Longmire is an Excellent Intro to Filmmaking
It’s inexplicable that it only lasted six seasons
The series’ opening scene is graphically violent, yet mysterious. You already want to know what happened, which is the point of any TV drama, especially a police procedural. The second scene, though, is brilliant: We’re introduced to the main character without hearing him saying a word. We get to know Walt Longmire in precisely the ways that can only happen on film — like hearing his dead wife’s voice on his answering machine, and his lack of a reaction to his deputy’s phone calls; like seeing the rough scars on his back, the owl outside his window at a prescient moment, and the ashes in the tea box. Walt jumps into his sheriff’s vehicle with a thermos of coffee and peels off against the backdrop of stunning western scenery — still not having said a word. Then, the gruff Americana music kicks in at the perfect time, letting you know this isn’t your ordinary western. It’s clear that it’s got heart to it, and a gritty soul in the person of Walter Longmire that will pull you along to the end. Which, I might add, came way too soon.
What follows in episode one is credible acting from character actors who will last all six seasons, and dialogue that probably comes straight out of author Craig Johnson’s Longmire book series. Our good sheriff is a strong, quiet…
