The best mini-series ever? The future of series?

Is this the best mini-series ever? Could this be the future of novel adaptations?

It's more like a four hour movie that has been split into episodes than a traditional American series... It blows Game of Thrones and such out of the water in the way it shows how you can adapt a novel to the screen and take advantage of the TV/streaming series format without turning it into just another formulaic TV show... It's not a light story, but it's so good.

It's great to see a central character that is complex, contradictory and interesting without being encouraged to "root for" them... A character that isn't the cookie cutter genius with a few crazy flaws (insert illness, mental issue, etc...) that seems to be at the centre of most other series, e.g. Breaking Bad, Homeland, etc...

Also, incredible acting by Frances McDormand and Richard Jenkins... They're really in another league compared to what is on HBO/Netflix, etc.. nowadays... So nuanced, complex, authentic and at times powerful. The relationships between characters being multifaceted really separated it from the usual caricature relationships we see on TV...

I love this format. Long enough to get the feel of the novel and source material, but not too long that it gets formulaic, which is the curse of most series... also, not attempt at all at tweaking the story to set up a following season, which is something that ruins so many decent series as they overstay their welcome...