Paramount+’s Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode five opens with the disturbing sight of a dead man hanging from a tree. Attached to his chest is a note that reads, “Bass Reeves will swing here.”
Bass (David Oyelowo) stakes out an area, sending Billy (Forrest Goodluck) into Bywater’s General Store while watching what goes down from afar. Billy returns to report that five armed men are hanging out inside, including the outlaw, Jim Webb. Bass and Billy move in closer, and Bass immediately comes under fire as he approaches the building.
Bass manages to make it to the building and exchanges Bible passages with Webb and his men. Billy and Bass bust into the store through different doors, and the ensuing shootout results in a few of Webb’s men dying and Billy taking a bullet to the side of his neck.
Jim makes a run for it, and Bass pursues him, with a corral loaded with steer separating the lawman and the outlaw. They fire at each other over the heads of the cattle, and Bass is grazed but not injured. Jim leaves the cover of the corral, and it’s an easy shot by Bass to take him down.
Back inside the store, Billy’s gotten to his feet while maintaining pressure on his neck wound. The man he shot is fatally wounded but still gasping for breath while staring at Billy. That freaks Billy out, and Bass warns him that shooting people doesn’t get any easier.
Billy does as ordered and puts the dying man out of his misery.
They collect the boots from the dead outlaws, and Bass steps outside with a sledgehammer. A dog’s chained up outside, and Bass uses the sledgehammer to break his chain, setting him free.
Bass and Billy finally arrive back in town with the men they’ve rounded up, while on the Reeves’ farm, Sally (Demi Singleton) resents having to work beside her mom on their farm. Sally believes her dad makes enough that they can afford to hire help. Jennie (Lauren E. Banks) insists that a little manual labor will keep Sally from getting spoiled.
Jennie reveals she knows Sally’s been secretly meeting up with Arthur, even though she forbids it. Sally’s frustrated and wonders when she’ll be old enough to do anything fun.
Bass steps into Judge Parker’s courtroom as Parker (Donald Sutherland) delivers a speech to a man just found guilty of murder. He then heads over to collect his earnings – $752.75 – and is happy to be heading home with cash in his pocket. Bass has been on the road rounding up criminals for 41 days and just wants to see his family. However, it turns out this reunion’s going to be a short one.
Sherrill Lynn (Dennis Quaid) delivers the bad news that Judge Parker wants Bass to escort prisoner Jackson Cole, currently locked up in Atoka for stealing horses, to Red River where he’ll be tried for killing a candidate for Texas state senator.
Apparently, Lynn’s no longer allowed to do field work and instead is stuck pushing papers – which he hates. That means it’ll be up to Bass to retrieve and deliver Cole, per Judge Parker’s orders. And he’ll have to leave tomorrow.
Bass makes it home, busting out with a huge smile as he hugs his wife. The younger kids don’t seem happy to see him, but Sally’s overjoyed that her dad’s home. She’s even picked out a dress she’s wearing to the carnival he promised to take her to.
Bass and Jennie catch up that night in bed, and Bass confesses that being in Jennie’s arms is what he missed the most while on the road.
The following morning, Billy knocks on the window as the family’s ready to enjoy their breakfast. Bass didn’t mention having to leave again for a week, or that he’ll have to miss taking Sally to the carnival. Bass promises he’ll take her twice next year, but Sally’s too upset and disappointed to care that her dad doesn’t have a choice.
Jennie sends all the kids upstairs, furious that Bass didn’t mention this last night. His kids don’t even recognize him anymore because he’s always gone. Jennie wonders which oath means more to him – the one he swore to her or the one he swore to the law.
A short while later, Sally’s collecting eggs in the henhouse when Jennie suggests she ask Arthur to take her to the carnival. Sally finally has a reason to smile.
Bass and Billy pick up Jackson (Tosin Morohunfola) from Atoka, and Billy wonders why Jackson killed the candidate. Bass sends Billy ahead to scout the area just so that he’ll stop talking. Jackson points out that they don’t give Blacks badges in Texas.
