* MTV
* dramatic music
Come on out, Webb! Law won't ever stop!
Excuse me, you need to get to the back of the line.
Sally.
Shouldn't talk to my sister like that.
[Sally] You're awfully tough when it's
-four of y'all and two of us. -[gasps]
[grunting]
[Esme] Think it's okay to let them wander on their own?
Black folks been disappearing up and down
the Territory.
You are to deliver the prisoner
Jackson Cole to the Red River,
turn him over to the Rangers.
I ain't been home for 41 days.
[Sherrill] You ride out tomorrow.
[Jackson] Mighty strange, this feeling.
Riding to my death.
We both Negroes.
We know the world in the same ways.
You asked if you had the grit to be a deputy marshal.
You don't.
You giving up on me?
I never give up, Billy.
[wolf growling]
[laughs]
[growling]
Where you taking that creature?
Reintroducing the beast to a rightful home.
No animal belong in a box.
That is the truth.
She won't be in there long.
[growling]
Did you make a home for yourself?
Marry, have a family?
I have.
And what would you do now to protect it?
To hold on to it?
I'd wager you'd kill a thousand.
And no man would fault you.
I surely would not.
These badges we wear on our chest,
made from different materials.
Yours a tin star,
mine a star cut from a cinco peso piece.
Just raw materials.
But the power they give--
The real power lie beneath.
In the heart.
You honor the badge, Bass.
But even with it, a man like you
couldn't arrest a man like me once we cross that river.
You touch that other bank, it's a whole other law.
I have no mind to arrest you.
No, by those angry eyes,
I'd reckon you'd just as soon kill me.
My prisoner a good man.
I trust you'll see he get a fair trial?
Well, he's my prisoner now.
My prisoners always get what they deserve.
[knife unsheathing]
This one tell you what he did?
I know he killed a man.
He told me why he did it.
Might've even had just cause.
But did he tell you how he killed old James Neblett?
He kidnapped and rode that man blubbering and praying
all the way from Austin to Neblett's property in Columbia.
Then he chained him to the one pecan tree
Neblett hadn't burned down
and he shot him in his blubbering, praying mouth.
No man deserves to die that way.
Not even a Yankee.
But I don't need to tell you about killing Yanks.
As I recall, you're something of an expert on the subject.
Saddle up.
You're in my prayers.
Ah, don't bother the big man about me.
We need to ride.
Billy, bring that mule.
We can't have this man walk all the way to Fort Worth.
He won't.
On that, you have my word.
Bass.
Where I built my ranch,
the land is littered with ancient bones of giants.
Monsters.
Thigh bones as big as a man.
Locals call 'em huesos de ángeles.
Angel bones.
But I know a monster when I see one, Bass Reeves.
[Joshua] Moving out!
Come pay me a visit one day.
You'll feel right at home.
* ominous music
***
* soaring, triumphant music
***
* intriguing music
***
[sniffs]
[spits]
Sara?
It's Bass.
Place don't smell right.
You ride ahead. I'll catch up.
Come on.
[clicks tongue]
***
How much longer we gonna ride, Bass?
These horses need rest.
Shoot, we need to rest.
I'm tired.
We're all tired.
We've been riding straight for days.
Look at Pistol.
Hardly hold his head up.
Tell you what.
We'll stop the night in Checotah
if you stop flapping your gums till we get there.
[Bass clicks tongue]
[water splashing]
You took your time.
Sally, I'm leaving.
I should be gone already.
What are you talking about?
I can't stay here. They'll have my neck.
They was just kids being stupid.
You got nothing to worry about.
Maybe you don't, but my last name ain't Reeves.
Arthur Mayberry, I never took you for no chicken.
And I never took you for a fool.
You don't understand.
I'm asking you to come with me.
We can visit Paris and...
you can write poems by the "Seene."
Seine.
And Reeves don't run.
I'll wait there for you.
By the Seine.
I'll send you a poem every day.
* dramatic music
***
[overlapping chatter]
[grunting]
* dramatic music
***
[jaunty piano music playing]
[lively chatter]
[chatter stops]
We don't want any trouble here tonight, Deputy.
