This article of the Paramount+ series Lawmen Bass Reeves Season 1 Episode 4, “Part IV,” contains spoilers.
The Lawmen Bass Reeves episode titled “Part IV” has our legendary lawman on the search for some criminals. He gives a false name and pretends to be a Christian-going man who can recite the Bible from cover to cover. This gets Bass through the front door, and some refreshments are provided.
The woman is Widow Dolliver (Dale Dickey). Bass is after her sons, Wylie and Darryl. The boys begin to “rough house” in the kitchen, with one going too far, breaking his brother’s nose. Bass volunteers to mend the young men. The widow allows him to stay the night.
The following morning, Bass has already tied them up while their mother is asleep. He has them at gunpoint. Bass escorts them off the property.
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Lawmen Bass Reeves Season 1 Episode 4 Recap: Who is Bass Reeves’s new posse man?
The new posse man, Reeves (David Oyelowo), is Billy Crow (Forrest Goodluck). Bass has the former member of a local gang load up the Dolliver brothers and six other criminals into a prison carriage. Bass then tells Billy they leave at first light.
One of the prisoners, Ramsey, compares Bass to a “slave catcher.” While Bass is asleep, Ramsey attempts to cut him with his knife. The lawman awakes in time and fights Ramsey off. While putting up a good fight, Reeves beats Ramsey until he’s nearly unconscious. Billy pulls Bass off of Ramsey.
They then find a fellow prisoner has been killed, and half his face is “scalped off.” It was Ramsey. He freely admits the murder. Further, he doesn’t recognize Bass’s authority because they are in hell. And there is no law in Hell. The following day, Bass leaves him coughing at a branch. Bass and Billy then head into town on some business.
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Who is Silas Cobb?
Judge Parker (Donald Sutherland) wants to arrest Silas Cobb as an outlaw. Bass’s associate, Minco Dodge, tells Reeves where to find him. He also lets the lawman know a bounty is now on his head. Now that I think back, I suspect this was Ramsey’s play in attempting to kill Bass in the first place.
Bass and Billy then find a local watering hole and brother where Silas stays. While Bass questions a suspect, Crow takes a shine to one of the girls in an alley reading a book. Her name is Calista. The problem is that Billy is supposed to be watching from the front. He already didn’t lock Ramsey away tight enough. Crow must avoid making another mistake.
Reeves climbs through a window to disrupt Silas’s fun. He holds him at gunpoint. Cobb gives up Jim Webb to save himself. He then dives through a window and off the second-floor balcony. Silas finds his horse and ignores Billy’s orders to stop. The horse almost runs Billy over, and he shoots. The bullet hits Silas in the back. Bass attempts to locate a doctor, but Silas passes away.
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Episode 4 Ending Explained: Does Billy Crow Kill Ramsey?
Billy transfers Ramsy to another tree, and it’s unclear if he kills him. However, Ramsey instills fear in Billy because he sees that Crow has Silas Cobb’s boots. Meanwhile, Bass delivers Silas’ letter to his widow. When Reeves arrives, he sees that she is blind.
She thanks him but insists he must start to go because “Sundown” will be riding around, a reference to Bass. Also, his wife is having exchanges with Edwin Jones, who is trying to promote minority rights. This exchange begins to show how Bass may question his role as a lawman.
Lawmen Bass Reeves ends with the titular character who waters his horse by a local creek. The final shot shows a man on a horse on a hill behind Reeves. He pulls his gun, but the man rides off. We could assume this is a man trying to cash in on the illegal bounty on Bass’s head.
What did you think of Lawmen Bass Reeves Season 1 Episode 4? Comment below.
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