Lawmen: Bass Reeves tells the story of the first Black U.S. Marshal, Bass Reeves. In the fourth episode, titled “Part IV,” Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo), alongside his posse man Billy Crow (Forrest Goodluck), has a fateful encounter at the Women’s Boarding House.
The episode opens two years later. Bass approaches a house in the mountains where an Old Lady lives. Initially held at gunpoint, he gradually befriends her by demonstrating his knowledge of the Bible by heart. Bass later goes down to the creek to fetch water for their dinner, but upon his return, her two sons appear and hold him at gunpoint.
The woman’s two sons pull the trigger, only to find the gun is empty, leading to them laughing at Bass’s fear. They all share a meal, but the two sons engage in a drunken argument, resulting in one of them punching the other. Bass offers to take care of them, allowing the old lady to retire for the night. However, the two sons wake up to find themselves handcuffed and held at gunpoint by Bass.
Bass returns to his posse, which includes Billy Crow, with the two sons under arrest. They make camp for the night, and Ramsey, a new member of the posse, begins recounting the story of Old Mister Sundown, a slave catcher who ate the slaves he captured and now haunts the area. Bass interrupts Ramsey, feeling that turning these men over to the Judge is too simple. Bass has Billy read a passage from the Bible to the posse to reaffirm their commitment to doing the right thing.
While Bass and the rest of the posse sleep, Ramsey attempts to kill Bass with a knife to his throat. Bass awakens and fights back, severely injuring Ramsey. Billy intervenes to prevent Bass from further harming Ramsey. The rest of the posse reveals that Ramsey mutilated the faces of the incarcerated sons they had arrested.
The following morning, Bass meets up with Minco (Mo Brings Plenty) and receives another target for arrest: a horse thief named Silas Cobb. Minco informs Bass that there is a bounty on his and Bass’s heads. Bass leaves Ramsey tied to a tree, guarded by the rest of the posse, as he and Billy set off to locate Silas Cobb.
Bass arrives in the town and enters the local saloon. He notices that Billy is paying attention to a woman and sends him outside. Billy strikes up a conversation with the woman, while inside, Bass searches for Silas Cobb. The woman reluctantly provides Bass with the location of Silas’s room.
Bass breaks into Silas’s room through the window. Silas tries to negotiate by offering information on a more notorious outlaw but ends up in handcuffs nonetheless. After a brief distraction, Silas attempts to escape through the window. However, outside, he encounters Billy, who shoots him in a manner that inflicts a painful death.
On the ride back, Bass tries to impart the importance of each bullet to Billy, emphasizing that each one represents a life they must choose to take or spare. Ultimately, he explains that with their badges, they have the authority to decide whether to kill or spare someone, but only God knows which choice is right. Nevertheless, Bass gives Billy Silas’s boots, which will allow them to get paid.
Bass and Billy reunite with the posse, where the bound Ramsey taunts Bass for being a killer. Bass delivers a letter left by Silas for his wife, only to discover that she is blind. She appears to have anticipated Silas’s fate and asks Bass to read the letter quickly, mentioning the presence of Old Mr. Sundown in the area. Bass, however, tells her a comforting falsehood.
The episode concludes with Bass alone with his horse, feeding it, and an approaching figure on horseback, presumably Old Mr. Sundown. Bass draws his gun, but the figure rides away.
In Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 4, director Damian Marcano, writer J. Todd Scott, and showrunner Chad Feehan do a good job continuing the themes of the previous episode of the law vs. what is actually morally good.
Rating: 7/10