Thursday, December 29, 2016

Longmire - Pure Peckinpah


Ghosts from the past come back to haunt Walt (Robert Taylor) and company in "Pure Peckinpah" just as the show cements a pair of new villains (Dylan Walsh and Dan Donohue) whose drug business will likely keep the County Sheriff's office busy for the remainder of the season. The murder of the local drug dealer recently threatened by Hector makes Walt suspect the vigilante may be responsible. This forces Henry (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Mathias (Zahn McClarnon) to walk a tightrope not only to get Walt off Hector as a suspect in the murder but to also reconsider his suspicions that Mathias is the one taking justice into his own hands.

Walt also steps in to try and help Bob (John Bishop) whose son Billy (Arron Shiver) has graduated from hard drinking to heroin. The return of the Barnes boys allows the show to recall the events of "Election Day" and question Walt's decision making which apparently didn't help out either father or son. Vic's (Katee Sackhoff) new mobile home purchase also puts her back into contact with Travis (Derek Phillips) who proves helpful tracking down a suspect (Melanie Green) in the drug dealer's murder.

Despite several moving pieces which are only marginally tied together, "Pure Peckinpah" is one of the season's highlights. Along with Henry and Mathias treading softly around Walt, and the sheriff dealing with the obvious guilt where Bob and Billy are considered, the episode offers the return of Travis along with several strong individual moments such as Vic's moment of charity, Malachi's (Graham Greene) ruthlessness, Donohue stepping up as a legitimate adversary for Walt, and Ferg (Adam Bartley) going from the highest of highs when stealing a kiss at the hospital to the lowest of lows when his prisoner transfer is hijacked in the episode's cliffhanger ending.

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