♪ MTV.♪
[marching drum plays]
[stirrups jangling]
Steady!
[drumming stops]
[gunshot]
[clamoring]
- [cannons firing] - Hold the line!
[horse squeals]
[neighs]
Hold that line! Hold the line!
Hold the line!
[clamoring]
Hold the line!
Brave men of the 11th!
Get together, God damn!
[explosions continue]
Theirs not to make reply!
Theirs not to reason why!
Theirs but to do and die!
You will follow me,
and you will fire.
Charge!
[yells]
♪ suspenseful music
♪♪♪
Fire!
♪♪♪
Advance!
[troops shouting]
[troops chanting]
[men shouting rebel yell]
♪ dramatic music
♪♪♪
[horse neighs]
[screams]
[whooping]
♪ atmospheric music
♪♪♪
[groaning]
[excited chatter]
You done killed the wrong side.
I'd rather be shot in the face than in the back.
[man] We collected 200 prisoners
and a battery of field guns...
[cheering]
...while McCulloch's division suffered 325 casualties,
with 788 unaccounted for,
thought to be killed, deserted
or runaway.
Another challenge in this bloody campaign
we must overcome.
There's nothing we can't, nothing we won't,
for God favors the Confederacy.
[murmurs of agreement]
Let us adjourn, gentlemen.
No war has ever been won on an empty belly.
Before dinner, sir, if you don't mind...
inform us when the supply train will arrive.
Has it not arrived?
I'm not aware of it, General.
Despite good counsel from many honorable men here,
you made the decision to leave our wagons behind
to advantage our swift flight and goal of surprise.
We marched fast, only to find ourselves outflanked,
outmaneuvered and now, out-supplied.
Major, that may be an unfortunate oversight.
My oversight, indeed.
Yes, General, yours indeed.
[murmuring]
Are you finished?
♪ quiet, dramatic music
[George] I hear that you like poetry, is that right?
[Van Dorn] A poet typically does, Major.
[men chuckling]
Thank you.
[Van Dorn] What is your current line of inquiry...
I saw you.
What is your name, soldier?
No soldier, sir.
Just Bass.
Well, you are a wolf, then, Bass.
We are a breed apart.
We know our own.
♪♪♪
[George] "...and the lovely plumage of the bird's
that never alights;
less celestial,
I celebrate a tail."
As do I, gentlemen.
Consider yourself dismissed, Major.
Bass.
♪♪♪
[door closes]
It's a damn confederacy of dunces, Bass.
It's not debatable, is it?
No, sir.
"No, sir," indeed.
Strike my tent. Pack my gear.
Tack the horses.
♪ slow, dramatic music
♪♪♪
[flies buzzing]
♪♪♪
Where do you think you're headed, Mr. Nighttime?
To get the horses a little of that grass over yonder.
My Henry rifle may have served you well,
but don't go thinking you're any kind of master now.
Boy, I don't think I cotton to the light in your eyes.
Answer me straight.
Do you mistake me for some kind of cowardly deserter?
No, sir.
You Master Reeves, through and through.
I received dispensation from Van Dorn.
"Damn Born's" more like it.
He's calling it a health reprieve.
Pardon my saying, sir,
but you didn't fight like no sick man.
Well, I suspect he was sick of my company, Bass.
Mutual sentiment to be sure.
Can't figure how the general
didn't find you sweet like honey.
I did leave him a bit stung, didn't I?
Deep, I'd say.
[chuckles]
Go get your grass.
Yes, sir.
Don't think you're going to sleep while I lie here awake.
Oh, no, sir.
Just admiring God's creation.
You ever thought God could be our own creation instead?
No, sir.
Well, isn't that rich?
If you could read,
you'd surely delight in Longfellow.
Who knows, you two could be right,
there could be life after.
Some grand paradise above.
I'd still like to learn, Master.
So I could study the Bible.
You're not thinking
niggers go to the good part of Heaven, are you?
Sir?
You see that big separation up there?
You're looking at all the pretty twinkling lights.
But if you're going anywhere,
you're going to where there's nothing.
Just black airy nothing.
That part you ain't even looking at.
Only white folks go to the big dance, boy.
If anybody's going anywhere.
♪ soft, dramatic music
♪♪♪
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa.
This is an unusual conservation.
Wait here.
Yes, sir.
Rachel?
♪♪♪
Nobody's here.
No, sir?
When you finish up, come find me.
Yes, sir.
No garlands, no trumpets.
Just us tonight.
Such a sad homecoming.
[insects trilling]
Jennie?
Is it you?
It is.
♪ gentle music
♪♪♪
Is the war over?
It is for me.
[sighs]
♪♪♪
[George] Bass!
God damn you.
Bass!
That man just can't quit you.
Want me to tell him that I'm yours tonight?
You mine forever.
Master?
Master Reeves?
You there?
Master, you in there?
[George] You found me.
You want me to come in?
I said, "You found me."
