Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie Review

The Modern Frontier

Reviewed by Michael Reuben June 19, 2014

Although A&E's original drama Bates Motel has been lavished with more attention, the network's most durable contribution to series drama may turn out to be its revival of that staple of television's early days, the Western. But Longmire, now in its third season, isn't your grandfather's Western. A distinctive hybrid of cowboy saga and police procedural, Longmire follows the investigations of a modern-day sheriff in the fictional Wyoming county of Absaroka. As embodied by actor Robert Taylor, whose rugged features would look right at home against a landscape framed by John Ford or Howard Hawks, Sheriff Walt Longmire stands for traditional values of right and wrong, law and order, hearth and home, in the face of crimes and criminals that Wyatt Earp could never have imagined. But because Longmire is very much a contemporary hero, his stoic exterior masks a complex and often stormy interior life that he struggles to keep separate from his job, with varying degrees of success.

Longmire was inspired by the works of author Craig Johnson, who published his first Walt Longmire novel, The Cold Dish, in 2004. A dozen books and short stories have followed. Series creators John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin, both veterans of The Closer, have borrowed several plots from Johnson's writings, but the larger series arcs are their own creation with the aid of a talented writers' room. Longmire premiered on June 3, 2012, where it ran in a 10:00pm slot on Sundays for ten weeks. The series moved to Monday night for its second season, beginning on May 27, 2013, for thirteen weeks. The third season premiered on June 2 of this year.

Because Warner Herizon Television is one of Longmire's production companies, Time Warner has the video rights. The first two seasons, twenty-three episodes in total, have been released through the Warner Archive Collection in a six-disc set with impressive audio and video and several major extras.

Longmire opens one year after the death of the sheriff's wife in Denver, where she was receiving treatment for cancer. After the funeral, Sheriff Walt Longmire (Taylor) withdrew into himself, preferring to spend as much time as possible at his remote cabin. His presence at work became erratic, and his deputies have covered for him in his absence. Many people do not expect Walt to run for re-election to another term as sheriff. Chief among them is his ambitious deputy, Branch Connally (Bailey Chase, Saving Grace), a square-jawed, all-American charmer who has decided to seek the office himself. Branch wants to modernize police work in Absaroka County, and he has several advantages in seeking the post. His father, Barlow Connally (Gerald McRaney, Deadwood), is one of the county's most successful businessmen, although father and son aren't on the best of terms. Branch's uncle, Lucian Connally (Peter Weller), was Longmire's predecessor. And Branch's campaign is backed by Jacob Nighthorse (A Martinez), whose casino on the nearby Cheyenne reservation is poised to become the economic powerhouse of the region, as soon as construction is completed.

But Walt isn't ready to retire yet. Emerging from his solitary mourning, he is galvanized into action by Branch's challenge, with the full support of his loyal office manager, Ruby (Louanne Stephens), and his two other deputies, Ferguson a/k/a "The Ferg" (Adam Bartley) and Victoria "Vic" Moretti (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica), a recent transfer from the Philadelphia homicide squad who is still adapting to conditions in Wyoming. (If it sounds like there's more to that story, that's because there is.) Everyone except Branch has been hoping for the return of the tough lawman that Walt Longmire used to be, and there's a palpable sense of relief when he reappears in the sheriff's headquarters in the town of Durant, even if the occasion happens to be a dead body in the snow.

His staff aren't the only people happy to see Walt resuming his old duties. His daughter, Cady (Cassidy Freeman), has borne the double burden of mourning her mother and worrying about her father (who affectionately calls her "Punk"). Despite the love between father and daughter, a distance separates them that neither knows how to bridge. Cady, who is a successful lawyer at a local firm, is finding it difficult to carve out an identity as a professional woman in this remote area. Her struggles will lead her into an ill-considered relationship with far-reaching consequences.

