Netflix Steampunk Western Bass x Machina Review

According to Variety, U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves was a real person, an escaped slave turned groundbreaking lawman, whose remarkable biography has inspired various pieces of pop culture, including a Taylor Sheridan show and HBO's Watchmen. The Netflix animated series Bass x Machina, created by LeSean Thomas (Yasuke) and produced by the Korean company Studio Mir (The Legend of Korra), centers on a version of Reeves voiced with gravitas by Brian Tyree Henry, who is also an executive producer. However, Reeves' actual existence and the recent Civil War are about all the show borrows from real history, with the rest being inventive fiction starting with Bass' robot arm.

