* MTV
Bass is dedicated to justice.
Seems sometimes there's
hardly much room for anything or anyone else.
[Bass] Looking for a Moody O'Neil.
[Willy] You set out to hang an old Black woman
in a white man's noose.
Go collect your blood bounty, up-jumped slave catcher.
[Esau] I wonder how much blood you left in your wake
on your path to freedom.
No more than I had to.
[Esau] You are a killer, just like me.
[Parker] Upon careful review of the evidence,
-I pronounce you not guilty. -[gavel slams]
[Bass] You 50 bucks short, Florence.
I delivered a living, breathing man into the hands
of a Texas Ranger.
Ramsey.
Who is Mr. Sundown?
Bass Reeves.
Mr. Sundown is cinco peso.
[Bass] There was a boy that I loved like a son.
I'm going after the man who killed him.
[gun barrel clicking]
* tense, ambient music
***
[Jacob] You a lawman or an outlaw?
Today, a bit of both, I reckon.
My daddy said they're one and the same.
Your daddy a smart man.
Every man has hell in his heart...
some just more than others.
Go on, get.
* ominous music
***
Whew.
***
[indistinct chatter]
[mumbling]
* Woke up one morning on the Chisholm Trail *
* With a rope in my hand and a cow by the tail *
* Ki-yi-yippee-yippee-ay, yippee-ay *
* Ki-yi-yippee-yippee-ay
* Last night on guard, and the leader broke-- *
[muffled grunting]
Got him?
-Damn it, Sherrill! -[laughing]
We need him talking.
Grab his feet.
Whoa.
[grunting]
[Sherrill laughing]
Wrists and ankles. Tight.
* soaring, triumphant music
***
[grunts]
-[prisoner grunting, groaning] -[punches landing]
Now, you'd best be spilling them beans
before Mama don't recognize you no more.
[chuckles]
I killed Mama.
You two fixing to meet.
[both laughing]
[punching continues]
* quiet, tense music
***
Enough.
[sighs]
Last time I'm gonna ask.
Where Mr. Sundown?
Holed up your Black ass, I reckon.
But I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Sodom
on the day of judgment than for thee.
[cocks pistol]
Saddle up. We ride for Glen Rose.
What about him?
Take his boots. Cut him loose.
His boots? What about his scalp?
Night's coming quick. The man hurt.
Got no horse.
That a problem for you, Deputy?
Stupid is what it is.
Stupid and soft.
[Bass] Thirty mile to Fort Worth.
Twenty to Glen Rose.
Brutal terrain, barefoot.
No way he'd get to either.
You sure about that?
Sure you don't get a vote.
[gunshot]
Who here believes Zion,
that paradise of which we dream,
must be built in a faraway land?
Is that where we want to deepen our relationship
-with the Almighty? -[congregation] No.
Is that where we want to prosper?
-[congregation murmuring] -No.
-Such a powerful word. -[congregation murmuring]
One most of us have heard all our lives.
It's been used against us for too long.
So, why exodus to the Territory?
Why not say yes?
Why not better our lives here and now?
[congregation murmuring]
If the answer is yes, then the question is only: how?
The winds bring word of prosperity up north.
A Black county commissioner in Illinois.
A state representative in Michigan.
-[congregation murmuring] -But I ask you,
has some providence touched
our brothers and sisters in Chicago
that does not deserve to touch us, too?
Do they have a conviction in Detroit
that we ourselves have mislaid?
I ask again, why build paradise afar
when we can build politicians of our own right here
-in Fort Smith? -Yes!
[congregation murmuring]
Now, I say that's the true path to the city over the hill.
To freedom.
-[applause] -[lively murmuring]
Deputy Rogers.
You shine like a polished penny in your Sunday best.
Thank you, Miss Esme.
Your words, they, uh... they shine, too.
[sighs] I reckon you gave them folk more to chew
than their mouths normally hold.
-I hadn't seen Sally. -[Jennie] She running a fever.
Some awful thing. Day and a half now.
Tuesday, then?
