The reason I will keep watching intently is that certain things are shown that are not often displayed.
This ep showed the making of a man. Jimmy is a total loser and he was virtually enslaved against his will. Yet...he has been given a real shot a a real life. He was a loser long before Dutton's henchman grabbed him. He was used and abused by Dutton and it continued with the breaking of the horse. However, and it's a big however...he survived a transformational test. He really can become a "cowboy." He proved his courage. This was a rite of passage he likely never had a chance to experience when he was a teen. He has a genuine chance to BE somebody. And it is entirely true he was abused in the process. What price the chance he now has? It is an enormous question and again, not one well considered in standard TV fare.
The conceit we saw and I hate (it's classic soap opera) is that the fool SEAL does not accept that his wife loves him enough, and is actually intelligent enough, to understand that her brother needed killing (as did the burn victim at the explosion site). It was her brother's choice to exact revenge after the cattle were back on Dutton land and the incident was essentially over. He was totally in the wrong and it is he who committed murder. The older Dutton was in full retreat and was no threat to her brother, or any of their tribe in that moment. Oh, well.
Far too much was made of the sweat, imo. I have experienced several Lakota-taught sweats. Any one of them is not meant to be life-altering. They can certainly lead to new understandings. Miraculous? Hardly. A miracle can happen in any context, at any time. "Dying" in any given sweat is NOT expected. I can go on forever as to the nature of killing one's self (ego). It is a particularly important topic to me. I believe it is of supreme importance in one's life. However, a given sweat is simply not gonna induce it to the extent the show would have us buy.
On a much lighter side, I genuinely loved the conversation Dutton had at the rodeo with the dad of the witness. It's the kind of communication only two grizzled men of a certain experience can have. It was something out of a John Ford oater. To be sure, I was less than thrilled with Dutton's depicted treachery. I did love, I confess, the deep understanding those characters had of the code being invoked. I would not follow such a code as far as those guys are in this instance. But, it would take me a long way in my life. YMMV.
The whole gay son arc can just go away. It is enough that he was the least accepted brother who took a professional path and not that of a cowboy. Ugh. I can't argue, though, that it does not well fit the overarching theme of the inherent corruptions of a familial dynasty. It's not a huge stretch by any means.
I agree that it is difficult to find "likeability" in any of this. I believe that is intentional. I welcome it.
Edited June 29, 2018 by Lonesome RhodesncG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNqamipZWptq6x0WeaqKVfqbyxtcJobWtuYGh6tLHArKanZWFigG6wyKyarqujnryve8%2Banp5nYmQ%3D