Lawmen: Bass Reeves Part V Recap

Here are some observations prompted by watching Part V 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.

• • Just in case you hadn’t already grasped that Bass Reeves developed a fearsome reputation among outlaws, Part V began with a potently gruesome bit of shorthand: While journeying to make another arrest, Bass (David Oyelowo) and his posse man Billy Crow (Forrest Goodluck) happened upon a man hanging from a tree with a scribbled warning — “Bass Reeves will swing here” — pinned to his chest. Mindful of Bass’ illiteracy, Billy asked: “Want me to read the message to you?” But Bass declined: “It’s clear enough.” Totally badass.

• • Bass and Billy found their quarry and his heavily armed associates holed up in a general store and, true to form, Bass offered them a chance to surrender. Naturally, the bad guys did not accept the offer and, just as naturally, gunfire ensued. The two lawmen were wounded during the fracas — Billy got the worst of it, yet still managed to survive to shoot back at the dude who shot him in the neck — but the outlaws wound up very seriously dead. Credit director Damian Marco for staging a great action sequence.

• • Back in Fort Smith, Bass collected a sizable amount of bounty money, and stuck around long enough to see Judge Parker (Donald Sutherland) eloquently pass sentence on a convicted killer. Although the condemned man thought he could hide his crime, Parker pronounced, “You forgot that the eye of God was fixed upon you.” (The real-life Parker was known as a “hanging judge,” but Sutherland shrewdly and effectively makes him sound like he’s more melancholy than vengeful while sending killers to the gallows.)  Before Bass could ride home to his family, however, he was saddled with another assignment by none other than Sherrill Lynn (Dennis Quaid), a deputy marshal who’s been relegated to office work. Specifically: Bass (and Billy) must bring Jackson Cole (Tosin Morohunfola), a Black man convicted of killing a white Texas state senate candidate, back to the Lone Star State at the, ahem, request of his influential relatives.

• • Bass only had time to spend a single evening back at his ranch. His wife Jennie (Lauren E. Banks) appreciated the conjugal visit — but was mightily miffed to learn the next morning that he was headed off to work again. (His increasing distant children were none too happy about his early departure, either.) We half-expected Bass to remind her that she was the one who encouraged him to be a lawman in the first place, but to his credit, he held his tongue. Maybe because he, too, is worried about not spending enough time with his family. During his absence, their daughter Sally (Demi Singleton) lacked an escort to the traveling carnival in the nearby town. So Jennie, despite her initial reluctance to allow her daughter to be courted by the courtly young Arthur Mayberry (Lonnie Chavis), agreed to let him bring Jennie to the event. Unfortunately, the couple had to deal with a racist little white girl who cut ahead of them in line and snapped: “The back of the line is for you!” Even more unfortunately, the little girl’s older brother and a few of his friends set upon the couple as they were walking back to the Reeves farm. Mayberry managed to fend them off — but it’s fairly clear we haven’t seen the last of them.

• • Meanwhile, out on the road to Texas, Bass indicated he was disappointed by what he viewed as Billy’s unprofessional behavior “When you started riding for me,” Bass reminded him, “you asked if you had the grit to be deputy marshal. You don’t. Figured you would by now.” Still, Bass added that he had not yet given up on his young apprentice. (Maybe he figured he should cut someone who recently suffered a near-fatal neck wound a little slack.) The lawman appeared ready to show even more tolerance for Jackson Cole after Cole explained why he killed James Neblett, the Texas state senate candidate: The guy had been a slave owner, and burned his “property” alive when he got wind of Emancipation. Cole had been in the army at the time, but he and his comrades were not allowed to bury the dead when they chanced upon the charred bodies. Years later, while traveling through the area, Cole learned Neblett was running for office on a platform of returning the state to the bad old days. Cole took it upon himself to end his candidacy. That was almost enough for the obviously conflicted Bass to set Cole free. Almost. Evidently, he has too much grit to do something like that.

• • Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jennie was visited by her old friend Esme (Joaquina Kalukango), who’s currently working with Edwin Jones (Grantham Coleman) on a campaign to encourage Black folks to control their own destinies by establishing homesteads in Indian Territory. Their conversation took a darkly serious turn when Esme warned Jennie about frequent disappearances of Black men in the territory. When Jennie suggested stories like that may be rumors inspired by superstition-fueled tales of the dreaded Mr. Sundown, Esme insisted: “Black folk are facing things scarier than that.” Like, maybe relatives of racist little girls?

• • Part V certainly ensured we’ll be watching next week by concluding with a cliffhanger: Out on the trail, Bass, Billy and Cole encountered a figure from Bass’ past: Esau Pierce (Barry Pepper), the Confederate soldier who shot Bass’ young Cherokee friend Curtis during a prisoner escape at the Turkey Creek Trading Post way back in Part I. Pierce, it should be noted, was wearing a badge.

Photography: Courtesy Lauren Smith/Paramount+