Just payday in Checotah.
Whiskey.
[bottle clinks]
[liquor pouring]
[indistinct chatter]
[door opens]
[Calista] You too shy to go inside?
I'm just waiting for you to come out.
I see you got yourself into some trouble.
All in a day's work.
Mm.
Bought this for you in Fort Smith.
Thought you might not get the latest out here.
Thank you, Billy Crow.
You're welcome.
[Braxton laughs]
[Braxton] My feet shot out of them stirrups
and I flew off of that horse like I'd been plugged.
Damn nearly was.
I landed upright in time
to hear the report of a Winchester.
I dove into that sagebrush and when I came up,
I saw that man hoofing it faster than a stuck deer.
Whoa.
Mind you don't fall, partner.
Mind you keep your voice down
while the rest of us try to think.
[laughing] Barkeep,
I reckon my friend here has had his fill.
Barkeep.
I reckon we all had enough of this cowboy's ballyhoo.
I reckon people on the far side of the Territory
about had enough of it, too.
[chuckles]
You got too many teeth.
Outside, fellas.
You sure you want to do this?
Sure am.
Then I guess we'd better be getting on with it, then.
Deputy Marshal Reeves.
Braxton Sawyer, Texas Ranger.
I'm mighty honored to meet you, sir.
Let me buy you a drink.
[fireworks popping]
[cheering and whooping]
My daddy had a good outfit not far off the Shawnee Trail.
I loved riding that range with him, moving herd.
We got into some trouble after the war
when drovers started bringing their longhorns up.
My daddy already lost one herd
and he wasn't about to do it again.
So we mounted up and we turned those longhorns
and their cowboys right around.
But, you know, not without a scrap.
Daddy got lead in the belly
and was dead before the marshals showed up.
I mean, they would've hung my daddy anyway,
if he was still alive to hang.
And...
well, for assault with intent to kill,
they gave me 18 months at the Detroit House of Corrections.
That was my first time out of the Territory.
I'm mighty glad you came back.
Well...
I guess this is home.
[chuckles]
[Bass] Esau Pierce tell you to follow me?
[Braxton] I was holding forth gone three hours
before you brought your storm cloud in here.
I didn't follow you.
And who the hell is Pierce?
Man from my past.
What are you doing here, Bass?
Sometime I get to wondering why a man like me
putting folk in manacles.
This thing...
weigh just as much as the chain.
Someone once told me there ain't no law in the Territory.
Starting to think there ain't no God either.
Hmm.
Don't despair, amigo.
-God is present. -[taps on table]
And He knows your good work.
Many miles back to Austin,
and I'd hate to ride all of them sober.
[clears throat]
* wistful music
***
You gonna stand there all night?
* wistful music
***
[chuckles softly]
That's all right. Go ahead.
[fireworks popping outside]
Are you going to be a baby about this?
No.
Well, then stop your squirming.
You're the most glorious creature to grace this earth.
[winces]
-[sighs] -It burns.
I thought you said you weren't gonna be a baby.
Just didn't think you were going to hurt me so bad.
Hurt a strapping, young raider like you?
Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Marry me, Calista.
You can't afford the ring it'll take to hitch me.
[panting quietly]
[urinating]
[footfalls approaching]
This the one who done Webb.
[stops urinating]
-[thud] -[grunts]
[grunting]
[Bass coughs]
[grunts]
[groans]
[spits, coughs]
Where were you...
two hours ago when I was spoiling for a fight, hmm?
[grunting]
-[grunting continues] -[women screaming]
That bounty on you?
[gun clicks]
Pays the same dead...
...or alive.
[dry fires]
[groans]
Give it a spin.
-[chuckles] -[cylinder spins]
Adios, Reeves.
[dry fires]
[groans]
Aw.
[cylinder spins]
[Trey] Bullet's in the chamber.
I can feel it.
Best not miss, then.
[gunshot]
[thuds]
[Moose] Come on. Come on, come on.
Now that's how you aim, Billy Crow!
