Maybe it’s fitting that last night’s Longmire, about a bear attack, brought to mind the Goldilocks fable. Striking the perfect balance between character drama and procedural has been a struggle for the show, but this week, thanks no doubt to an episode penned by creators John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin, Longmire seemed to get the mix “just right.”
The mystery of the week focuses on Ed Crawley, a man recently released from prison (he’d stabbed a girl to death while hopped up on meth), who is mauled by the aforementioned bear. What looks like a straightforward case of When Animals Attack turns out to be something more—as Walt discovers raw meat was tied to the man to bait the animal. Continuing the show’s streak of getting plenty of “Hey it’s that guy/girl” guest stars, the suspects include the man’s angry brother-in-law (Prison Break’s Wade Williams), the girl’s bereft parents (Heroes’ Christine Rose really commits in one scene where she wails on the corpse with a pair of scissors), a zealous animal behaviorist, and the former prison warden.
Louis Herthum also returns this week as gun expert and good hunter Omar to help track the bear. He demands a deputy—“that feisty Italian”—to help him in lieu of payment, leading to a great scene with Katee Sackhoff’s Vic, that just proves again how talented the “bench” is on Longmire and how fun it is to see some different character pairs interacting.
Aside from just comic relief, meeting Lucian gives us a bit more insight into Branch and the Connelly family. We learn that the former sheriff seems to want nothing to do with his seemingly well-to-do brother, Branch’s father (whom we’ll meet next week, played by Major Dad’s Gerald McRaney), and decries his family’s “shady ethics.” He even warns Walt that if he’s got secrets—and we know he does—he better be ready to read them in the paper.
The race for sheriff is actually a strong thread in this week’s episode, as we see Henry hosting a somewhat underpopulated fundraiser for Walt—that the Sheriff only bothers to show up to because he’s chasing info on the case. Later, one of our suspects makes it a point to ask Walt for some campaign signs, saying he’d “hate to see another old pro be pushed out of a job by a young guy.”
The problem is, right now it’s hard to get a handle on why anyone would want to vote for Branch. We haven’t seen him do anything particularly noteworthy yet, so it’s difficult to view him as legit competition for Walt. It’d be nice to see Branch doing something truly heroic that raises the dramatic stakes a bit and might actually give us reason to believe he could beat Walt. I’m betting, however, that next week we’ll see that he does actually have stronger ethics than his uncle gave him credit for. It’s tough to imagine how Bailey Chase would continue to be a regular cast member once Walt wins the election, as he surely will, if Branch did anything too irredeemable.
To be honest, Walt’s ethics actually don’t seem to be the most pristine either. This is at least the third episode now where we’ve seen him indulge in some questionable methods to coerce a confession out of a suspect. Add that to the flashbacks—we got another one this week with Walt pulling a gun and kicking in a door—and the anvillicious lines about the evil that lurks at the heart of men. (This week’s is “Someone has to be the sheriff. Otherwise we’re all just animals.”)
Yet up till now, Walt’s been painted as the white hat we clearly should be rooting for. He’s almost always right, and far smarter than everyone around him. There seems to at least be slightly less focus on that this week, and I think the show’s better for it. Other people actually get to discover some important clues—Lucian notes that the dead man had marks from restraints on his body and Vic literally jumps from her hospital bed to point out that the tranquilizer dart wound she received looks just like the wounds on the body that they had wrongly assumed were from Ed shooting up meth—which makes the show a bit more well-rounded. There’s a different and more interesting energy to the scenes where the team collaborates to solve a crime than the ones where Walt just stomps through the office barking orders to everyone as they scurry to do his bidding.
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Tara Gelsomino is a reader, writer, pop culture junkie, and Internet addict. You can tweet her at @taragel.
This was a great episode. I hope we see Peter Weller as Lucian in the future. My favorite scene, though, was Vic and Walt in the hospital. Walt was so uncomfortable with Vic’s personal issues that I had to laugh at the look on his face.
Yup, I hope Lucian returns too (I think he directs another episode towards the end of the season), and yes, the hospital scene was my fave as well. 🙂 (Although I hope the show does not follow suit with the books and do anything with a Vic-Walt relationship. I just….does not compute for me.)
This show is definintely a treasure…I love the characters, the slow developing of relationships and the wild west!!! Wish I was there!!!
Here’s my theory on what happens to Branch when he loses the election; Walt asks him to stay on. Narrative: “At some point in time, Branch, I’m going to want to retire and I would like to leave this office to a man who knows what he’s doing. If you stay on, I’ll be happy to teach you what you need to know. That is, if you can shove your ego aside and y0ur daddy’s feelins.” How’s that?????
As to Vic, did anyone else notice the shape of her nose when she was telling Walt about her husband? It looks like she’s been boxing. Pretty amazing to me that she’s married. Didn’t see that coming. Loved the scene where she shows Walt and Branch the difference in the wounds she received. Pretty smart.
I loved loved the scene with Vic getting verbal diarrhea under the influence of the tranqs and medications. Too true.. and Walt looked like he was ready to teleport himself out of the room. My sister is reading the series and says that eventually Walt and Vic marry?! Are they heading that direction?
By the way, do you know why they are filming in New Mexico versus Wyoming?
[b]ski336, [/b]the scenery is so gorgeous. It does make you want to be there!
[b]bitsy08[/b], that’s an interesting theory! In the books, Walt often thinks/talks about having Vic be his successor, but then again, there’s not really a Branch in the books (the character he’s modeled on is far more incompetent and less integrated into the department, he doesn’t even show up after the second book.) The timeline being pushed back four years changes the dynamic a bit though.
We meet her husband next week (he’s played by Pan Am’s Mike Mosley) and that should be very interesting! I loved that she got to break a key clue to the mystery from her hospital bed too! 🙂
[b]Bristow1941[/b], Uh, they don’t marry. At least not so far. 😉
SPOILER FOR THE BOOKS — –
Cady married Vic’s brother Michael in the most recent novel though! Walt and Vic hooked up in book three and then it was alluded to that they hooked up again in either four or five, but any kind of romance/sex hasn’t been mentioned again since then. We’re on book 8 now.
SPOILERS OVER
I’m guessing no studios/better tax credits/climate better in Wyoming? I’m talking to one of the writers for the show on Thursday though so I will ask for ya!
Just attended a book store event – the owner said she heard the show has been renewed. What have you heard.
Artistmom, yes it’s been renewed for season two already thanks to the stellar ratings! No word yet on how many episodes or when S2 will air.
Graham Beckel, who plays Dan, the former prison warden, is Colonel Fisk on Battlestar Galactica (with Katee).
AussieS, this show is amazing with the guest stars. Every single one is someone you know from something else. Great casting all around.