"Absaroka County"
Longmire is modern Western crime drama the way it should be done. Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) is the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, a vast jurisdiction where the nearest backup might be an hour away. He's a widower still grieving his wife, a man who communicates in silences and solves cases with patience rather than procedure.
The show is based on Craig Johnson's novels, and it captures the books' specific Western texture—the politics of the reservation, the tension between federal, state, and tribal jurisdiction, the isolation of rural law enforcement where everyone knows everyone and some crimes have been waiting decades to be solved.
Walt's team includes Victoria "Vic" Moretti (Katee Sackhoff), a transplanted Philadelphia detective running from her past; Branch Connally (Bailey Chase), a deputy who's also Walt's political rival; and "The Ferg" (Adam Bartley), a good-hearted if naive addition. On the Cheyenne reservation, Walt works with—and sometimes against—Mathias (Zahn McClarnon), the tribal police chief whose authority is limited by jurisdictional politics that make solving crimes harder.
Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips) is Walt's best friend, a Cheyenne bartender and owner of the Red Pony, whose position between cultures makes him invaluable and occasionally compromised. His loyalty to Walt is absolute, which creates its own complications when cases involve the tribe.
The mysteries are solid, but the show's appeal is Walt himself—a laconic, honorable man carrying loss and doing his job in a landscape of extraordinary beauty. The show respects the West without romanticizing it. The poverty, the isolation, the complicated politics are all present. But so is the sky, the mountains, and a kind of freedom that urban shows can't imagine.
World Building (9): Absaroka County feels real—the jurisdictional complications, the reservation politics, the isolation. This is the modern West with all its complexity.
Cinematography (9): The Wyoming landscapes are breathtaking. The show uses space the way Westerns should—wide shots that show how alone everyone is.
Characters & Acting (8): Robert Taylor's Walt is a classic Western hero—quiet, principled, damaged. Katee Sackhoff and Lou Diamond Phillips provide excellent support.
"Pilot" (S1E1) — Walt returns to work. A body in the woods. The introduction.
"Carcasses" (S2E3) — Reservation politics. A cold case. Henry's loyalty tested.
"Goodbye Is Always Implied" (S6E10) — Series finale. Walt's choice. The West won.
US: Netflix, Peacock
UK: Netflix