I don\u2019t currently stream television shows or movies so I have to wait for the DVDs to be available to watch shows.\u00a0 For that reason I have just finished watching last year\u2019s sixth and final season of Longmire.\u00a0 I started watching this on a recommendation based on my enjoying the series Justified.\u00a0 Well, Longmire and Justified both have protagonists that are law enforcement officers that wear cowboy hats.\u00a0 I would say that is where the similarity ends.<\/p>\n
Walter Longmire, the eponymous protagonist of the series is the sheriff in Absaroka County, Wyoming.\u00a0 His best friend is a Cheyenne Indian named Henry Standing Bear played with ironic humor by Lou Diamond Phillips.\u00a0 Surrounding these two characters are an assortment of characters involved in the Indian Casino opening up and the other commercial developments cropping up in the pristine countryside where Walt lives and on the not so pristine Indian Reservation where the tribal police clash or cooperate with Walt and his deputies.\u00a0 And those deputies try to solve crimes and keep up with Longmire\u2019s two-fisted and gut-feeling law enforcement procedures.\u00a0 And this is one of the unintentionally funny aspects of Walt\u2019s character.\u00a0 At least a dozen times during this series Walt is shot, stabbed, snake-bit or bludgeoned and it’s almost as if he\u2019s some kind of supernatural creature that doesn\u2019t require normal medical attention.\u00a0 He’ll get through the episode or even two and then maybe he\u2019ll have a bandage.\u00a0 Other characters can reflect the results of an injury for several episodes or even longer.\u00a0 Walt just takes some vodka and splashes it on the stab wound or whatever and gets back to business.\u00a0 I mean, sheesh!\u00a0 What is he a Terminator?<\/p>\n
A lot of the plot revolves around the machinations of tribal bigshot Jacob Nighthorse as he manipulates the Indian and White populations to launch his casino and change the dynamic between the Reservation and adjacent Absaroka County.\u00a0 In addition, the Connally family has a big impact on Walt\u2019s life.\u00a0 Branch Connally is his deputy and his daughter\u2019s boyfriend. \u00a0But he is also running against Walt in his re-election as sheriff.\u00a0 And Branch\u2019s father, Barlow Connally is a powerful and under-handed businessman who plays all sides against each other for his own ends.<\/p>\n
In addition to Branch, Walt has a deputy named Archie Ferguson (the Ferg) who is not very formidable as a law enforcement officer and a Philadelphia transplant named Victoria Moretti (Vic) who does all the annoying liberated woman clap-trap but is an effective deputy and backs up Walt when things go south.<\/p>\n
Other characters include Walt\u2019s daughter Cady Longmire who is incredibly annoying and is a lawyer (of course) and the Tribal Police Officers Matthias and Malachi.<\/p>\n
When the series starts Walt is recovering from the loss of his murdered wife.\u00a0 Henry has been helping him track down the killer and Walt\u2019s job is in danger from his erratic behavior.<\/p>\n
The show moves through a very long arc throughout which characters go from being allies to adversaries and back again.\u00a0 There are some surprising developments and some of the characters do grow into more interesting personalities.<\/p>\n
On its own terms the series is enjoyable although I would not say it was great.\u00a0 Some of the characters grow on you like Lou Diamond Phillips\u2019 Henry.\u00a0 And Walt is the old fashioned John Wayne, strong, silent type who lives by his own code and doesn\u2019t even have a cell phone.<\/p>\n
Comparing it to \u201cJustified\u201d I\u2019d say the writing is nowhere near as good but far from bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s a show that can be enjoyed on its own terms but don\u2019t expect timeless drama, just a good cowboy cop show with nice scenery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t currently stream television shows or movies so I have to wait for the DVDs to be available to watch shows.\u00a0 For that reason<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,240],"tags":[955,1542],"class_list":["post-5360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-tv-reviews","tag-longmire","tag-lou-diamond-phillips"],"yoast_head":"\n