‪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]
‪[both grunt]
‪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" playing]
‪♪ 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]