Walt's closest friend since the sixth grade is Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips), proprietor of the Red Pony Café (or, as Henry likes to call it when answering the phone, "the Red Pony Café and Continual Soirée"). Walt and Henry share a bond of deep trust and mutual secrets, some of which are revealed over the course of the first two seasons. Of equal importance, Henry acts as Walt's liaison, both formal and covert, to the Cheyenne reservation, where Walt's is not a welcome face. Having arrested the former chief of the tribal police for extortion, Walt is now viewed with suspicion by many members of the tribe. The current police chief, Mathias (Zahn McClarnon), is openly hostile whenever Walt requests access to "the rez" in connection with an investigation. Still, the politically savvy Mathias isn't above seeking Walt's help when one of his own cases becomes a hot potato among the tribe's competing factions. He has even been known to relocate a body, so that the victim appears to have died on Walt's turf rather than his, relieving Mathias of a potentially embarrassing case.

The election contest between Walt Longmire and Branch Connally dominates the first two seasons of Longmire, but by the time it is resolved (in the episode entitled "Election Day", which is provided here in a superb extended version), our understanding of both the contest and the combatants has been transformed. Powerful forces encircle this battle, and it soon becomes clear to all concerned that the stakes are larger than the sheriff's department. But not all the players or their motives have been revealed by the end of the second season. There is a strong indication that some members of the Cheyenne Nation—and casino owner Jacob Nighthorse may be among them—see the tribe's looming prosperity as an opportunity for a historical reckoning with centuries of grievances. Then again, maybe the fancy rhetoric is just a cloak for old-fashioned greed.

Longmire is shot in New Mexico, presumably because of existing production facilities, and the series takes full advantage of the state's spectacular locations. Nature is an essential character in Longmire, in part because key events are more likely to occur at some scenic outdoor location than in a police station or an office, but also because Walt Longmire, like the cowboys of old, feels most at home in the great outdoors. Perhaps because his best friend, Henry, is a Cheyenne, and also an expert tracker, Walt has an instinctive feel for nature's moods and its order. He brings the same inner sense of balance to law enforcement, along with the quietly attentive stance of a tracker who is alert to tiny details that others wouldn't notice. He's a Sherlock Holmes who's traded his deerstalker for a a ten-gallon hat. But Walt will also battle nature when the occasion demands. In the gripping first episode of season 2, "Unquiet Mind", he risks his life pursuing escaped convicts on foot during a mountain snowstorm because they have hostages, and "[i]f I was a hostage, I'd want to know someone was coming to help." As it happens, at that particular moment, Walt welcomes the challenge, because he's seeking an escape from troubled thoughts on a variety of subjects. Longmire is too thoughtful and well written, however, to permit Walt such an easy release; his perilous trek only brings him closer to the private demons he's attempting to flee.

Throughout the first season, Walt receives calls and letters from a police detective in Denver named Fales (Charles S. Dutton), which he does not want to acknowledge. When Fales finally makes the journey to Durant in the season's final episode, he has some startling information for Walt that adds yet another layer of mystery to this inventive, original and addictive series.

Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Longmire is shot on the Red Epic and Red MX digital cameras. The pilot was shot by J. Michael Muro (Open Range), who established the visual style of the series and shot seven additional episodes. Most other episodes have been shot by Cameron Duncan, who was Muro's assistant on the pilot. While the series is made for television, its style is distinctly cinematic in both its scale and its use of landscapes. If ever a TV show deserved to be seen on Blu-ray, Longmire is it.

WAC's six 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray discs present a consistently superior image, as one would expect from a digital stream that has never passed through an analog stage. Detail is excellent; blacks are solid and deep; and colors are rich and properly saturated. Some of the shots of the New Mexico sky (standing in for Wyoming) could be picture postcards, but equally impressive are the closeups of Walt Longmire's intense, stubbled face, on which even the slightest change of expression is eloquent, or the much more animated faces that surround him (Katee Sackhoff's Vic is an especially effective foil). These are some of the best TV Blu-rays I have seen, far superior to A&E's broadcasts, at least as delivered by Time Warner Cable in New York City.