-Let's get you some help. -No.
[groaning]
Let's get them sons of bitches.
-[fireworks popping] -[lively chatter]
[laughs]
[townsfolk whooping and cheering]
There.
* suspenseful music
[lively chatter]
-[fireworks pop] -[gunshot]
-Whoa! -[screaming]
***
[grunts]
[grunting]
[Dora] Hurry up in there.
Don't need a saddle, just get the horses.
[both grunting]
[Moose] What is it?
[groaning]
***
[gun cocks]
Don't.
[crowd chatter]
***
Easy, fellas.
[gun cocks]
[chuckles]
Good work, Billy Crow.
* melancholy music
***
Have a nice time earlier?
She said I can't afford the ring.
[sniffles]
But she did bring me my apparel.
Well, that's something.
[grunts]
So glad y'all could make it.
I think I was bleeding before I realized
Pearl Lee's real name was Pearla Lee.
-Pearla Lee. -[laughs]
[laughter]
God rest her soul.
"I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay
Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey."
[both] "And I heard the captive plead in vain
As they bound afresh his galling chain."
Frances Harper is a brilliant role model.
It is young women like you, Sally, that give me hope.
***
[kids chattering indistinctly]
Bennie.
Don't walk off like that.
You don't scare me!
Let's go.
Fred Douglass consented to have his image on our next pamphlet.
Might even write some words.
What have they done to you?
I'm fine.
You're sitting in my chair.
It's so good to see you, Bass.
My, it's been forever.
I'd like you to meet Edwin Jones.
Hello, Esme.
I kept it warm for you.
Now, Bass. You stay right there.
No, no. My mistake, Reeves.
Let's not get off on the wrong foot.
As the good book says,
"But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place
so that when he who invited you comes,
he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.'"
I didn't invite you.
We've been hearing about your adventures, Bass.
Now we see the danger you face.
We're all very proud of you.
Mm-hmm.
[Edwin] Reconstruction is dead.
Has the world changed for the Negro
in the United States of America?
Yes, in many ways.
But we need to ask, how much has changed?
And for how many?
Why, they will use just about
any pretext to drive out,
lock down, or string up the Black man.
The Klan continues to rain terror upon us.
We are the only ones who can keep us safe.
Edwin and I have traveled far and wide, Bass.
You won't believe the things we've seen.
[Jennie] He'll believe you.
He's seen it all himself.
I seen some things.
Well, you must have heard the stories
about Black men disappearing.
Rumors of Black men being killed for sport.
Legally, slavery is supposed to be dead.
But in practice it is only wounded.
We need a place where we can be safe and free.
But let there be no doubt that we still need to fight.
I think we're doing our fair part right here.
Well, sure. And I-I admire that.
You have made a career that honors your talents
instead of violently suppressing them.
But tell me...
...why are there not more stories like yours?
Black folks make up, what,
ten percent of the population of Fort Smith?
How many former slaves right here
have had the same good fortune that you have?
I'm sorry your wife couldn't join us.
How long you been away from home?
Like your beautiful family,
my wife and children make great sacrifices for the cause.
-[Bass] Hmm. -We all must.
Esme and Edwin were speaking about
whole towns made up of Black folk.
Whole counties. Whole states.
Up Kansas way and throughout the Indian Territory
lies a rich land of opportunity
for industrious, caring, God-fearing Black men and women.
Where do you expect the Indian people to go?
Think they don't suffer?
You see all them white folks coming up on those riverboats?
You know where they will settle.
Your beloved Indian Territory
is not going to stay Indian for long.
And our people need real protection.
My job is to protect everyone.
Black, red or white.
Are you happy with what you are doing?
I have to ask, respectfully...
...which master do you serve?
Esme says old William Reeves taught you to shoot.
George Reeves made you shoot the very men
who were fighting for your freedom.
And now Judge Parker puts the names on your bullets.
Man is lucky to have such a hired gun.
I'm the only one pulling the trigger.
You ever felt the lash on your back?
Hmm?
You carry on about our experience
like it's a set of boots we both own.
