3 out of 5

Developed by: John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin

covers seasons 1 through 6

Reliable. Consistent. These are words that could surely be used to describe small town Absaroka, Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), and also, fittingly, terms that apply to the show that bears the character’s last name.

There are other mirrorings: most directly, Walt’s nature of choosing his words, and taking a kind of paced approach (mostly) to solving the various episodic crimes and mysteries that pop up in his county, informs the tone of the show, which can appear rather languid and quiet at points. But then more broadly, as we come to understand more about Walt’s history – his dead wife; his longstanding friendship with bar owner Henry (Lou Diamond Phillips); his respect for the local tribal population but animosity towards casino owner Jacob (A Martinez) – there’s a dark underbelly to the series that burbles up and over on occasion, leading to not-so languid bursts of action and violence. It’s a mostly well maintained balance, a very human one, allowing us to receive Walt as the wizened rapscallion, though somewhat prone to impulsive behaviors as tempered by his support staff: an on again / off again friendship and ideological war with deptuy Branch (Bailey Chase); an on again / off again flirtation with deputy Victoria (Katee Sackhoff); and a somewhat parental role with less-experienced deputy Ferg (Adam Bartley).

The latter character ends up indirectly representing what’s Longmire’s ultimately limiting factor: a lack of change. Whether that’s also a purposeful bit of mirroring or not, Ferg is really the most side character out of the lot, and maybe as a result, is the only character really allowed to change. The struggles Ferg goes through being a side “character” in the sheriff’s office necessitate him stepping up his game throughout the show; meanwhile, Walt, Branch, and Vic go through some major shit involving political conspiracies and murder charges and stalkers, and while these can inform season long arcs, the effects take one of two directions: they’re either wiped away back to zero, or they require flip-flopping a character to a different persona to justify the arc (something which also affects Phillips’ character, and that of Cassidy Freeman, playing Walt’s daughter, Cady).

While this sounds pretty sinful for a drama, the cast carries it all convincingly, and the generally slower pace acts as a buffer – you don’t really have to think about it too often, and the episodic happenings are well balanced between simpler murder mysteries and more complex (if light) commentary on various social politics via lawful justice vs. moral “justice” – all of it scripted intelligently and with enough gray to never be patronizing. But if you watch chunks of the show as a binge, the cyclical stuff and forehead-slapping character gaffes become more apparent, especially in later seasons.

Does any of this make Walt Longmire, or the show Longmire, any less reliable, or overall consistent? No. The latter may seem inconsistent with what’s criticized above, but the former positive makes some hand-waiving in storytelling much more tolerable (and frankly not too noticeable), making consistency an equally praiseworthy quality.