Godless is a limited Netflix series, a self-contained story in seven episodes about a New Mexico mining town in the 1880s populated almost entirely by women. The once-thriving town suffered a terrible tragedy when a mining accident killed almost all of its men, leaving only a few men -- mostly the very young or old -- and a lot of widows to keep the town alive.

Several plotlines run through the story -- some big, like the ruthless company that buys the mine, and some small, like a young man's love for a girl in a nearby black community and a Pinkerton detective's search for a missing German bride -- but the major thread deals with Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell), an outlaw on the run from his former gang and its mad, brutal leader, Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels). Goode takes refuge on a ranch outside of La Belle, where widow Alice Fletcher (Michelle Dockery) scrabbles together a living with her half-breed son Truckee (Samuel Marty) and Paiute mother-in-law Iyovi (Tantoo Cardinal).

In La Belle, the women try to hold their community together, led by the likes of Mary Agnes McNue (Merritt Wever), widow of the mayor, and Callie Dunne (Tess Frazer), a hooker-turned-schoolmarm with a heart of gold. Meanwhile, Sheriff Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy) and Deputy Whitey Winn (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) keep the peace.

The focus of the series is on Goode and Fletcher, a classic will-they/won't-they scenario, but the real centerpiece here is Daniels as Griffin, an immensely disturbed, sociopathic man with a sense of his own destiny and a cruel streak a mile wild. With his madness on screen, it's impossible to look away.

Accordingly, the series is gruesomely, graphically violent -- and the victims, young and old, are often innocents in the path of Griffin's wrath -- so don't watch if you're disturbed by images showing what bullets and blades can do to the human body. Also, don't get too attached to all of these characters; not every storyline has a happy ending, and not everyone makes it to the end.

Some people might be put off by the insertion of modern sensibilities in some areas -- the casual acceptance of a lesbian couple, a bi-racial couple, a nudist and a half-breed, among others -- but I think the biggest failing here is the missed opportunity to really dig into gender roles and give the women of La Belle a chance to truly shine. (Viewers will notice with some disappointment that a climactic gun battle isn't won until two men show up to save the day.) Still, the women have many strong, proud moments in this series, and the dialogue includes many a powerful, memorable line.

It's not perfect. Some plot threads aren't tied off by the end, and some viewers might feel dissatisfied by the romantic conclusions of the finale, but writer/director Scott Frank has crafted something here that's well worth the time it takes to watch.