[sighs]
Bass, he's not due back for at least a week.
You and Sally deserve a night for what's important.
What's important is peace and quiet, is it not?
Mama knows best.
[Jennie] Mm-hmm.
Miss Esme?
May I walk you home?
It'd be a pleasure, Deputy.
Jennie.
[Ike chuckling]
Y'all come on.
Come on.
Ah-ah.
Let me tell you something.
I'm all ears.
Next time you shoot a man in cold blood over my say so,
I'll put you in cuffs and haul your ass
directly to Judge Parker.
-You mind if I share, too? -Think carefully.
I'm not in the listening mood.
The minute we began this expedition,
we was waltzing with the devil.
And the sooner you accept that,
better odds of survival.
For all of us.
Bass.
This is good a place as any.
[Sherrill] I knew this Injun posse man
when I was first deputized.
We'd be out on the plains,
just like now,
and he'd be a-grubbing and a-farting.
And I'd say, "Is that you playing that buttock banjo?"
He'd just nod and he'd say, uh,
"Me do, me do."
That always soured my supper something fierce.
[sighs]
What about you, little red boy?
You do?
[deep voice] You do, too?
[Sherrill laughs]
'Cause I know old Bass,
he won't touch a lick of my cooking.
Likely it's the bullshit that spews out of your fetid mouth.
Well, I'd say you swallowed a white man word.
I may know the white man's language,
but I'll fight you like the Injun I am.
Your Injun mama,
she must've done a whole heap of seed swallowing
in order to grow that white tongue of yours.
You want to jerk that iron, half-breed?
Go ahead.
[gunshot]
* quiet, tense music
***
No more talking.
[fire sizzling]
[Harriet] * Jesus paid it all
* All
-* Had left a -* Stain
* Crimson stain
[Harriet] * Sin has left a crimson stain
* He washed it white as snow
* Jesus paid it all
* All to him I owe
* Sin has left a crimson stain
* tense music
***
Mama?
[Jennie] Hush.
***
* intriguing music
***
Well, I'd say you're a bit sooner than expected.
Esau owe me a debt.
I only aim to collect.
Ranger Pierce don't accept armed company.
I ain't here for a cup of tea.
I'm a Deputy U.S. Marshal.
And I'm Pete. This is Puck.
And that giant there is Malachi.
Rules are gospel around here, badge or no badge.
* quiet, tense music
***
Expect them back.
Shiny.
This a-way, Deputy Marshal.
And mind the traps.
Never know when one will jump up and bite you.
***
* intriguing music
***
[gasping]
Sorry, Miss Rachel.
Oh, I sullied the floor.
-[Jennie gasping] -Oh, Jesus.
[Rachel] Now, where do you think you're going?
[screaming, whimpering]
All right. Bite down.
[whimpering]
All right.
[pained whimpering]
Okay.
-[groaning] -Okay.
[groaning]
-[breathing heavily] -[baby crying]
* uplifting music
***
[laughter]
Aren't you just...
[fussing]
[chuckling] Oh, come here.
Oh.
[baby crying]
Well, you have your father's eyes.
[crying]
Let's hope that's all you got from him.
Are you feeling well, Jennie?
Yes, ma'am.
Isn't that wonderful?
You get your rest.
That's what's important now.
Thank you, ma'am.
We'll see you back at work in the morning.
You were missed.
Even for a day.
* somber music
***
[Jennie] Come on, baby.
[grunts]
Harriet, I want you to take your brothers and sister
down to the waterfall.
[Harriet] Mama, who's that white lady?
[Jennie] Do what I say.
[Harriet] Okay.
[Rachel] That's quite the brood
you and Bass have been blessed with.
Where are the little ones off to?
-Why you here? -And this one,
practically a grown woman now.
Hard to believe I was the first to hold her.
Did you know that, Sally?
No, ma'am.
Jumped on me just like a duck on a june bug. [chuckles]
Sally, get inside.
Don't be cross before the conversation even starts.
What conversation?
[door opens]
***
Trust you'll find your way from here.
