the headline " ‘Bastard Executioner’ buries its promising premise in a pile of corpses."