Lawmen: Bass Reeves Part VI Recap

Here are some observations prompted by watching Part VI 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.

• • Yes, that really was Esau Pierce (Barry Pepper), a long-time nemesis of Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo), we saw at the end of Part V. And yes, he really was wearing a badge — because the former Confederate soldier is now a Texas Ranger. Not surprisingly, considering that Esau killed Bass’ young Cherokee friend during a prisoner escape back in Part I, the reunion between the two men in Part VI was nothing if not tense. (Bass: “I have no mind to arrest you.” Esau: “No, by those angry eyes, I reckon you’d just as soon kill me.”) Still, ever mindful of what the law demands, Bass turned over to Esau — very reluctantly — Jackson Cole (Tosin Morohunfola), a Black man convicted of killing a white Texas state senate candidate, who he and Billy Crow (Forrest Goodluck) had been escorting all the way from Fort Smith. He came to regret following orders.

• • Indeed, even before he learned later in the episode that Esau obviously murdered Cole while en route back to Fort Worth — and covered the crime by claiming Bass had only given him a pair of the man’s boots — Bass had begun to question the morality of his chosen profession. By the time he and Billy arrived at Checotah for some R&R — thereby allowing Billy to again woo the pretty prostitute Caliste (Blu Hunt) — Bass bellied up to the bar in a saloon and proceeded to drink heavily. How heavily? He very nearly got into a fight with a loud-talking fellow customer until the man revealed himself to be a Texas Ranger, Braxton Sawyer (Brian Van Holt), who actually expressed admiration for Bass’ manhunting prowess. But Bass was not easily mollified. Referring to his badge, the slave-turned-lawman admitted: “This thing weighs just as much as the chain.”

• • Alcohol and melancholy clearly clouded Bass’ normally astute judgment. Otherwise, he might have realized that, all things considered, it was probably a serious mistake to get blotto in the same town where, back in Part IV, he and Billy had a fatal encounter with a fugitive horse thief. When Bass staggered outside to relieve himself, he was set upon by rowdies (former members of the gang led by a bad guy Bass terminated) who were eager to collect the dead-or-alive bounty placed on the lawman’s head by other outlaws. Fortunately, Billy was able to hear the ruckus while, ahem, enjoying Caliste’s company in her room upstairs from the saloon. Even more fortunately, Billy’s shooting ability had greatly improved since the last time they were in Checotah, so he was able to help Bass kill or capture the bounty hunters. Bet that means Bass won’t be questioning Billy’s grit again anytime soon.

• • Meanwhile, back in Fort Smith, Arthur Mayberry (Lonnie Chavis) bid a fond farewell to his sweetie Sally Reeves (Demi Singleton), Bass’ daughter, because he figured that, sooner or later, if he did not vamoose, he would be killed by allies of the racist white boys who spoiled their fun after the carnival in Part V. But Sally wasn’t frightened by the possibility of trouble with vengeful white boys. At least, that was her story, and she stuck with it. Later, when she spotted some white dude lurking far off in the shadows of the woods near her home, she defiantly shouted: “You don’t scare me!” He disappeared. But you know what? We can’t help suspecting he’ll be back. And he won’t be alone.

• • Bass returned home to find his wife Jennie (Lauren E. Banks) having dinner with Edwin Jones (Grantham Coleman), the smooth-talking leader of a campaign to establish new and safer communities for Black folks in Indian Territory, and Jennie’s old friend Esme (Joaquina Kalukango), whose relationship with Jones doesn’t appear to be entirely professional. Bass was a great deal less than impressed by Jones’ sales pitch — and he made a special point of noting aloud that Jones was wearing a wedding ring. Jones coolly responded that, like Bass, he must spend much time away from home to serve a greater cause. Later, when they were alone, Jennie brought up the issue of Bass’ own frequent absences, stating that his dangerous work as a deputy marshal was hardening him as a human being. (“Every time you come back, you bring less and less of you.”) When he disputed her accusations, however, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

• • One thing Jones mentioned that really did hit home for Bass – there sure have been a lot of Black men disappearing throughout the territory since Reconstruction was more or less placed on the back burner. Maybe he had been too quick to dismiss the ravings of Ramsey (Rob Morgan), the crazed killer who spoke of the dreaded Mr. Sundown, a spectral slave-catcher who’s supposedly still “building a plantation out of skin and bone—a dark, dark church full of hell’s music.” Bass tried to get more info from Ramsey before the psycho was hanged. But it wasn’t until he was standing on the gallows when Ramsey said something that triggered Bass’ memory of how Esau described his home in Texas. At the time, it sounded like Esau was claiming dinosaur bones had been discovered on his property. Maybe he was talking about — gulp! — something else?

• • Speaking of hanging: The public execution of three prisoners — Ramsay and the two Dolliver brothers Bass arrested back in Part IV — gave scripter Jacob Forman and director Damian Marcano a good excuse to bring back for fleeting cameos Dale Dickey as mother of the Dolliver boys and Dennis Quaid as Deputy U.S. Marshal Sherrill Lynn. When Bass asked Lynn what were the chances that Judge Parker might swear out a warrant for a Texas Ranger, Lynn sardonically replied: “Nil to none.” But, hey, we still have two more episodes left to go for this limited-run series. There’s a lot more that can happen.

Photography: Courtesy Lauren Smith/Paramount+