I could've found my way from back there.
I'll be seeing you real soon.
* ominous music
***
Decided to pay that visit.
You did.
Question is, are you a servant of justice,
or rather, some species of queer?
Neither.
Just here to collect on what you owe me.
-What might that be? -Fifty-dollar difference
between a pair of boots and a man.
You rode hundreds of miles for pocket change?
It's the principle, generally.
But I do got a wife and five kids to feed.
Well, every dollar counts in the game of love and chance,
don't it, Silvia?
I'm not sure I catch your meaning
or that it matter much.
Well, hitch your horse, then. Money's inside.
* intriguing music
***
[Esau] Come find me.
***
Awful fine on a Ranger's due.
Well, I've become a man of opportunity and enterprise.
Cattle, mostly.
Supplying the Yanks with the finest beef you've ever tasted.
You let your badge weigh you down, Bass.
Mine has set me free.
You don't know me.
Oh, but we've known each other for centuries.
Double what I owe for your effort.
You see my monster upon entry?
Never spied anything like it.
I purchased this land from an old mining outfit.
When they failed to strike, they considered it all worthless.
But the things they unearthed,
buried deep like the secrets we keep,
giant beasts who once roamed freely,
now resigned to the dark.
Only spoken of in legend and lore.
Like Mr. Sundown?
Well, cock-a-doodle-doo.
You know, I was wondering when the foreplay would end
and the rutting would begin.
Are you hungry? Steak, of course.
"Unholy War"?
Well, isn't that just delightful?
I wrote it.
Did you, now? All by yourself?
I'm gonna be a poet.
Your mother fancied her letters, too.
I taught her, of course. Wasn't an easy task.
Some folks fancy some fine words,
think they know every book.
[exhales sharply] You've had your time.
Now, if you don't mind, I got a wagonload of goods
to unpack and four more kids to corral.
George is doing well, politicking his sweet heart out.
Seems to forever be in Austin, however.
[chuckles]
And these laws they're fighting to pass.
I suppose they're good for some folks,
not so good for others.
Do you have an opinion?
No.
You should.
She's such a precious thing even as sick as she is.
What a joy it will be to have her
and your children back home.
This is they home.
They're not my laws,
-but they arrive all the same. -Sally, get upstairs.
-[Rachel] She's fine. -Sally.
[Rachel] You'll feel better soon, sweetheart.
* contemplative music
***
You need to leave my house now.
I can see my generosity is not appreciated.
-Generosity. -Why, yes.
There are men who conspire to root you out from your land.
And they got their tails up.
Surely, you know this.
Oh, dear.
You've seen it, haven't you?
In town?
-You're a wretched woman. -Wretched?
Would a wretched woman offer your children
the opportunity to tend my beautiful home?
Or would you prefer that they be turned out as field niggers?
[gasps, cries] Oh, my.
-Get out, devil. -[whimpers]
Now!
[whimpering]
[sighing]
[hoofbeats]
* atmospheric music
***
[door opens]
Made quite an impression.
Didn't I?
You did.
Just maybe not the one you wanted.
I reckon folks ain't ready to stray too far
from the safety of silence.
I am.
Are you, now?
What changed?
Nothing yet, but the laws will
if we don't fight back.
They'll take it if you let 'em.
And we ain't gonna do that.
***
There you go, Bass.
A touch warm in here, isn't it?
Hadn't noticed.
We often get a breeze at this hour.
A beautiful night.
Stars are out.
[cows bellowing]
Cows seem antsy.
A Chinaman once told me that terror...
tenderizes the flesh.
He was referring to dogs, of course--
it's a delicacy in the Orient--
but I decided to employ the practice here.
You be the judge.
Judgment ain't my jurisdiction.
Jury and executioner, then.
And?
Better than dog, I imagine.
Well, dog tastes like shit.
So does this steak.
I admire your steel, Bass.
Your brevity.
Everything about you, really.
What's your grift, Esau?
Careful now.
Curiosity killed the deputy.
I've been enjoying your company so far.
