Longmire 4.04: “Four Arrows”

After a voluntary leave of absence, Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) returns to work, and within an hour he’s back in the saddle with another murder case to solve. He finds a woman’s corpse in a duffle bag at the site of a fender-bender involving an RV and a bus headed to the grand opening of Four Arrows Casino run by Jacob Nighthorse (A Martinez).

As Ferg (Adam Bartley) is sent to look for a driver who skedaddled off amidst all the commotion, Longmire goes to the casino looking for a patron named Archer Loftus (Lew Temple) who allegedly owns the duffle. He asks Nighthorse to help him find the man, but Nighthorse demands an apology from Longmire first. Well, he gets one … a very backhanded one, with Nighthorse calling it the worst apology he’s ever received.

In Archer’s room, the suspect denies owning the black duffle with his name tag on it. After a few exchanges, he begins to rant about how the oil company he works for is trying to get rid of him for calling OSHA on them. “Would I put my own return address on a dead body?” Good point. Anyone of his coworkers could have done it, he says … as he doesn’t have many friends.

Longmire, having his hands full, turns to Lucian Connolly (Peter Weller)—who is enjoying some time gambling—for assistance in tracking down everyone on the bus to get statements. Always a highlight when the former Sheriff Lucian returns, and his talk with Longmire over the death of Barlow and Branch which closes the show was precision storytelling. Mr. Weller not only acted in this  taut, no-wasted-scene episode, he also directed it. Bravo, sir!

Once again, the murderer reveal had me completely stunned. I thought I knew who it was on two different occasions only to have Longmire point his finger to the guilty party who was as surprised as me. Maybe I’m losing my tingling Sherlocky senses or, what I’d rather believe is the story written by Sheri Holman was that damn good.

Inserted into the vigorous storylines comes a fresh face … Deputy Eamonn O’Neill (Josh Cooke) who was temporarily hired to help ease the load during Longmire’s breather. Vic and Eamonn are searching the dead girl’s body for evidence when he says, “I don’t think your boss likes me.” Vic replies that Longmire has enough on his mind after killing the guy who killed his deputy and wife to worry about the new guy. There’s a love connection brewing between the two, and I, for one, certainly prefer it to Longmire and Vic knocking boots. But Eamonn seems a bit too eager to please, a bit too lax, and a tad goofy. He really steps into it when he talks to the media, without asking Longmire, about the dead woman. When her face is splashed across the media, Nighthorse is understandably angered that Longmire’s promise has been broken to keep things quiet.

Henry is working on his second Hector appeal, which turns out to be a domestic abuse situation. A woman is being physically battered by her husband, and her son had left a note for Hector’s help. Henry assists them in escaping. However he is already becoming entangled when Mathias (Zahn McClarnon) shows up to search for clues to the whereabouts of the missing mother and son, learning a witness had seen Henry dropping the boy at home after giving him a ride.

“Four Arrows” is a strong standalone mystery, and if they continue in this vein, then I’ll be fine that they dropped the idea of having more than one story arc running at the same time—Henry Standing Bear’s mission is compelling enough. It will also be interesting if Longmire works together with Mathias or Nighthorse again in the future. Strange bedfellows makes for entertaining viewing, doesn’t it?

SEE ALSO: Next episode, Longmire 4.05 “Help Wanted”

SEE ALSO: Need more Walt? Here's the whole shooting match, from Season 1 through the new Season 4!


Edward A. Grainger aka David Cranmer is the editor/publisher of the BEAT to a PULP webzine and books and the recent Western novella, Hell Town Shootout.

Read all of Edward A. Grainger's posts for Criminal Element.

Comments

  1. Bwayne

    Great review. I would have liked to have seen more detail on how Walt wriggled his way out of the frameup by Barlow. Not sure how he convinced the FBI in his favor. Of course the shooting can be explained as self defense, but his knife, not so easily explained. He also had a clear motive for revenge for his wife’s murder. Other than that, it was a really tight story.

  2. David Cranmer

    [b]Bwayne[/b], The writing this season is extraordinary. I believe it helped to have the extra fifteen minutes or so added to each episode. Writers like Tony Tost had the wiggle room to flesh out characters.

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