Lawmen: Bass Reeves Promises Another Damn Good Western in Paramount+’s Taylor Sheridan Universe

Taylor Sheridan’s Western TV empire on Paramount+ hasn’t stopped expanding. After the prequels to Yellowstone, 1883 and 1923, the latest addition is a standalone miniseries titled Lawmen: Bass Reeves, in which Sheridan only serves as an executive producer. Being heavily involved in almost all of his ongoing shows as creator and writer-director—overseeing several projects simultaneously—it’s not a huge shock that he handed off the writing and showrunner duties this time to Chad Feehan, who previously was a writer on such accomplished shows as Banshee, Ray Donovan, and Southland.

Based on the first three episodes, which were provided for review, it’s safe to say that the miniseries seems to benefit from this decision, having a showrunner’s undivided attention dedicated to the epic story and its execution. Though the show’s style, tone, and approach undoubtedly follow the imprint Sheridan established with his previous works, Bass Reeves confidently stands on its own with a compelling narrative and the charismatic titular character portrayed by a magnetic David Oyelowo.

Based on the first two books of Sidney Thompson’s The Bass Reeves Trilogy, the plot focuses on Bass Reeves’ harrowing life in Arkansas and Oklahoma Territory, from being a slave to becoming a farmer and eventually the first Black Deputy U.S. Marshal in America. Within 15 minutes of the first episode, the writing makes it clear that race will be a substantial, if not the most dominant, part of the story as the years frequently change on screen. And what could underline that better than a quiet scene in which Reeves’ master, Major George Reeves (played stupendously by Shea Wigham), tells him that if there’s a heaven, Black people surely don’t get to go to its good part after death. The simmering rage in Bass’ eyes after hearing that encapsulates a ferocious determination to break free from the White Man as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

And he doesn’t need to wait long after his master receives dispensation from duty and the two return home together in Grayson County, Texas. When drunk, George offers a helluva deal to Bass: if he beats him in a game of poker, he’ll grant him absolute freedom. Knowing how much of a lunatic his master is, Bass quickly realizes that George might be serious. Naturally, however, the white man tricks his slave, and things rapidly take a violent turn. Bass has to run, leaving behind his love, Jennie (Lauren E. Banks), and never looking back. So he flees on a horse, barefoot, and faces death several times on his way but eventually makes it out alive, owing his life to a Seminole woman who saves him from starvation in the middle of nowhere. He stays with her and her son for years, learns their language, and leaves when tragedy strikes in 1865 after the abolishment of slavery. And only then, his path to becoming a U.S. Marshal begins to take shape.

The first three episodes are essentially the origin story of Bass—a grueling battle of survival, fierceness, and perseverance in God’s country paved by blood, racism, and an ounce of hope. It’s a captivating passage of his life dominated by raw naturalism and fascinating characters who come alive in scenes both loud and quiet, pulsating with strong emotions and delicate feelings. There’s an inherent melancholy here, underlined by Chanda Dancy’s elegiac score, that often defines Westerns of the best kind, and Bass Reeves does come across as a damn good one, especially within the first two hours. The dialogue is sharp, the bleak yet vast cinematography is ever-so-stunning, and the action is ruthless and fast-paced. These are all the right ingredients that Feehan employs to great effect, but it’s the sublimely written and portrayed characters that make the series really pop.

From the get-go, Oyelowo dominates the screen as someone born to play this role, and his commitment wins us over almost instantly. Whatever feelings are bubbling in Reeves’ heart throughout, he conveys them with conviction and integrity, giving us a protagonist who is fierce and masculine by instinct yet vulnerable and kind-hearted by choice. And Oyelowo needs the full grasp of his talent to pull this off since he shares the screen with such legends as Donald Sutherland, Dennis Quaid, and Barry Pepper, who can instantly steal the show when given the chance—and rest assured, they often do. Pepper’s Esau Pierce turns up sporadically within the first three episodes, but he’s so magnetic as a savage wolf of an outlaw that it makes you wonder why he isn’t cast in proper roles that match his acting prowess anymore. But Quaid’s bitter, tobacco-chewing hot-head U.S. Marshal, Sherrill Lynn, and Sutherland’s commanding Judge Parker (whose reputation is infamous for hanging a lot of criminals) are just as imposing. The entire cast is fabulous, and Feehan smartly relies on them to drive the narrative.

It’s only in the third hour when Feehan’s firm-handed supervision (combined with director Christina Alexandra Voros’ competent direction) seems to flicker a little and somewhat lose momentum. Once Reeves becomes a Deputy U.S. Marshal—with a huge family to provide for—the show starts to change into a procedural build as new villains and allies turn up suddenly. I really hope this is just temporary because the series has a lot more to offer as serialized television focusing on its protagonist’s core instead of employing a “case of the week” format that he needs to solve each week within the same episode.

Regardless, despite riding on the coattails of Sheridan’s other western shows, Lawmen: Bass Reeves promisingly emerges as a compelling series that needs no help to stand on its own. Its ambitions might be smaller in scale, but that doesn’t diminish its effort to actually achieve them and deliver us a gripping horse opera with remarkable characters and splendid performances all around.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves premieres Sunday, November 5th on Paramount+.

Akos Peterbencze is an entertainment writer based in London. He covers film and TV regularly on Looper, and his work has also been published in Humungus, Slant Magazine, and Certified Forgotten. Akos is a Rustin Cohle aficionado and believes that the first season of True Detective is a masterpiece. You can find him talk about all-things pop culture on Twitter (@akospeterbencze) and Substack (@akospeterbencze).

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