Saw that safe all chock with greenbacks.
More money than I'd earn
arresting every outlaw in the territory.
Twice.
Count me interested.
Are you, now?
No king built much of a kingdom alone.
You know, Bass, when I accepted that man
was no more, no less than the animals that we hunt,
corral and consume,
regardless of race or station,
I decided dominance was my only path forward.
You know this to be true, too.
But you still wrestle with the religion.
Indoctrinated to keep you weak.
You shed that, you'll truly experience freedom.
God's never been further from my grasp.
Well, God is always in mine.
I arrest the "will not be missed."
Sadly, all Black thieves and killers.
I deliver their boots.
Their bodies are worth far more than the difference.
Now, the myth of Mr. Sundown,
that's taken a fanciful flourish from reality.
Not that I mind. [chuckles]
* dramatic, tense music
***
I'll be the biggest supplier of beef
from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Off the backs of wanted men.
Off the backs of dead men, far as anyone cares.
Still, I ask you, would you rather swing
from a government gallows or eat my food, breathe my air,
sleep in my quarters?
Cost seem high,
even for a life already lost,
or one they're just renting from you.
Blood, sweat, little bit of pain.
Pennies on the dollar when a rope's your only alternative.
***
Home as promised.
[growling]
Seems starved.
[snarling]
[Esau] Oh, yeah, she is.
Bass?
You care to do the honors?
***
[wolf snarling]
[snarling]
***
[grunts]
[gasping breaths]
Do you believe in what I'm building?
Do you?
Yes.
Yes, what?
Yes... sir.
Have I not been patient?
Yes... sir.
Bass.
Go ahead, unshackle him.
* tense, ominous music
***
[grunting]
[coughing]
Well...
now for you, Bass.
What?
Time to bear those chains again.
You're the real monster.
Well, yes.
You should've known better than to take me for a fool.
Just as I should've known better
than to think of you as more than a slave.
We've known each other for centuries.
[gunshot]
* dramatic, rhythmic music
Goddamn, kid.
[gunshots]
***
[grunting]
[gunshots]
[gunshot]
[groans]
[screaming]
* tense, ominous music
***
[screams]
[cries out in pain]
Just leave me be.
Almost got it.
Goddamn it, just leave me be.
***
[cows mooing]
[grunts]
[body thuds]
[grunting]
Devil's got me by the hand, kid.
If it ain't the gallon of blood I've gushed,
then it's gonna be the damn fever.
And that ain't no way to die.
Jesus, Sherrill.
[Sherrill coughs]
I might be a right prick
about you people,
but I ain't stupid about lawmen.
You're gonna make one hell of a Deputy Marshal.
You go save Bass.
Go on. Get out of here. Go.
* tense, suspenseful music
***
Get.
***
[groans]
[gunshot]
* somber, atmospheric music
***
He got Pistol. Headed that way.
* suspenseful, dramatic music
***
Free those men.
[grunts]
[groaning]
[coughing]
[Esau groaning]
* quiet, tense music
***
Legend is yours, Bass Reeves.
The light in the storm.
Death is the only light in this darkness.
***
* contemplative music
***
-Go and help the others. -Okay.
Sherrill?
***
* atmospheric music
***
* soaring, triumphant music
***
Take these men someplace safe.
Somewhere free.
I hear Kansas good.
No one's gonna ever know...
that you made history today, Deputy Reeves.
Come on.
***
I reckon Sherrill would want you to have this.
It's yours.
I'll tell Parker you earned it.
First...
...you ought to stop in Checotah.
Go marry that pretty girl.
***
* soft, gentle music
***
I'm home.
Every part of me.
And me.
Forever.
[gentle music playing on piano]
***
* "Unholy War" by Jacob Banks
***
* Unholy war
* My demons are coming
* Boy, you better run
* Go take your freedom, oh, no
* Wade in the water
* Be gone by morning
* Don't you let them find you here *
* Oh, no
* Let love lead you home
* Oh, no
* Let redemption keep you warm
* So you better run
* atmospheric music
***