I'm sure no one will ever know just how accurate this series was compared to the actual facts, but I think the filmmakers did an OUTSTANDING job and so did the actors, every one of them. To me, the main "message" of this whole sordid saga rang clear and true: that hatred, resentment, pride, ego and rage are pure poison, and oh, "the damage done"... Especially appalling was the way both of these powerful patriarchs were so willing to sacrifice their own children just to "win." That scene where Johnse asks his father (who's about to shoot him) if he would have let him drown as a boy brought me to tears. Johnse wasn't bad or a traitor, he was just young and naive, and like he said, he didn't have enough "hate in his heart" to be a Hatfield. And towards the end of part 3, when McCoy's youngest son lay dying on the ground, with blood bubbling out of his mouth, I teared up again, especially because the boy looked so much like my 13-year-old son. How could these fathers lead their sons into such danger and death? It certainly was a "different time," but I don't think these people and their ways were the norm! I think resentment left over from the Civil War had everything to do with this feud, and war had changed both men, not for the better. This story really makes you think about how strongly and irrevocably a parent's actions and words affect their children, and also how many so-called "Christians" (McCoy) walk around damning others while acting anything but Christ-like themselves.
