YMMV / Hatfields & McCoys

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Selkirk McCoy’s voting to acquit Floyd Hatfield of pig theft. He does voice a good reason (the testimony of Bill Wallace) that makes it sound reasonable to give Floyd the benefit of the doubt but as he is also employed by the Hatfield family, he might have been biased.
• Awesome Music: The score is beautifully done and really makes the mini-series that much better.
• Catharsis Factor: Seeing Ax-Crazy Jim Vance and his accomplice Cap Hatfield being ambushed and hunted down by the Mccoys, although Cap escapes.
• Narm: Randall's death for some, due to Bill Paxton hamming it up like mad.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Johnse's wordless but very emotional farewell at Roseanna's grave.
  • Cottontop when his father dies, not to mention when Cottontop dies himself, as a scapegoat.
  • The murdering of the three McCoy brothers, particularly since the youngest of them was basically innocent and had already tried to defuse the feud partially by telling Roseanna his brothers had Johnse.
  • Say what you will about the despicable Jim Vance, but it still absolutely destroys you when he has to put his dog—who stayed by his side during battle—out of its misery.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Several real-life experiences of characters could have been very interesting but go unmentioned in the story.
  • Nancy McCoy having children with both Johnse Hatfield and Frank Phillips could have provided a look at how the feud is affecting the most recent generations of the families and given her a more conflicted role as The Mole.
  • Perry Kline trying to cheat the Hatfields in revenge for both Devil Anse cheating him in the past and Jim Vance killing his foster father (a former slave) could have made him a compelling character instead of a greedy, one-note Amoral Attorney.