Longmire (2012-2017)
The past several years have provided media fans with a seemingly unprecedented amount of wonderful films and TV shows to consume and enjoy. While we’d love to watch everything we’re interested in, time often doesn’t allow for it. Which means sometimes great content can get buried in the shuffle to where hardly anybody even knows about it. Case in point is one of my favorite television shows of the last decade that I know more people would love too if they knew it existed—Longmire, which ran for six seasons from 2012 to 2017. The series started its run on the A&E network but was not renewed for its fourth season, despite being the channel’s highest rated original show. It was then picked up by Netflix, which ran the last three seasons (and where you can find the entirety of the show now).
Based upon a successful series of books by author Craig Johnson called Walt Longmire Mysteries, the show is a modern Western drama following the job and life of the titular character working as a sheriff in a fictional Wyoming county. Now I realize that on the surface level, this kind of thing maybe is not the appeal of those visiting this site, but hear me out! The show has so much going for it, even more than I expected. The Western element is really what initially drew me in, as I’m a big fan of the genre, but it was the characters, their relationships, and the real-life compelling drama that kept me invested until the very end.
The cast is a huge highlight of the show. Portraying Walt Longmire is Australian actor Robert Taylor, whom genre fans might recognize from his roles in THE MATRIX and ROGUE. Walt’s lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear is played by Lou Diamond Phillips; his main deputy Victoria “Vic” Moretti is Katee Sackhoff; his daughter Cady is Cassidy Freeman; and his two other deputies (at least at the start of the show) are Bailey Chase as Branch Connolly, and Adam Bartley as Archie “the Ferg” Ferguson. There is a plethora of other wonderful side characters that are continually involved with the plotlines throughout the series, including that of the rich political and businessmen in the county, and of the nearby Cheyenne reservation—which provide friends and enemies for the main characters.
Walt is of course the central figure, but he’s also the real heart of the show. He mostly comes off as having that rugged stoicism of many Western-type characters. One side of him represents a very old-fashioned and simple way of life (the running joke is his resistance to using a cell phone), yet he is not old-fashioned in his ideals or morals. Taylor brings so much to the character with his subtle intensity and immense compassion for victims, and sometimes perpetrators, of crime that he encounters. Sackoff’s Vic is fiery and outspoken, serving as the perfect partner and foil for Walt as they often push each other outside of their comfort zones.
Ferg is perhaps the most lovable and relatable as that genuinely sweet, good guy who always wants to help and do the right thing yet is often outshined by stronger personalities surrounding him. All the good and evil characters that pop up are not one-note, though, with each possessing an intriguing complexity. You may think you know how someone is going to act in a certain situation, until their morality shifts, surprising the viewer as well as the other characters.
Longmire takes place in Wyoming (though mostly filmed in New Mexico and Arizona). The gorgeous and idyllic landscape adds another character to the series. There are snowy mountaintops and wide-open plains (such as where Walt’s home is located,) which are beautiful to look at it but at the same time cannot hide the dark side of the humans that reside in them. There are many long-running storylines, but the show very much takes on a “crime of the week” structure that deals with all the same issues of any big city—murder, greed, jealousy, assault, abuse. The inclusion of the Cheyenne reservation and Native American characters also allows the show to tackle many serious issues that still plague modern Native American life that are unfortunately not as well-known or discussed as they should be.
The show has its humorous side to endear you more to the characters, but it does not shy away at all from the hard-hitting emotions involved with almost all the major crimes that Walt and his deputies investigate. This is where Longmire provides moments for its main characters and all the wonderful guest stars to shine—as there is always more than meets the eye to the cases of Walt and his deputies.
One of the most compelling arcs was about a young Cheyenne woman who is raped by two white men. It is a frustrating and harrowing reality that they cannot be prosecuted because of who was involved and where the crime took place. There are also plot threads tied to the new local casino and the people that run it; a survivalist group; Vic’s terrifying past with a stalker ex; and a local Cheyenne legend of an anonymous avenging angel known as “Hector.”
For my money, Longmire is one of the best TV shows that almost no one ever saw. With only 63 total episodes, it is an easily bingeable series that I know more people would fall in love with if they just gave it a chance. The actors, characters, and relationships will draw you in. The care and delicacy with which they handle serious and important topics will keep you in until the end. This is truly an excellent show that deserved to have more eyes on it from the beginning.
You can find all episodes of Longmire streaming on Netflix in the US and Australia.
