Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Episodes: 13
Duration: 42 min (per episode)
Longmire: Season 2 (DVD) – Series Review
Longmire season 1 already introduced us to sheriff Walt Longmire, a very competent, just and pretty badass law enforcer. In season 2, we see a lot more of Walt and his team and surely a lot of interesting story branches unfold. This show is recommendable for series watchers who like a more realistic take on the police business and although there’s still loads of action in Longmire season 2, it stays true to a non over-the-top formula.
Longmire’s episodes always provide a story on its own (like you see in The Mentalist or Bones) while certain plot situations keep returning in the background throughout multiple episodes. The events you can expect in season 2 range from escaped convicts and poisoned victims to a murdered psychic and a guy with only one thing on his mind: killing his wife. Recurring plotlines include Walt’s (Robert Taylor) partner Vic (Katee Sackhoff) being stalked by retired cop Ed Gorski (Lee Tergesen) who blames her for the death of his partner Bobby. Meanwhile, Walt Longmire is preparing for elections as the citizens of town need to choose between him and Branch Connally (Bailey Chase) as their new sheriff.
Not every episode is as interesting as the other though and sometimes the pacing could’ve been a bit better, but overall, there’s enough variation in the murder cases and other storylines to keep you busy. The recurring plotlines are a bit more interesting to follow and sometimes it feels like the pace is a bit too slow due to the fact that each episode has its own narrative. The good thing is that Longmire offers a broad and diverse cast and the characters all play a pretty important part in the general flow of the story. Sometimes we see Branch arguing with his father about a casino which Jacob (A Martinez) desperately wants to build (but not everyone agrees ofcourse) while at other times the Cheyenne (the native Indians) people are a bit more under the spotlight.
Action wise, the creators behind Longmire seem to know pretty well when the best opportunity arises for some shooting or fighting action. As said in the introduction, Longmire is not purely action oriented just for the sake of getting some explosions in the shot or increasing the body count. The balancing is pretty well done and anyone who wants a police series that focuses more on bringing believable situations instead of brainless action, Longmire is certainly a good series to start out with.
Some words about the acting now. Lead actor Robert Taylor makes for a convincing sheriff and knows how to act in the situations the creators of the series throw at him. It doesn’t matter if he has to play an exhausted person fighting against the bitter cold or a dedicated leading police agent whose only wish consists of solving the ‘whodunnit’ mystery (and catching the criminals too ofcourse), Taylor knows how it’s done. Meanwhile, Bailey Chase who plays the more brute and stuck-up guy Branch and who’s also Longmire’s rival in the elections, shows us a whole other character performance. The actors both play entirely different characters but it’s nice to see the diversity in personages’ traits and way of handling situations. You can feel the tension that lingers between certain persons and as a viewer, that’s a pretty great thing to experience. The whole cast of Longmire is worthy of a bucket load of praise but one guy I just have to mention before moving on is Lou Diamond Phillips who portrays his role as Henry, a Cheyenne friend of Longmire, splendidly.
The DVD box of Longmire Season 2 comes with some fun extras to watch. There are bonus extended episodes of Sound and Fury and Election Day and beside that, you can watch the featurette Testing Courage: The Storm Defines the Man in which the actors and actresses talk some more about how their character thinks and reacts on certain situations. It’s an interesting featurette to watch if you want to know a bit more about the personages so definitely try it out if you’re in the mood.
Conclusion
Longmire Season 2 shows us some entertaining police work and recurring plotlines. The separate cases in each episode sometimes feel like they stand in the way of the more ‘pressing’ situations at hand but eventually, the pace turns out pretty okay (although not everyone may agree). You won’t find any action just for the sake of action (which is a good thing actually) but a realistic and believable case based narrative. Acting wise, the cast of Longmire makes for a fun TV experience as diversity and high-quality performances are clearly the standard in this show.
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