S03.E07: Population 25

[SimoneS]

Oh they do!  The thing is, that the only crimes we ever see them working on are murder crimes.  And I often find myself wondering, who handles petty theft?  Does it just go completely unchecked?

 

LOL! I always wonder the same thing. Theft, domestic violence, illegal drugs (e.g. meth labs, cocaine, marijuana), etc. would be rampant in rural Wyoming counties. Occasionally we see a drunk in the jail, but mostly Walt and crew are investigating murders or crimes that are linked to murders.

 

Finally, I don't mind if folks dislike Vic.  She's a bit bland I think.  But she doesn't create more drama than anyone else.  If anything, she does a good job under the circumstances.  She didn't know Gorski was married apparently.  And he is clearly the psycho in that "relationship" who creates the drama.  You know, by stalking her.  She could have spilled the beans on Branch, and probably should have (and is still thinking about it), but she hasn't and has maintained her cool despite his clearly troubled state. I know he's going through a lot but why does he get a pass from so many people for being clearly off the rails?  I just get the impression that gender is playing a big role in guiding folks reactions to what the characters are doing.

 

I totally think that there is gender bias underlying much of the dislike of Vic and have stated so before. I have noticed that it has gotten worse ever since the Walt/Vic romance has become more overt. With Vic taking all of the abuse because some people do not want it to happen. 

Edited July 19, 2014 by SimoneS

[seamusk]

But in any case I think everyone would be aware of the End Times Paranoid Survivalist Cult Household.  That's the kind of place people talk about.

 

This I totally agree with.

[DittyDotDot]

I loved and yet hated this one. The performances were great, the plotting not so much. Yes, it was somewhat disturbing, but I think they were trying to disturb us, so kudos to them for pulling that off. I've been thinking all these suspects Walt has been investigating were more set up for them to do cases of the weeks about, unfortunately this one just didn't quite work out for me. I must say that Katee Stackoff really came to play though and that kid with the baseball bat was all sorts of creepy--as he should have been. I also really liked Branch in this episode. I really liked how they had him say he didn't know if he was up for running the office--honest and forthright is my favorite character trait! And I liked how, once he realized that Vic was in danger and Walt might need some help, he immediately dropped the woe-is-me attitude and went out to help. Nice character bits in this episode, too bad the actual story wasn't better plotted. But hey, I'm usually in it for the character beats anyhow.

 

Did Sean give up the passcode knowing he'd be spared?  If so he's a real weasel.  Yes, Vic more than tipped her hand when she went ape shit thinking the body in the bag was Walt.  I think that was way overplayed by the actress.

 

I thought it really unclimatic when Walt asked the nutjob, "Did you kill my wife?"    "No."    "Okay, well, I'm going to shoot you anyway."

 

1. I think Sean thought it was their last option. And I also think he believed Vic when she said Walt was coming, so maybe this last little thing would buy them a bit more time.
2. No kidding, I already knew the answer to that question the previous episode the nutjob survivalist showed up in. And the whole oh-my-God-who-will-survive-the-shootout-cliffhanger bit...giggling. I'm sorry, but the show is called Longmire, I'm willing to bet almost anything that the character Walt Longmire will survive in some way. Please.

 

I hope they're not going with a romance between Vic and Walt.  I'm ok with Vic having strong feelings for Walt, but I don't get anything other than a paternal interest from Walt.  As much as I love the actress, I'm tired of the Vic drama.

 

I've been getting the Walt/Vic romance vibes all season, it just feels that this is where they're heading. I wish it wasn't, not because I dislike Vic, but I would like to have one show that doesn't feel the need for the leads to hook up romantically. I like novelty that way. 

 

It felt like lazy writing to me that Vic just happen to need to use a phone at the house of a murder suspect who Walt had recently visited.  Don't you hate when the only house you need in the woods is the haunted one?  A better rationale for the "coincidence" would have been appreciated..

 

And don't you just hate it when you coincidentally have car trouble two miles from the craziest crazy that inhabits your county but didn't even know existed even though you are a cop and probably have had complaints about this guy phoned into the office once or twice? And don't you also hate it when you coincidentally brought your cell phone, but not only forgot to charge it and have no signal when you need it, but then instead of climbing up on the ridge to make the call yourself, you decide to hike a couple miles down the road to the craziest crazy's house and leave the phone with your injured husband who then climbs up the ridge and calls for help anyway because, oh, coincidentally your crazy stalker ex-boyfriend happens to be driving by...Seriously, the plotting on this episode was horrendous.

 

 

 

So Branch is trying to investigate a murder (Hector) and attempted murder (himself) that took place in Walt's jurisdiction. But Walt would rather he investigated a crime that took place outside his jurisdiction just so he can clear Henry? And Branch is supposed to be in the wrong?  Don't get me wrong, I totally understand why Walt wants to clear Henry, but he should be doing it on his own time and not using the county police resources.