Thunder roars when they’re taking a break, and Billy’s back to running his mouth. Bass warns him he’s speaking like a fool, and Billy demands Bass tell him what’s changed in their relationship. Bass explains that he no longer thinks Billy has the “grit” to be a Deputy Marshal. Bass blames himself for not teaching Billy the right way to handle the job.
Billy, for once, is speechless. Finally, he asks if Bass is giving up on him. He isn’t.
Bass and Jackson discuss life, and Jackson reveals he was in Galveston for the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. He believed he was witnessing history but came to realize it was really just “a white man reading words.”
The thunderstorm hits, and Billy, Jackson, and Bass ride through the trees, trying to escape the weather.
Sally and Arthur (Lonnie Chavis) wander through the carnival, looking at the bearded lady, a kangaroo, and other attractions they’ve never seen before in their young lives. They’re having a great time until a young girl pulls out her white privilege card and steps in front of them in line to see the elephant. Sally won’t tolerate such behavior, and the child is fortunate that her dad shows up to rescue her from the tongue-lashing she deserves.
While Sally’s out, Jennie’s friend Esme (Joaquina Kalukango) pays her a visit. Esme asks why Jennie let Sally attend the carnival with a boy, given the world they live in. Esme insists Black people have been disappearing around here, but Jennie thinks that’s just a rumor. However, Esme knows a man named Samson who disappeared in Red Fork. His clothes were still in the room he rented, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Other hotel guests heard horses in the night but don’t know what happened.
Esme’s adamant that he was snatched up by men just because he was Black.
Jennie realizes Esme could be right, and the two women head off to the carnival to check on Sally and Arthur.
Bass takes Jackson’s handcuffs off before Billy knocks on a door seeking shelter. The couple inside speak Spanish and, fortunately, so does Billy. He promises they won’t make any trouble and are the law. The woman knows the law is trouble but allows them inside anyway.
The men are enjoying a hot meal when Billy notices mushrooms on the counter, sniffs his drink, and motions to Bass not to drink anything. Bass understands and motions to Jackson to put down his cup.
Billy interprets as the woman says death is following them. Billy assumes she’s sensing their prisoner’s death, but she shakes her head and points at Bass.
After dinner, Bass stares into the fire and hears voices (he took a small sip before Billy told him not to) while Billy asks if the woman can do magic to make the woman he loves want to be with him. She insists he doesn’t need magic; his neck wound proves he’s already a lucky man.
She offers to clean Bass’s thoughts, but he declines as wolves howl outside. He steps outside and has a smoke with Jackson. Jackson recalls how his regiment rode throughout Texas spreading the word that slaves are now free. They stopped at the Rockrose Plantation owned by James Neblett and discovered Neblett was burning his slaves.
The regiment wasn’t even allowed to bury the bodies.
A decade later, Jackson moved back to Texas and discovered Neblett was running for office and promising to turn back the clock to before the war. Jackson saw what he did to one plantation and would not allow it to happen again.
Sally and Arthur are walking home when four young men, including the brother of the racist white girl, surround them on the road. Sally stands up to them and punches the leader in the face. A brawl breaks out, and Sally knees another boy in the chest. Arthur is a decent fighter, and the fight ends less than a minute after it begins with the boys who started it running away.
Arthur’s upset and believes they have to tell someone, but Sally insists it’s over. Just then, Jennie and Esme ride up and neither Arthur nor Sally reveal what just happened. Esme sees a rip in Arthur’s pants, and Sally quickly lies and says it happened at the carnival.
Morning arrives, and Bass leaves money on the table before joining Jackson and Billy outside. He places the cuffs back on Jackson, and it’s obvious Jackson’s story has deeply affected him, yet he must keep his oath to the law.
The weather’s improved as they make their way to the meeting with the Rangers. Bass is shocked when they arrive at the small tent to discover the Ranger is none other than Esau Pierce (Barry Pepper), the ex-soldier who killed young Curtis back at the Turkey Creek Trading Post in May 1865.
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 1 Recap
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 2 Recap
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 3 Recap
- Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 4 Recap
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