The series premiere of as he began his path from runaway slave to U.S. Marshal and while the episode revealed some of the hardships Reeves faced, it ended on a happy note with the end of the Civil War and his reunion with his love, Jennie. Episode 2 picks up sometime later as he and Jennie continue their lives together — and as Reeves’ journey to lawman continues as well. Here’s what happened in the second episode of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, “Part 2”.
Warning: spoilers for Lawmen: Bass Reeves “Part 2” beyond this point.
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What Happened in Lawmen: Bass Reeves “Part 2”?
Ten years have passed since the first episode and Bass is a farmer alongside his wife Jennie. However, they’ve run into some issues as the farm is infested with locusts and they have to burn the field to start over next year. The Reeves will have to find some other way to make money to get by for now and a solution to their problem shows up when Deputy U.S. Marshal Sherrill Lynn (Dennis Quaid) comes to town. He and another deputy went to arrest a man named One Charlie on Choctaw land, but the man got the jump on them and killed the deputy. Lynn needs Bass’s help as Bass speaks Choctaw — and Bass is a better shot than the deputy was. Jude Parker has signed off on the request for Bass to be a posse man, but Bass declines.
Jennie questions why Bass turned down the job, but Bass says that their family — they have four kids and a fifth on the way — is a good reason to not get involved. He tells his wife that despite being good with a gun, he wants to stay on the farm and he’s content. Jennie has questions about that. However, it seems that Bass decides to take the job and we next see him riding off with Lynn. With Bass away, Jennie goes into town and admires a piano in a store window. She’s interrupted by a man talking about Reconstruction and the idea of a Black state. Jennie quickly stops the conversation.
While on the road, Bass and Lynn find a covered wagon wrecked that belongs to the Commonwealth Bible Society and a badly injured man inside tells them to run. A group of outlaws on horseback show up, but Bass and Lynn deal with them — though Lynn takes anything of value from the dead, something that doesn’t sit well with Bass. Bass says a prayer for the dead man in the wagon and Lynn says that prayers are useless. Lynn is also surprised that Bass believes in a god that let him be enslaved. That night, Lynn tells Bass that he believes all Indians are no better than animals. Bass says that they are all just men.
They find One Charlie — there’s no other Charlie like him, hence the unusual name. Lynn says he will handle the rough stuff, Bass will do the talking. No one answers the door so Lynn tries to kick it open but fails so he shoots the lock. One Charlie’s wife opens and points a gun at his face. Bass defuses the situation and gets Lynn from the house so he can talk. He finds out from the woman, Nita (Crystle Lightning) that Charlie isn’t her husband but is her cousin and that she’s been forced to pay his debts and she’s tired of all the trouble. As he leaves, Bass gives her money to fix the door and Nita asks him to come back if there is news of Charlie.
Lynn and Bass then find One Charlie and pin him down in a house. A firefight is ensued, and Bass also tries to talk One Charlie out of the house, telling the man he’ll bring him in alive if he just surrenders. Lynn, however, has another plan and uses a Molotov cocktail to set the house on fire. Charlie is engulfed in flames and Bass kills him as a humane action to spare the man further suffering. At home, Jennie accepts delivery of her new piano, but a young man flirts with daughter Sally. She also discovers later that night that wolves have attacked one of her calves and she has to put it out of its misery after she scares away the wolves.
Bass patches Lynn up from his wounds while Lynn tries to justify the killing of Old Charlie. They end up disagreeing which turns into Bass punching the other man and leaving in the middle of the night. Bass now will not get paid. He does stop to see Nita and tells her what happened to her cousin. At home, Jennie finds where the wolves got through the fence and the young man, Arthur shows up. She tells him to stay away from Sally until she’s older. Bass gets home that evening. Jennie tells him about paying for the piano by promising about the payday Bass was expecting and he has to reveal he’s not getting paid because he hit Lynn, but he promises he’ll find a way to pay for the piano.
Days later, Bass is working in the field when Lynn shows up again with two deputies. Lynn and Bass don’t apologize for what happened, but Lynn says that Bass is supposed to be a lawman. He spoke with the judge, who wants to make Bass a deputy U.S. Marshal and when asked if he can handle the weight of the badge, Bass says he can. That night, Bass and Jennie talk about their family and Bass says he thinks love will keep the family strong no matter what and that God has shown him the way and that dispensing justice is it.
New episodes of Lawmen: Bass Reeves debut Sundays on Paramount+.
