Lawmen: Bass Reeves Part III Recap

Here are some random thoughts prompted by watching Part III of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which premiered Sunday on Paramount+. Please keep in mind: There will be scads of spoilers here, so proceed at your own risk.

• • After deftly setting the table for their Wild West narrative in back-to-back, backstory-stuffed premiere episodes, the creative talents behind Lawmen: Bass Reeves settled into a groove for Part III that recalled nothing so much as a traditional episode of a series from the Golden Age of TV Westerns. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, you understand.

• • Donald Sutherland took authoritative command without undue exertion as Judge Isaac Parker, the notorious hanging judge of Fort Smith, Arkansas, who, in 1875, deputized Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo) as the first Black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River. Right from the start, Judge Parker made it resoundingly clear that this was not an equal-opportunity hire: “I need a man with a good gun and a straight spine. You up for the task?” Bass politely but firmly — and confidently — replied: “I wouldn’t be sitting here in my Sunday best if I wasn’t.” So Bass got the job — along with a hint that he should never expect much in the way of mercy for any malefactor who might stand before Judge Parker in the courtroom.

• • For his first assignment, Bass was sent after Billy Crow (Forrest Goodluck), a callow young Cherokee man wanted as an accessory to a stagecoach robbery committed by the notorious Underwood Gang. But he didn’t set out alone: Garrett Montgomery (Garrett Hedlund) offered his services as a posse man — the same job Bass filled for Deputy Marshal Sherill Lynn (Dennis Quaid) in Part II — and Bass hired him on the spot. While riding toward Indian Territory, however, Garrett came across as a mite too eager to be ingratiating, the first indication that he shouldn’t be trusted. Or expected to be around very long.

• • Sure enough, while he and Bass were on the road back to Fort Smith with their prisoner, Garrett was shot down by members of the Underwood Gang. But, really, the guy he had it coming: Just before his demise, Garrett was fixing to draw on Bass and claim the loot from the stagecoach robbery after Billy Crow offered to show the lawmen where the ill-gotten gain was hidden (in exchange for their releasing him, of course). Bass made quick work of the killers while retaining custody of his prisoner, demonstrating once again his good gun and stiff spine. But he demonstrated his sub-zero cool a few scenes before that, when he bluffed his way through a poker game with some tough hombres in a saloon, then wrested valuable information from them about the whereabouts of Billy Crow by claiming to have half-dozen or so posse men as backups outside. Not bad for a newbie lawman.

• • Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jennie Reeves (Lauren E. Banks), Bass’ wife, gave birth to another child — one more mouth to feed and, yes, one more reason for Bass to remain gainfully employed as a deputy marshal. Jennie is a sharp lady, but she’s got a lot on her mind right now, so she might not be noticing — for the time being, at least — that Arthur Mayberry (Lonnie Chavis) is continuing his courtship of her daughter Sally (Demi Singleton). The two young people seem quite sweet as they tentatively express their growing regard for each other. The question is, will they be allowed to enjoy happily-ever-aftering together?

• • So what will happen to Billy Crow? Far as we know, he’s never actually killed anybody, so he might avoid being handed a death sentence by Judge Parker. (A couple other defendants — including one who managed to earn Bass’ sympathy during a brief conversation — weren’t quite so lucky during a revealing courtroom scene.) Could he wind up becoming Bass’ next posse man? And when will we be seeing Sherrill Lynn again? Tune in next week for further developments.