 

Yeah, I found it amusing that a couple episodes back Walt was careful not to use Wyoming taxpayers money to investigate a personal matter (his wife's murder), but here it didn't matter that he was using taxpayer's money to do basically the same thing. And don't even get me started on the taxpayer's money he wasted when avoiding the Denver detective's phone calls and correspondence. Walt Longmire definitely lives by his own double standards, doesn't he?

 

WHY DOES HENRY NOT KNOW ALL THE PEOPLE WHO  LIVE ON THE CHEYENNE RESERVATION?

I love this show to pieces, I really do, but this stuff is where it falls apart for me.  This is a rural area where most of the people who live there have grown up there - they KNOW everyone in the county. 

 

Are you referring to the guy that Henry followed in the last episode? I thought it was established that he wasn't a local, he operates out of Denver. Anyway, I'm not sure that Henry would know every single person that lived on the reservation. I imagine he knows of a great deal of them, but I can't imagine he knows them all.  A rural area may have a small population, but you have to remember that small communities can encompass very large areas. Small populations can still be in the thousands though--that's a lot of people to know, IMO.

Edited July 19, 2014 by DittyDotDot

[RandomX]

If in fact Ed Gorski saw the light and is giving up his obsession with Vic, I must have really missed whatever point the show was making or missed some nuance about him not being a stalker because that's not how stalking is resolved.

Stalkers aren't gentlemanly romantics who politely bow out to allow the victim to pursue true love. If Walt is painted as a stalker-whisperer, then UGH, color me disgusted with the terribly facile treatment of a serious issue.

[Raja]

If in fact Ed Gorski saw the light and is giving up his obsession with Vic, I must have really missed whatever point the show was making or missed some nuance about him not being a stalker because that's not how stalking is resolved.

Stalkers aren't gentlemanly romantics who politely bow out to allow the victim to pursue true love. If Walt is painted as a stalker-whisperer, then UGH, color me disgusted with the terribly facile treatment of a serious issue.

He didn't see Sean as worthy, Walt however is

[dubbel zout]

I like to think that Gorski finally saw what a mess Vic is and decided he wanted nothing to do with that. The stalking was no longer satisfying to him because of that.

[alias1]

The end of the stalker plot line seemed "off" to me.   Ed was still stalking Vic at the beginning of the episode, but not close enough to be of any help to her while she walked the two miles to the crazy guys place.  He was close enough to see Sean abducted and then appeared very suddenly to Walt to "help" him rescue Vic.  It's either very bad writing or his story is not over.  Does anyone know if the actor is in another series?  The whole Ed is a redeemed stalker now didn't ring true at all.  He implied that Sean wasn't good enough for Vic but it would be OK if she hooked up with Walt (she needs to be with another lawman).  What rubbish! 

[wmdekooning]

I just remembered where I saw the guy who played the nutjob leader. He was satan in the movie Constantine with Keanu Reeves. He only showed up at the end, but he was pretty menacing in his brief scenes.

Peter Stormare (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001780/), he's the guy you call when you need THAT guy.  Y ou no doubt have seen him in at least a half dozen things.

I see a couple people have beat me to the punch "here", so I'll add that he was in 10 film/teevee shows in 2013...

Edited July 22, 2014 by wmdekooning

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Y ou no doubt have seen him in at least a half dozen things.

For most American viewers his first really memorable role was in Fargo as the quieter of the constantly squabbling kidnappers (the blabby one being Steve Buscemi).

[Desperately Random]

For most American viewers his first really memorable role was in Fargo as the quieter of the constantly squabbling kidnappers (the blabby one being Steve Buscemi).

I'm sure I saw him in movies/TV shows before Fargo but Fargo is when I noticed him and remembered him from whenever I saw him in anything subsequent to that movie. No matter what kind of part he plays, to me, he will always be the guy with the wood-chipper.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Catching up on the ep only just now because for a while A&E's link went t a clip instead of the full ep. :P 

This show reminds me of House. The plotlines are laughably contrived, but the characters and dialog are strong enough to keep me eagerly coming back. In this one, a random bear just happens to maroon Walt's deputy near the house of one of Walt's worst enemies while that deputy is being stalked by her ex-lover. Riiight. But there was so much good stuff that I enjoyed the hell out of it anyway. Gorski saying, "I'm an acquired taste" had me laughing out loud.

 

I thought it really unclimatic when Walt asked the nutjob, "Did you kill my wife?"    "No."    "Okay, well, I'm going to shoot you anyway."

 

I thought that was a very powerful moment. Both of them knew only one of them was going to leave the standoff alive, so there was no reason to lie about anything. Walt got a straight answer he can believe about one of the suspects in his wife's murder.

