Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit. Walt Longmire is the charismatic, dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County. Widowed only a year, Longmire is a man in psychic repair that buries his pain behind a brave face and dry wit. Struggling since his wife's death and at the urging of his daughter, Cady, Longmire knows that the time has come to turn his life around. With the help of Vic, a female deputy new to the department, he becomes reinvigorated about his job and committed to running for re-election. When Branch, an ambitious, young deputy decides to run against him for sheriff, Longmire feels betrayed but remains steadfast in his dedication to the community. Longmire often turns to close friend and confidant Henry Standing Bear for support as he sets out to rebuild both his personal and professional life, one step at a time. After spending their first night together, Lizzie tells Longmire that their getting together ''feels weird''.<br/><br/>How so? For starter, Walt Longmire is the strong, mumbling type. Has he washed lately? Taken a shower? Even changed clothes? In the first episode, he drops a big fat tear on his shoe after telling a woman of her husband death. I couldn't help laughing. Here's this supposedly seasoned, hardened, clever sheriff crying while announcing the bad news. I nearly stopped watching the show right then and there. But the show wasn't so bad up to that point. So I enjoyed the rest of the season.<br/><br/>Some reviewers have noted the lack of professionally gathering of evidence, like they do on the CSI shows. But this is the back country in Wyoming, and it didn't faze me. It went with the show. The Res and the American natives look real to me. Poverty, racism, drinking, rapes and murders are difficult problems in and around the US and Canadian reserves. It seems that few politicians have the will and funds to take on these problems.<br/><br/>What annoyed me most, however, is the sheriff election sub plot. I thought this thing should be settled in the first or two episodes, but it kept dragging on. With all the murders happening on every episode, you'd think that the election would soon be a thing of the past. After all, in any town with such a high murder rate, the sheriff should quickly be pitch forked out of town by the angry populace.<br/><br/>And then there's Walt tracking escaped convicts through a winter blizzard dressed in his casually everyday clothes. That's nonsense. At least we see him getting a wash in this episode.<br/><br/>All that said, the characters are well played and interesting enough to keep me watching for a few more episodes. But I'm getting bored. So I watched the pilot and fell in love with the show for many different reasons; the beautiful countryside, the cleverly written mysteries, the sly Indian friend, the spunky deputy….. But above all, I fell in love with Walt Longmire played brilliantly by Robert Taylor. (Who I was slightly crushed to find out was Australian, not American.) <br/><br/>I loved his Character, a strong, silent, funny-in-a-wry-deadpan-kind-of-way, all around good man.<br/><br/>Then I found out that there where books, and my heart sank. No way was I not going to read them, but I was afraid that the book Walt Longmire would be different from the show Walt Longmire, who I really liked.<br/><br/>I stand by the view that the book is always better that the movie or TV show, because let's face it, things suffer when you transfer to the screen, usually the characters. That is why when a character is done well, the success is all the sweeter.<br/><br/>You can sacrifice a lot, in the form of story line, if the characters are acted and written well. (Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, or Colin Firths Mr.Darcy in Pride and Prejudice) <br/><br/>I read the books and found that I had nothing to be afraid of! If at all possible I got more excited about the show because I read the TV Walt in the pages of the book, and the book gave me more depth and back story to this man's character that I now saw played out in the show. That's how good a job Robert Taylor does.<br/><br/>Read the books! Watch the show! And enjoy them both for that are just extensions of each other!<br/><br/>And that is why I am a fan!
Pennibrid replied
293 weeks ago