Do you know what I've been ruminating on
this whole time you were tending to the horses?
Or doing whatever else took you so damn long?
I was thinking,
"Watch.
That nigger will run off
before I give him a chance to walk away scot-free."
Master?
The whole damn family is visiting Rachel's folks.
Ain't that some unlucky bullshit?
Now, we could ride over there and rouse them one and all.
A merry ruckus.
Or we could share a gentler repast here,
play a round of cards.
Yes, sir.
That's it?
That's all you got to say to me?
Thank you, Master.
You act as though you don't believe I'm a man of my word.
Oh, no.
I'm listening. I'm listening, sir.
Confused, but listening.
So, how am I confusing you, boy?
No, sir, I'm not saying you're confusing me.
I'm saying I'm-I'm confused all on my own
about how I can walk out of here scot-free.
Here's my offer.
You only get one chance,
fleeting and final.
War is war that way, and this is war.
After your heroics in battle,
this is what I'll do.
I'll set you free tonight.
I'll write out a letter of manumission
you can carry with you at all times.
That's my promise.
That sound awful kind.
But you must beat your master.
♪ tense, dramatic music
♪♪♪
Hurry up.
Yes, sir.
You're counting, boy. I can see your lips move.
Sorry, sir. I-I got to.
Jesus.
- I can't draw until you do. - Yes, sir.
I'm hurrying.
You ready now?
Ready, Master.
Almost perfect, is it?
My hand's not bad either.
♪ tense, dramatic music
♪♪♪
You look first.
Yes, sir.
♪♪♪
[chuckles] Yeah.
[giggles]
Oh, your God has been good to me.
[drink pours]
Let's see what lot He has given you.
♪♪♪
Well, that can't be, boy.
Do you realize what you have?
A plain flush?
I must congratulate you.
[sniffles]
That beats a lot of hands.
A pair, two pair, three of a kind, a straight.
But it doesn't beat a full house.
And it doesn't beat...
four of a kind.
Ooh, that was a close one.
You-you don't play poker
like I taught you to shoot them Yankees,
but that was a good game.
Master, I had a queen.
That there queen of hearts.
You think you did what?
I played a queen of hearts. I had it.
Well, there's only one queen of hearts in this deck.
I had it, you saw it.
Do you understand?
You must not know what a queen looks like.
You cheated me.
"Servants,
obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh;
not with eye service, as men pleasers;
but singleness of heart, fearing God."
"A false balance is abomination to the Lord:
but a just weight...
- Silence your tongue, boy! - ...is His delight!"
[indistinct shouting]
[grunting]
You get your--
[both shouting]
You cheated me!
[shouting]
You cheated me!
Bass, what you do?
Bass?
Are you hurt?
I done messed up.
For all of us.
Oh, Lord.
Bass, look at me.
Look.
You gonna run now.
You gonna take a horse
and you gonna run far from here,
far from all this.
- No-- - Yes,
you are.
I ain't watching you get strung up and dead.
I ain't.
So you gonna run.
You gonna run and never look back.
Promise me.
I'm your woman. Do what I say.
Promise me.
♪ quiet, dramatic music
♪♪♪
I promise.
I love you.
I'm sorry.
Don't ever look back.
♪♪♪
Gentlemen.
Get off that damn horse.
Yes, sir.
[spits]
Who's your master?
Uh, George Reeves.
He a major in the 11th Texas Cavalry.
I'll be.
He important, ain't he?
Yes, sir.
So important he let his niggers run loose?
No, sir.
I's headed to fetch his missus.
She with kin in Sherman.
[horse neighs]
♪ pulsing, dramatic music
♪♪♪
[horse fussing]
Come on, girl.
[continues fussing]
Okay, okay.
- [whinnies] - Okay.
♪ quiet, dramatic music
♪♪♪
You're still a good girl.
[distant dogs barking]
♪ pulsing, dramatic music
♪♪♪
[grunts]
♪ quiet, dramatic music
♪♪♪
[bird squawking]
- [crunches] - [grunts]
♪♪♪
[grunts]
[gunshot]
[insects trilling]
[knife scraping]
[birds chirping]
♪ dramatic string music
♪♪♪
[cawing]
[flies buzzing]
♪♪♪
[rain pattering]
[thunder rumbles]
♪♪♪
[singing quietly]
[gunshot]
Seminole?
Runaway.
♪ quiet, dramatic music
♪♪♪
Water.
[speaks Creek]
Water.
[speaks Creek]
[chickens clucking]
[goat bleating]
[metal hammering]
[sizzles]
Thank you.
You need rest.
Where am I?
Long way from anywhere.
- I'm Sara. - [metal clangs]
This here is Pistol, and you're troubling us both.
[metal clanging]
But you're home.
For now.
Thank you, Sara.
This all yours?
Me and my husband.
Where he?
- [door creaks] - You cross the Red River?
Escape the war?
And the whip.
Curtis don't know any of that.
Nor I.
Never felt the sting.
But war, I do know.