 

HOW COULD VIC HAVE WORKED IN THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE THIS LONG AND NOT KNOWN WHERE THE CRAZY SURVIVALIST NUTJOB COMPOUND WAS?

 

Walt has a wall full of pictures of just his worst blood enemies that hate him enough to maybe have killed his wife. I don't find it hard to believe that Vic hasn't committed them all to memory yet. :) (Which, I realize makes my prior point about the improbabilty of her ending up at an enemy's house less strong, but oh well.)

My take on Gorski giving up the stalking; he looked at her there, all beaten up, with one of the men in her life similarly battered and another possibly dead, and Gorski said, "Yeah. She's been through enough." Maybe not the way an actual fixated stalker would think, but still an interesting character moment.

And a general comment, I really don't get why some folks are disliking this ep because it's too dark. This isn't even the first maniacal cult they've had on this show in which the weapon in one murder was a bear.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Ghost of TWOP Past

[ratgirlagogo]

 

And a general comment, I really don't get why some folks are disliking this ep because it's too dark.

While some may dislike it for being "too dark" I dislike it because the characteriszations (of Vic, and of her husband really, and of Ed Gorski) seem inconsistent with what we've seen about them in the show so far.  Vic and husband seem kind of unprepared for Wyoming life on this trip in a way that seems hard to believe for intelligent people who've lived there for that long.  And I think Ed Gorski is a creepy guy and I HATE that this episode seems to be kind of of redeeming him.  No, even if he was "helping" this time he's still a creep.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I just remembered where I saw the guy who played the nutjob leader. He was satan in the movie Constantine with Keanu Reeves. He only showed up at the end, but he was pretty menacing in his brief scenes.

For me, he will always be Slippery Pete from the Seinfeld episode where George is trying to figure out how to save his high score on Frogger.

 

I spent most of this episode waiting for Ed Gorski (who will always be Beecher from Oz) to doublecross Walt. I was actually surprised that he ended up being helpful. It was hilarious, anticlimactic, and weird that after all that, he decided to stop stalking Vic.

 

I didn't like the implication that Vic and Sean realized that she loooooooves Walt just because she got upset when she thought Walt was the one in the body bag. I know I have worked very closely with some coworkers at past jobs and when you spend all day with the same few people day in and day out, you develop the kind of friendship that means if you thought one of those people was dead and zipped up in a body bag, you would get upset (isn't it just normal to get upset if you think someone you know was just murdered and dumped into a hole?). That doesn't mean you are in love with all of those people though. Maybe it's because I've always had friends of both genders, but I don't think that being fond of someone or even loving someone as a friend means your feelings are in any way romantic.

 

I have no interest in a Vic/Walt romance or hook up. I don't think Walt is over the death of his wife so he's not in a place where he's ready to get involved with someone. He never seemed serious about the woman he dated last season, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would approve of an interoffice romance.

Edited July 27, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[RandomX]

Gorski saying, "I'm an acquired taste" had me laughing out loud.

Yes - despite my dislike of the stalker resolution, I like the actor and that was a great line.

I didn't like the implication that Vic and Sean realized that she loooooooves Walt just because she got upset when she thought Walt was the one in the body bag. I know I have worked very closely with some coworkers at past jobs and when you spend all day with the same few people day in and day out, you develop the kind of friendship that means if you thought one of those people was dead and zipped up in a body bag, you would get upset (isn't it just normal to get upset if you think someone you know was just murdered and dumped into a hole?). That doesn't mean you are in love with all of those people though. Maybe it's because I've always had friends of both genders, but I don't think that being fond of someone or even loving someone as a friend means your feelings are in any way romantic.

Not to mention, if I were Vic, I'd be thinking that Walt is my best -- and perhaps only -- chance of getting out of there alive.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, no kidding. Sean wasn't going to get them out of there any time soon!

[JeeperDon]

I live in Albuquerque, 60 miles from the Longmire main shooting location (mock sherriff office and Red Pony). My 4x4 club president got this e-mail in March or so and shared it with my club:

 

"My name is ------ ------- and I work on the A&E Television show "Longmire" doing extras casting. I was contacting you because in the upcoming episode that we are filming, we are in desperate need of Off-roading vehicles to appear in a Survivalist Compound scene. If you or your members might be interested in participating on set we would love to hear back from you. The Extras Casting director can be reached directly, his name is ------ -------- and his telephone number is (111)111-1111. Thank you for your time and hopefully we will be hearing from you soon."

 

My Jeep is red, and in a 2nd email they said they didn't want red or white.  I guess not enough Jeeps could be signed up, so they went with what you saw, old campers and Granadas.

Edited August 6, 2014 by JeeperDon

[Ohwell]

They couldn't afford to lease some vehicles for a couple of days?