Longmire certainly saved the best for its last season - 6 - which was better in every way than any of the previous seasons, including Walt Longmire finally getting out from under his hat, not just emotionally but physically, in lots of scenes in which he wasn't wearing that iconic sheriff's hat.[spoilers ahead] ....
Whether his successor, daughter Cady aka Punk will wear a hat on the job at all remains to be seen, but probably not. She'll also differ from her father in not getting into too many physical altercations (except maybe swinging a stake), and likely not shooting too much, either, but we'll need a sequel series to find out.
She'll have three able deputies - assuming she's elected - including Vic, which raises an interesting question. She would find it very difficult to have a relationship with Walt if he continued as sheriff, because she can't bear to think of the danger of death he'll always be facing. But how is Walt ok with that for Vic?
I guess Vic might try to be more cerebral, like Cady, but that's not really Vic's style. Or maybe Vic will retire, too, but I can't quite see that, either. Well, at least the Ferg is well on his way to becoming a top-notch lawman, and Zach's sharp and tough, too. Still, it's a little hard to see how this future sheriff's office will work, and that's testament to how hard it will be to replace Walt's, which was so good, despite and because of all the turmoil.
The Cheyennes were also better this season than before for all kinds of reasons. It was great to see Mathias and Walt working together most of the time, instead of at odds. Henry is also better as Walt's closest friend and ally, where he belongs, rather than lying to him for whatever good reason in the previous season. And even Nighthorse had his best season, coming to Walt's aid in the trial, and even being almost heroic at the end.
Longmire was a wonderful modern-day Western, a worthy successor to Cade's County, and at this point in a class of its own as a narrative for our time, in a beautiful but inevitably dangerous place where few of us actually live but we all inhabit metaphorically.
Great acting by Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips, Cassidy Freeman, Adam Bartley, A Martinez, Zahn McClarnon, Barry Sloane, and good to see Dylan Walsh, John Doman, and Peter Weller in short but powerful threads too.
See also Longmire Season 5 on Netflix
There were two distinct stories in Designated Survivor 1.5 earlier this week. Both were good. One was pretty much self-contained. The other has profound implications for the future.