The average bitrate varies from disc to disc, depending on the contents, but WAC has continued their practice of utilizing all of the available space. The discs that I measured ranged between 28.48 and 31.82 Mbps, which is excellent, especially for digitally originated material.

Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Longmire's 5.1 audio mix is presented in lossless DTS-HD MA. In contrast to the cinematic image, the audio mix is a relatively restrained affair, with the surrounds confined to atmospheric ambiance and little in the way of discrete rear channel effects. Still, environmental sounds often play an important role in the world of Longmire, particularly when winds blow or a storm rages. Scenes with large crowds (at the Red Pony, for example) benefit from the expanded soundstage, as does the (very) occasional action scene. The elegantly scripted dialogue is always clear, and the moody, country rock score by David Shephard (a contributor to such films as Machine Gun Preacher and Drag Me to Hell) has become sufficiently popular to support the release of a soundtrack album.

Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Camera's Eye: Realizing the World of Longmire (disc 1) (1080p; 1.78:1; 18:55): Cast and crew discuss the show's visual aesthetic. A principal element, of course, is the New Mexico locations, which lend authenticity to both the visuals and (as Katee Sackhoff in particular attests) the performances. Cameron Duncan, the principal DP, discusses the choice of camera, lenses, filters and framing, as well as visual references. Executive producers Chris Chulack and Greer Shephard, among others, address the relation between Longmire's visual style and the show's recurring themes.



• Longmire Justice: Exploring the Cowboy Detective (disc 2) (1080p; 1.78:1; 28:59): Cast and crew, with extended comments by star Robert Taylor, analyze the character of Walt Longmire, whose origins are equally rooted in the American West and Sherlock Holmes. A man of contradictions, Walt is both stoic and a well of deep emotion. With friend and foe alike, he often find himself in conflict, which is the essence of great drama.



• Testing Courage: The Storm Defines the Man (disc 4) (1080i; 1.78:1; 30:00): Spoiler Warning: Do not watch until after finishing season 2! The promo for season 2, which is unfortunately not included with this set, used the motif of a storm coming. As it turns out, that was the metaphor that the creative team actually used in developing the season's multiple arcs. An expanded roster of cast and crew, including series co-developer John Coveny and actor A Martinez, who plays Jacob Nighthorse, join in describing the various storms that each of the regular characters must weather over the course of the season. The most literal is the fierce mountain storm through which Walt Longmire pursues a group of prisoners who have escaped from the state penitentiary. But most of the "storms" are emotional, psychological and, appropriately enough for the world of Longmire, spiritual. It is worth noting that star Robert Taylor, who spoke with his native Australian accent in the season 1 extras, has now adopted the sheriff's voice and intonations, even for interviews.



• Extended Episode: Sound and Fury (disc 5) (52:50): Executive producers Hunt Baldwin and Greer Shephard describe this as the "director's cut" of episode 7 of season 2, which was inspired by such neo-noirs as Blood Simple and Red Rock West. This cut runs almost nine minutes longer than the broadcast version and restores much of the atmosphere that had to be trimmed to fit the show's time slot.



• Extended Episode: Election Day (disc 6) (55:40): As Baldwin and Shephard explain in a brief introduction, this pivotal episode (number 10 of season 2) was short on paper but came out especially long once it was cut together. This extended cut runs approximately twelve minutes longer than the broadcast version and does not drag for a moment.

Longmire: The Complete First and Second Seasons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the advantages of Longmire's relatively low profile is that new viewers can acquire this set and "binge watch" the first two seasons without having heard too much about the series' various twists and turns. As much as I would like to share with potential viewers some of the elements that make Longmire such compelling drama, it can't be done without revealing plot points that are much more satisfying when they come as a complete surprise. The show is one of those miraculous mixtures where the writing, the cast and the production are all pitched at exactly the right level. As soon as one episode ends, you begin counting the days until the next one. This set contains twenty-three such episodes, two of them better than what was broadcast, and has my highest recommendation.