Thank you, Netflix. Thank you for keeping Longmire alive and exceptionally well.
Having not watched the show while on cable television, I feel both guilty and
beaming with happiness. Guilty because I consider myself partly to blame for the
show going off the air by not watching when it started, and supporting it when
it needed to be, but there is a sense of responsibility because I feel that
cable is not where this show should be. It has always belonged outside a few
FCC regulations. After all, this show is of the murder/mystery genre. Sure you
have your Law & Order, CSI, and a load more of this genre
actually on television and yes, they do well, but having watched and become
bored with these carbon copy shows, I have come to respect your company and the
Netflix Original Series you have produced immensely. Since House of Cards and Orange is
the New Black you have reinvented the television show. These shows, though
considered to be “television,” feel less like TV, but not quite movies. You have
created a beautiful monster – a completely new category. The DNA coursing
through the veins and arteries of Longmire
is of a new species. I must give credit where credit is due and without your
help, Longmire would have stayed a
three season series and it deserves so much more than that.After exactly one year, die-hard fans took days off work, wrote reminders on their calendars, set alarms on their phones, to binge watch the hell out of Longmire Season 5. Like a tortured soul deprived of nourishment, the fans withered away waiting for news on a release date. September 23rd, 2016 was announced and fervent viewers scoured the internet for any information they could find to share with anyone and everyone who would listen. “You must watch this show called Longmire.” And they’re right. You must watch this show. There is a level of precedence incomparable to what is currently making the rounds in television. From the ground up, Longmire itself is some of the finest art I have ever witnessed. The acting, writing in all aspects, direction, cinematography, wardrobe, production, is worlds outside of what we understand television to be. Longmire takes you on a horse and buggy ride into realistic, but most importantly relevant issues that we see and hear today.
Season 5, episode one, begins right where the season
4 finale left off. As you watch Walt hazily come to with blurry vision and
ringing in his ear, right away you are sucked in as though you are Walter
Longmire himself. Your heart is racing, palms are clammy, mouth dry, and your
eyes desperately search the screen trying to focus on anything that will tell
you what has happened, why?, who?, and then it hits you – you’re in too deep.
You are exactly where the show was taking you since the beginning. You exhale
as Cady comes to the rescue and gets her dad to the hospital. And then you
remember Donna and your heart starts to race again. Is she alright? Oh my
goodness is she dead!? Before you even finish questioning yourself, Walt is
dead set on finding her and trades in his hospital gown for his sheriff attire
and so begins a three episode search, but of course Walt never just has one
thing to deal with at a time, no, his relationships begin to slowly untangle as
he finds out he is being sued by Barlow himself in a wrongful death case.
Also
weighing in at a ton of bricks, we dive deeper into the injustices of the
Native American people. Not only are we shown what fictionally happens within
the Longmire universe, but light is shined on what it’s like to live with
Native American heritage and prejudice from both sides of the coin. Season 5 is
hands down the best season yet. Walt, Cady, Henry, Vic, and even Ferg run
around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to piece together
mysteries with the lawsuit, numerous deaths, and personal problems. You board an
even larger emotional roller-coaster this season. It tugs you in every
direction, pulls on all the right strings, puts into question all of your
favorite characters, and enforces the feelings you have for your least favorite
ones. The season finale couldn’t have been more perfect and of course, more of
a cliffhanger. Just as the tears flood your vision, the screen goes black and
you tell yourself if this was still on TV this is where the commercial would
be, but then you hear it – the theme music and you quickly repeat
“no…no…no…no…no!” Having to wait another year is something many fans will
endure, but hate to do. Yes, I’m a critic. Yes, I wrote articles that will
hopefully get viewed and shared, but I am also a very big fan of this show.
“Big fan” being an understatement. After reading this review, turn on Netflix
and start watching Longmire.
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Score:
- H
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Score:
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