It’s rare that a screenwriter can surprise you 32 years into their career, but that’s precisely what Scott Frank did when he blew viewers away with his Netflix limited series “The Queen’s Gambit.” Frank was best known in Hollywood as a crime thriller specialist due to the strength of his credited work on “Dead Again,” “Malice,” “Get Shorty,” the underrated “Heaven’s Prisoners,” “Out of Sight” (which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay), “Minority Report,” and “The Interpreter.” 

Frank’s love of pulp fiction also proved to be a good fit for “The Wolverine” and “Logan” (which netted him a second Oscar nomination), but 2020’s “The Queen’s Gambit” was something else entirely — an expertly written, directed, and performed exploration of genius and self-destruction set in the world of chess masters.

While promoting “The Queen’s Gambit” six years ago, Frank expressed surprise over Netflix’s willingness to greenlight his seven-episode drama about the allegedly uncinematic board game (anyone who’s seen Steven Zaillian’s “Searching for Bobby Fischer” knows that a tense chess match can be as visually dynamic as a heavyweight fight). He was being modest. After knocking out the critically acclaimed Western miniseries “Godless” for the streamer three years prior, they would’ve been crazy not to reunite with Scott. It was only the best television oater since “Lonesome Dove.”

Nominated for 12 Primetime Emmys (winning two), “Godless” is set in the fictional La Belle, New Mexico, which is struggling to recover from a catastrophic mining accident that killed nearly every man in town. The town is now populated largely by widows and orphaned children, leaving them vulnerable to opportunistic mining companies and vicious outlaws. These predators soon learn that these women won’t surrender their homes without one helluva fight. If you’re a fan of Westerns, it’s a rousing, whip-smart tale briskly told by a top-of-his-game Frank.

The law in La Belle consists almost exclusively of Sheriff Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy) and his cocky young deputy Whitey Winn (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), but the true driving force of the town is Bill’s sister Mary Agnes McNue (Merritt Weaver). Trouble comes to La Belle in the form of Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), a wounded outlaw who’s fled his ruthless boss Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels). Having absconded with a big chunk of Griffin’s money, Roy is a hunted man. Frank seems to be setting up a “Rio Bravo” scenario, but it won’t just be a handful of men fighting off Griffin’s gang; the women of La Belle are ready to go down guns blazing if need be.

At seven episodes, Frank’s narrative unfolds to incorporate subplots involving the Buffalo Soldier residents of Blackdom, a federal marshal (Sam Waterston) seeking to apprehend Griffin, and a loner La Belle widow played with flinty reserve by Michelle Dockery (who, against her better judgment, develops feelings for Roy). While Frank says he initially wrote “Godless” as a feature screenplay, the extra texture he’s added never feels like padding. It unfolds like an engrossing Larry McMurtry novel.

“Godless” is currently streaming on Netflix. I can’t recommend it highly enough.