Walt is forced to seek Jacob Nighthorse's help during a murder investigation.
We're taking an episode-by-episode look at Season 4 of “Longmire,” which currently is available for streaming on Netflix. Be forewarned: There will be spoilers a-plenty in each of these overviews.
THE PLOT: It takes Walt a while to recover — and to, quite literally, wipe the blood off his hands — after his deadly encounter with Barlow Connally in Episode 403. And even when he gets back to work, he knows some people — including the FBI — will be keeping close eyes on him. But he jumps back into his lawman routine when a young woman’s dead body in found on a duffle bag left behind in the wake of minor wreck involving a tour bus and a rented van proceeding to the grand opening of Jacob Nighthorse’s Four Feathers Resort and Casino.
In order to gain Nighthorse’s cooperation in the homicide investigation, Walt must apologize — very, very reluctantly — to Nighthorse for suspecting the shady wheeler-dealer of being responsible for the murders of Branch Connally, his late deputy, and Walt’s wife. He also promises to do whatever he can to keep the casino from being linked to the young woman’s death in any media coverage of her murder. Unfortunately, temporary deputy Eamonn O’Neill (Josh Cooke) doesn’t check with Walt before releasing the victim’s morgue photo to the press, in the hope learning her identity. For this reason, among others, Walt ultimately tells O’Neill that his services will no longer be needed in Absaroka County.
An even more awkward situation: Walt asks for assistance from former sheriff Lucian Connally (Peter Weller, who also directed this episode), despite the simmering tension between the two men. (Lucian is — or, more precisely, was — Barlow’s brother.) With the a little help from Lucian, Vic, Ferg and, yes, O’Neill, Walt is able to rule out obvious suspects — including some rowdy oilfield workers who were traveling aboard the tour bus — and narrow his focus on two members of the bachelorette party traveling in the rented van. Specifically, he deduces that the bride-to-be’s best buddy, and the bride-to-be herself, accidentally caused the victim’s death during a confrontation over the young woman’s treacherous behavior – she was sleeping with the groom-to-be — then tried to cover up their culpability by leaving the body in the duffle bag during the confusion after the accident.
Meanwhile: Henry continues to assume the avenger/protector role of Hector by helping a battered woman and her young son flee her abusive husband. The husband, suspecting Henry had something to do with the disappearance of his wife and son, calls Mathias, who in turn contacts Walt. (Mathias has no jurisdiction outside the reservation.) The two lawmen show up at the Red Pony, and ask to search Henry’s upstairs apartment — where, the audience knows, the missing wife and child had found safe refuge. Henry tells them the missing wife and child aren’t there, and pointedly asks Walt why his word isn’t good enough. Walt, somewhat abashed, admits that, in the wake of Barlow’s death, he’s under close scrutiny. So Henry admits the two men into his apartment and, of course, there’s no one there to be found. Because, presumably, Henry sent them safely on their way.
On his way out of the Red Pony, Walt encounters Lucian. Over drinks, the men finally address the elephant in the room — Barlow’s death — and Lucian agrees that, all things considered, the world is probably a better place with his errant brother no longer in it.
TAKEAWAY NO. 1: O’Neill goes back to his job in a neighboring town, but not before reminding Vic that, since they bother have each other’s telephone numbers, they should make a point of maintaining contact. Vic’s coy reply — “We certainly have each other’s number!” — suggests that maybe we haven’t seen the last of this guy. And maybe Vic wouldn’t mind that at all. Which, naturally, raises the question: How will Walt respond to that?
TAKEAWAY NO. 2: Peter Weller, the original RoboCop, has grown up to be a scene-stealing character actor with an entertaining flair for playing swaggeringly irascible but formidably shrewd golden-agers. It’s always fun to hear him crack wise, as he does repeatedly in this episode. When Walt thanks Lucian for his aid, Weller shrugs and replies: “Work keeps me on the right side of the grass.” Later, he offers this blunt-force take on the late but not-lamented Barlow: “My brother would have been a good man if somebody had been there to shoot him every minute of his life.” Sounds like Lucian has been reading some Flannery O’Connor.
TAKEAWAY NO. 3: By now, it’s par for the course that Ferg will be stuck handling most of the dirty work. In Episode 404, however, he must chase after a suspect trying to make a clean getaway. Said suspect, it should be noted, runs from a truck stop shower room, and is, no kidding, bare-ass naked as he sprints through the parking lot before being tackled by Ferg. We are spared the actual moment of impact, but the expression on the face of an onlooker tells us that, once again, Ferg has performed way beyond the call of duty.
