By Curt Schleier
It’s not uncommon for American literary lights to expand successful books into series. John Updike did it with both Rabbit Angstrom and Henry Bech. Philip Roth has written numerous novels about, well, Philip Roth (aka Nathan Zuckerman). But the king of sequels and prequels is Larry McMurtry, who has gone back to write additional books after Lonesome Dove, The Desert Rose and The Last Picture Show – among others. And that’s fine in a book.
An author has the leisure to bring everyone up to speed. What’s another page in a 600-page book? But in TV, there are time constraints, and you don’t have the luxury of explaining everything. COMANCHE MOON was actually the last of the four books McMurtry wrote, though chronologically it is the second in the series, following DEAD MAN’S WALK. So watching the former if you’re not familiar with latter is like, well, walking in in the middle of a movie.
The two Rangers, Woodrow Call (Karl Urban) and Gus McCrae (Steve Zahn) have a past with Comanche War Chief Buffalo Hump (Wes Studi), and, in fact, McCrae carries the scars of the Indian’s lance. But all that is just hinted at, potentially leaving viewers confused.
Buffalo Hump has gathered 600 warriors and wrecks havoc on the area, murdering, pillaging and raping at every farm and settlement on the way to Austin. There he sets the town ablaze, a task made slightly easier because McCall, McCrae and a small detachment of Rangers are away on a mission. One of the women raped is the pregnant wife of Texas Ranger Billy Coleman, and when he returns Coleman is in a quandary. He loves his wife but once she’s been had by an Indian, societal rules say he must treat her as an outcast. His solution is suicide.
With the Indians gone, McCrae and Call decide to rescue Capt. Scull (Val Kilmer). Scull had gone off to recapture a horse stolen from him, but was captured himself by Ahumado (Sal Lopez). Ahumado keeps him in an exposed pit, but apparently serves him large quantities of food. A shirtless Scull has put on a lot of weight since he was part of the Doors.
Scull is holding Scull for ransom and has asked for 1,000 head of cattle from the state of Texas to free him. But he doesn’t expect the cattle to be delivered and believes he will enjoy killing his long-time adversary (another holdover from DEAD MAN’S WALK). However, over time he comes to respect Scull’s determination to live. (Don’t ask how much time. Time is funny in this film. Call goes off for a week or so and when he comes back his girl friend, freshly pregnant when he left, has delivered a son.)
When the Mexican is bitten by a poisonous spider, he throws Scull a knife to aid his efforts to escape. Then Ahumado stumbles off to die, knocked off a steep cliff by a brightly-feathered parrot. Shortly thereafter, Ahumado’s servant goes to get Scull a rope to help him out of the pit when she is attacked by a jaguar. Both animals are apparently part of Native American mysticism, but the film doesn’t make it entirely clear what role they play or why they appear.
No matter. McCall, McCrae and tracker Famous Shoes (David Midthunder) arrive in time to rescue Scull. He’s gone slightly mad, but hasn’t gone over the edge yet. So they stop off at a new settlement, Lonesome Dove, to get him a haircut and clean him up before they bring him home.
Meanwhile, McCrae’s girlfriend, Clara Forsyth (Linda Cardellini), who was away during the Indian attack, returns to Austin anxiously awaiting McCrae’s return. But believing she had a rival in his absence, Gus had been with Inez Scull (Rachel Griffiths). When she finds out what he did, she slaps him, walks away, comes to kiss him, and then leaves him. And you thought soap operas were a modern phenomenon.
Okay, this isn’t great TV, but it’s a lot better than re-runs. Promise me you won’t let this turn you off to McMurtry. I want you to promise that you’ll read LONESOME DOVE. Okay, I understand your position. At least promise me you’ll rent the LONESOME DOVE mini-series.