Fought in Florida to be free.
♪ somber, dramatic music
We Seminole never surrendered.
Never made a worthless treaty.
Now my people live here.
Still free.
My husband built us this home...
...then died in the white man's war,
so Curtis never has to wear chains.
I left the woman I love.
You can swing a hammer, shoe a horse?
I ain't afraid of work.
You stay here.
You help me and Curtis.
You'll be free, too.
[door creaks]
In there?
You want me to put my hand in that hole? Where I can't see?
- [shouts] - [laughs]
I don't need to speak Creek to know you're poking fun.
I think you know exactly what I'm saying, too.
[shouts]
[gasps]
♪ uplifting music
♪♪♪
[laughs]
[laughs softly]
♪ somber, suspenseful music
♪♪♪
[scoffs] Heed your call.
[grunts]
Any of you speak a goddamn lick of English?
John say there been a run on goods lately,
lot of folk coming and going.
But he'd do it for seven dollars.
You two are slicker than a slop jar.
[money shuffling]
I'll give you a quarter to load it
while me and my men eat lunch?
A quarter for me, a quarter for the boy.
[sighs]
[coughing]
Romulus...
and Remus.
Both raised by wolves.
Major Pierce.
No "Major" now.
Just Esau.
This your boy?
I won't bite.
You prefer being a daddy to putting daddies in the grave.
The boy ain't mine.
Could be, though.
It's all there for the taking now.
Another man's cradle, another man's bride.
You returned to the wild, Bass.
Freedom's a good color on you.
I reckon it would be for anyone.
Surprisingly, no.
You'd think a man gifted freedom would walk on his own accord,
but... most prefer the comfort of the master's leash
to liberty and justice.
If I was not in these irons, I'd be happy to oblige them,
Lincoln or no.
Union won?
Goddamn. No news here, I see.
This faraway rock you crawl under got a name?
Turkey Creek.
Well, gobble, gobble.
[chains rattle]
You best hurry up, Bass.
Collect your whelp and take flight.
Hell is coming on wings of its own.
Curtis!
- [people screaming] - [gunfire]
Now.
[screaming]
[Esau] Find a gun!
♪ dramatic music
♪♪♪
[high-pitched ringing]
[breathing echoing]
Stop.
Your pup's got fangs.
World wants both of us breathing, boy.
[Bass] Curtis!
No.
You listen to your daddy now.
Curtis!
[shouts] No! No!
[speaks Creek]
Curtis. Curtis. [speaks Creek]
[screams]
[speaking Creek]
[panting]
[screams]
♪ somber music
♪♪♪
[insects trilling]
He died brave.
He lived brave.
My loss... can't be yours.
You take Pistol...
...you live brave, too.
♪ somber, contemplative music
♪♪♪
Your heart still beats.
I hate to do this...
but Miss Sara insisted.
See, I made a promise a long time ago
I'm fixing to break.
You be good to me, Pistol, and I'll be good to you.
That's all either of us can do.
♪ hopeful, sweeping music
♪♪♪
♪ quiet, contemplative music
♪♪♪
[door creaks]
That's a nice grey outside.
Hard to miss it from the house.
Mistress Rachel.
I said you'd be back.
George wouldn't believe it, but I knew. I knew all along.
- [exhales] Welcome home. - I don't want no trouble.
Have no fear, Bass.
George isn't around, and even if he was,
you already beat the spit and spite out of him.
No...
my husband's got his mind set on politics.
Fancies himself a legislator.
As if that will allow him to reclaim the things
that were taken from us.
The things?
Or the people?
We hold on something fierce to what we love, don't we?
Where'd Jennie go?
[laughs softly]
♪ somber, contemplative music
♪♪♪
- [Sally] Mama. - Sally, dear.
You're gonna be the death of me.
[grunts]
[babbles]
♪♪♪
[indistinct chatter]
I hope he treats you right.
What?
Your new man.
I hope he treats you right.
He does.
Got a bad habit of up and disappearing, though.
Too damn quiet at times.
Stubborn as a mule.
But that man sure does love stubborn, too.
He got a name?
Bass.
Bass Reeves.
♪ gentle music
♪♪♪
Say hello...
to your daughter.
Hello.
♪ Father, Father
♪ Let me love you
♪ Let me
♪ Father, Father
♪ Let me love you
♪ Let me
♪ Saw you wandering in
♪ My dream last night
♪ Saw you wandering in
♪ My dream last night
♪ Father, Father
♪ Let me know you
♪ Let me know you ♪
♪ Father, Father
♪ Let me know you
♪ Let me show you
How many mouths you got to feed with no harvest?
What's your offer?
♪ exciting music
[Sherrill] Welcome to the Dead Line.
Out here there ain't no laws.
- Only outlaws. - Ready?
Justice.
It's a dangerous job.
It's hard for a man to put fear and hate behind him.
You think you can handle the weight of the badge?
What'd you do?!
♪ atmospheric music
♪♪♪