TV review
This real-life story of an enslaved man who became a U.S. marshal is a thrilling, thoughtful interrogation of what freedom means. Dennis Quaid and David Oyewolo gave wonderful performances
There is a challenge that is practically a moral responsibility when making a drama set during the period of American enslavement of black people. That means finding a way to make its fundamental horror clear to an audience long accustomed to depictions of it.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which begins in Arkansas in 1862, in the midst of the American Civil War, finds it in a scene surrounding a card table. Bass (David Oyelowo, co-producer and lead actor) and his slave George Reeves (Shea Whigham) fight for his freedom. This opportunity, this card-turner, is Bass’s reward for his heroic performance in the Confederate Army, to which he was effectively drafted when George enlisted.
The scene combines terrible tension – Bass trembles and almost cries – and an even more terrible evocation of what it means to have another person exert control over you. It captures how terribly unfair and inhumane this is and, based on a true story, brings home the reality of life in a country built on this extraordinary foundation.
Lauren E Banks as Jennie Reeves. Photo: Kwaku Alston/Paramount+
The outcome of this game means that Bass must flee the state in fear for his life, leaving behind his wife Jennie (Lauren E Banks, whose presence is so great she’s barely observable) and seeking refuge in Native American territory . He is taken in by Sara (Margot Bingham), a Seminole woman whose husband was killed in the war, and her son Curtis (Riley Looc). The Seminole Nation “never surrendered, never entered into a worthless treaty,” and is therefore, at least technically speaking, still free.
But “Lawmen” is a drama that questions at every turn what freedom means for colonized or enslaved people. Bass lives there peacefully for several years, learning the language and occasionally working as a translator between shopkeepers and visitors to the local trading post. There he meets a former soldier from his Confederate days, now a prisoner, and learns that the Union has won – that emancipation has officially arrived. This is immediately followed by events that prove how worthless formal triumphs can be. Bass has to move on again.
About a decade later, as a father of many people and a farmer plagued by failed harvests, he shows us how poverty makes a person unfree, regardless of the severely limited achievements of reconstruction. When a U.S. Marshal, Sherrill Lynn (Dennis Quaid), offers him a job helping search for Native American outlaws, he must accept it for the sake of his family.
Bass served as marshal for more than 30 years and arrested at least 3,000 people. One of them was his son
It is the beginning of what became Bass’ life’s work. In 1875, he was appointed deputy chief marshal for western Arkansas by Judge Isaac Parker (Donald Sutherland) and served for more than 30 years, arresting at least 3,000 people. One of them was his son, who was charged with murder.
So Oyelowo has a lot to offer. He does a wonderful job of layering anger, despair, hope and misery over Bass’ innermost being – and that’s as Lynn puts it after watching him pray over a victim’s body as Lynn strips the murderers’ corpses. the “most serious man I have ever met”. “.
The Western is such a storied form that there are many familiar tropes. Perch escapes dogs by swimming across a river; Endless graying men squint into the sun. At times, Lawmen threatens to descend into a humorless pastiche – especially considering that the script generally sticks to a terse tradition (“He died bravely.” “He lived bravely”). But the rare perspective and care given to the story, not to mention its basis in real-world achievements, saves it.
There is also room for expansion. Jennie plays the piano for her daughter and tells her that she was taught by her lover as an expression of the great lady’s kindness. “The piano was hers, but the music was all mine.” Always have something that’s yours, baby.” It’s a particularly feminine wisdom.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is space created to enjoy Quaid, whose talent for languid charm coupled with latent menace becomes more focused with age and works perfectly here. “It’s hard for a man to leave fear and hate behind,” Bass says when confronted with Lynn’s hardened brutality. “Oh, damn, Bass,” Lynn says, leaning in with that smile. “I’m not even trying.”
Lawmen is based on Sidney Thompson’s trilogy of historical novels and was primarily written by Chad Feehan (Ray Donovan, Banshee). Lawmen was originally intended to be a spin-off of 1883, itself a spin-off of Yellowstone, but now serves as the start of an anthology series about characters trying to establish order in a lawless land dependent on the idea of Manifest Destiny . Given this evidence, this is something to look forward to.
• Lawmen: Bass Reeves is on Paramount+
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