What I’m Watching: Longmire (Season Finale)

Longmire: Season 5, Episode 10 “The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of” (B+)

I was just discussing this show with friends who had obviously never heard of it and remarking how rare it is for a show saved by Netflix to be renewed for another season, and this show even managed to net a third second-life season, culminating with ten season six episodes sometime next year. This finale was great because it started to wrap up what was going on for all of our characters but didn’t neatly finish anything, instead setting them all in new directions for the final season. After Walt and Henry’s brawl at the end of the last episode, we saw them both sitting separately and Henry, via Mathias, agreeing not to press charges if Walt stopped investigating him as Hector. As Walt continues to isolate himself, he’s about to lose a friend for good as Henry, and not Jacob, ended up being the victim of Malachi’s return and is now about to die of heat stroke or the like in the middle of the desert. Cady getting welcomed in as a member of the tribe was a nice if extremely trippy development, and I think that will be good for her since there’s not much repairing of her relationship with her father to be done at this point if he won’t back down from his stance. Chance being found guilty was a welcome turn of events, and Vic helping him to die just ensures that he’ll be out of her life forever, but unfortunately he has some loyal followers who may well ensure that Vic’s torment isn’t over. And then there’s Walt, who learned that Tucker didn’t even think he had intentionally killed Barlow but who is even more determined to take Walt down just for the hell of it so that he can build his mega-golf course. I’m eager to see what season six brings after a very strong showing this year of episodes all well over sixty minutes.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Cassidy Freeman as Cady