Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 6 Recap: 10 Story Reveals

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 6.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 6 brings Old West legend Bass Reeves closer to the truth about the identity of the mythical Mr. Sundown. With only two episodes left of the Paramount+ miniseries, many of the true events of Bass Reeves’s life will be forcibly left out. The series as a whole has significantly deviated from its historically accurate approach in its early episodes and has switched most of its focus to its fictional characters and plot developments.

Edwin Jones, Esau Pierce, and Billy Crow are central figures in episode 6 despite not being based on any real people. Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 5 introduced one of the best characters of the series in Jackson Cole, another fictional character whom Bass must deliver to the Texas Rangers for murdering a slave owner campaigning to be a Texas Senator. Bass was challenged with some of the moral dilemmas within his absolute devotion to upholding the law, especially when he meets face to face with the dangerous Esau Pierce.

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10 Bass Transfers Jackson Cole To Texas Ranger Esau Pierce

Bass is surprisingly unemotional and not mad at Pierce

Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 6 picks up exactly where episode 5 left off as Bass completes his assignment of transporting Jackson to the Texas Rangers at Red River. Even after learning more about Jackson’s reasons for killing James Neblett, he still hands him over to Pierce, the man who murdered his young friend Curtis many years before. Bass is surprisingly unemotional seeing Pierce again despite seeing Curtis’ ghost in episode 5. He watches Jackson ride off with Pierce without any opposition, resulting in a rather anticlimactic reunion.

9 Bass Visits Sara’s Cabin & Discovers That She’s Dead

Sara was the mother of Bass’ young friend Curtis

After Pierce and Jackson head out, Bass and Billy go to visit Sara, Curtis’s mother, at her cabin. It doesn’t take long before Bass realizes that Sara is dead, finding her above-ground casket in her front yard. After randomly running into Pierce and seeing the ghost of Curtis, Bass appears to be reconciling some guilt for the young boy’s death. The once faithful Bass begins to question the existence of God and what exactly he is accomplishing in a moral sense as a Deputy Marshal.

8 Billy Crow Reconnects With Love Interest Calista

Billy knows she loves to read and gives her a book

Billy Crow makes a point to visit Calista while Bass takes a load off in the saloon. Billy gives Calista a book and the two walk together romantically, eventually finding a private room together. Calista tends to Billy’s wound he got from being grazed by a bullet during the pursuit of Jim Webb. He and Calista get intimate but their relationship seems deeper than anything purely transactional, hinting that Billy might have a future with Calista in Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

7 Bass Gets Drunk & Contemplates The Toll Of His Job

Bass meets a friendly Texas Ranger named Braxton Sawyer

Bass behaves completely out of character by getting drunk on whiskey at the saloon, dropping his guard for a while. He meets a friendly Texas Ranger named Braxton Sawyer while ironically looking for a fight, which is a bold move considering Sawyer’s size. The two lawmen get friendly and start to open up about the hardships of their profession. In his drunkenness, Bass also starts to openly question his belief in God. Swayer encourages him to stay true to his core beliefs and proves to be a potential ally in Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

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6 Bass Gets In A Brutal Brawl & Billy Crow Saves His Life

A group of outlaws had plans to collect the bounty on Bass

Drunk and alone, Bass relieves himself outside when a group of outlaws approaches him out of nowhere looking for a brawl. The group plans to kill Bass and collect his bounty that was apparently issued after he killed Jim Webb. The real-life Jim Webb had powerful connections, which is why he was able to post a very high bail after Bass had arrested him the first time. The outlaws severely beat up Bass and are about to shoot him when Billy Crow kills one of them, saving Bass’s life.

5 Sally Reeves Catches Brent Staring At Her From The Woods

Brent is the older brother of a racist girl Sally told off at the carnival

Sally is out in the yard with her several younger siblings when she spots Brent creepily staring at her from the edge of the Reeves’ ranch. The hotheaded Brent, the older brother of the rude racist girl that Sally told off in episode 5, is trying to intimate Sally by staring at her without moving or saying anything. Sally bravely punched Brent in the face when he and a group of his racist friends tried to jump her and Arthur after the carnival in episode 5. She holds her ground and yells out to him that she’s not afraid of him.

4 Bass Returns Home & Has Unfriendly Conversation With Edwin Jones

Bass and Edwin disagree on how to enhance American lives

Bass returns home to find Edwin Jones sitting in his chair at the dinner table. Bass is rude to Edwin from the start, not interested in the self-righteous language about God and the black community at large that Edwin constantly professes throughout the series. Bass is understandably tired but also disagrees with Edwin’s acute focus on the black experience, believing that he as a Deputy Marshal looks out for all Americans. Edwin mentions the idea of working together and Bass realizes that he has an ulterior motive.

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3 Jennie Realizes Esme Used Her To Connect Edwin & Bass

Jennie basically asks Edwin & Esme to leave her house

When Jennie realizes that her old friend Esme had reconnected with her in order for Edwin to talk business with Bass, she becomes infuriated. Their visit is instantly ruined as Jennie basically asks her and Edwin to leave, which they do without saying a word. Bass also points out the fact that Edwin is a married man but is traveling extensively with Esme. Up until this point in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the viewer could assume that Esme and Edwin were married, but this proves not to be the case.

2 Ramsey Hints At Mr. Sundown’s Identity Just Before He’s Hanged

Bass believes in Mr. Sundown after the disappearance of Jackson Cole

Ramsey, one of Bass Reeves’ prisoners who spread the word about Mr. Sundown, is being hanged at Hell on the Border. Moments before his public execution, Bass demands that Ramey tell him who Mr. Sundown is after finding out that Jackson Cole disappeared in the custody of Esau Pierce. Ramsey stands before a crowd with the noose around his neck with a strange smile, calling out to Bass with his final words “cinco peso”. As Ramsey dies, Bass starts to put the pieces together of who Mr. Sundown is.

1 Bass Discovers That Esau Pierce Is Mr. Sundown

Pierce wears a badge made out of cinco peso

Ramsey’s final clue was all Bass needed to discover that Esau Pierce is Mr. Sundown, the supposedly cannibalistic mythical slave hunter. Earlier in the episode, Esau says that he and Bass are now the same except that Bass wears a tin badge and he wears one made out of cinco peso. This hint combined with the fact that Jackson disappeared in his custody makes it clear that Pierce is in fact Mr. Sundown. The final two episodes of Lawmen: Bass Reeves are set for an Old West showdown between the two lawmen.