I did not have to experience those wrongs to denounce them.
To fight against them.
Think hard about what you are doing.
Ride with me, with us.
Together...
together we can build a place
where everyone can live free.
Mm. [chuckles softly]
Is that why you were so eager to meet my husband?
[scoffs] That why you brought him here, Esme?
We may support your vision, Mr. Jones.
But my husband is not a face for your pamphlets.
He ain't no show pony for you to trot around.
I see you two have your house in order.
I admire that.
Even envy it.
I apologize.
I did not mean to overstep.
And we do not want to overstay, do we, Esme?
I'll see you to the door.
* tense, dramatic music
***
[door closes]
[footfalls approaching]
Shouldn't you be asleep, Sally gal?
I'm sorry I missed the carnival.
I guess I missed a lot.
Forgive me?
Maybe just this once.
You didn't like that man, did you?
Daddy just had a bad day. That's all.
You and Mama okay?
We're okay.
You lucky you're your mama's daughter.
[chuckles] That's funny.
She always say I'm my daddy's girl.
[footfalls approaching]
[door opening]
[Bass grunts]
[groans]
Want me to fix you a bath?
Maybe tomorrow.
I'm sorry I had to leave.
I should've told you sooner.
I ain't angry that you left.
Disappointed by the man you brought home.
Every time you come back,
you bring less and less of you.
Maybe you the one that changed.
How dare you?
Where my husband?
Where that light in your eyes?
* melancholy music
***
[indistinct chatter]
Scrutinize those receipts, Mr. Reeves.
You 50 bucks short, Florence.
You delivered that man's boots, you earn less.
I did not deliver boots,
I delivered a living, breathing man
into the hands of a Texas Ranger.
Well, I got the telegram right here.
"Confirmed. Texas Rangers having received
from Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves
at Red River the boots of one prisoner Jackson Cole,
which they promptly delivered at Fort Worth."
[keys jingling]
[indistinct chatter]
Ramsey!
Who making Black men disappear?
Who Mr. Sundown?
[door opens]
Make way.
Ramsey!
Who is Mr. Sundown?
* He ride by night
* Drawn fast to the firelight
* Ain't no peace to be found
* When the sun go down
[crowd shouting and jeering]
Heard you lost that prisoner.
Tough break.
[man] Hang 'em already.
[crowd cheering]
[man 2] You had it coming!
[Wylie shouting]
[neck snaps]
[shudders]
[crowd cheering]
I love you, Mama.
[man 3] You had it coming!
[neck snaps]
[crowd cheering]
[chuckles]
Bass Reeves!
Mr. Sundown is cinco peso.
Cinco peso is Mr. Sundown.
Cinco peso.
[snaps]
[crowd cheering]
[Esau] [echoing] You honor the badge, Bass.
These badges we wear on our chest,
just raw materials.
But the power they give...
[echoing]
What are the chances of Parker giving me
a writ for a Texas Ranger?
Nil to none.
[birds chirping]
[Esau] Well, cock-a-doodle-do.
[echoing]
Blood can be the heaviest damn thing in the world.
I always said we weren't so different.
Except that one thing.
[echoing]
Blood never weighed me down at all.
But all this blood on your hands...
...filling them up so much, you can't hold
those precious children...
...you can't caress your pretty wife.
Bass, you're gonna bend and bow under the weight of it
till you break and burn.
Only God...
...can judge me.
[Esau] As you judge me.
But what if God already did?
Hmm?
What if he weighed out your soul and found it wanting?
Don't you see?
I am his judgment.
Heaven is full of killers, Bass Reeves.
By His grace they welcome me as they will welcome you.
* haunting music
***
* dramatic music
[Jennie] Bass is dedicated to justice.
There's hardly much room
for anything or anyone else.
Looking for a Moody O'Neil.
Sitting on this porch.
You set out to hang an old Black woman
in a white man's noose.
Slave catcher, that's all you is.
Mama.
Get upstairs.
[flames crackling]
[Billy] Where's the old crow?
[gunshot]
Want to say your goodbyes?
* haunting music
***