Poor William Bonney is facing an uphill battle in the Lincoln County War.
That continued to be made abundantly clear on Billy the Kid Season 2 Episode 5.
It’s Billy and a handful of good-hearted ranchers and farmers who are up against the greedy and corrupt in Lincoln and New Mexico in general.
It doesn’t seem fair, does it?
Billy’s supporters can’t catch a break.
For example, take the Regulators’ encounter with “Buckshot” Roberts.
Granted, Buckspot is a sharpshooter, but he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, as he proved in his demise.
Horizon: An American Saga: Release Date, Cast, Trailer and Everything We Know About Kevin Costner’s Western Epic
Yet somehow, he doggedly, if drunkenly, tracked Billy through the wilderness and rode right into the Regulators’ camp, with no one stopping this apparent threat.
There was Buckshot against eight to ten Regulators, and still, he shot four of them (killing two). How was his opening fire unexpected?
Equally stupid was Buckshot’s decision to ease up just because Billy set down his rifle. Billy could roll out of bed and outdraw most people, so Buckshot didn’t have a chance.
Billy’s self-defense killing of Buckshot illustrates part of the image problem from which he suffers.
Buckshot was pinned on the ground by Billy after being shot twice when an incensed Billy shot him in the throat. That just wasn’t a good look.
It’s likely that not all the citizens approved of Billy and the Regulators shooting the sheriff and three deputies in Billy the Kid Season 2 Episode 4.
Sure, they were planning to use an illegitimate warrant from Catron to hang Lawyer McSween. But there had to be a less fatal option to get the same result.
With his face plastered on all those wanted posters, Billy had an optics problem centuries before that concept even existed. Billy had his good reasons, but most settlers didn’t have any truck with nuance.
13 Deeply Flawed Characters We Can’t Get Out of Our Head
The doctor treating the Regulators’ wounded passed along the message that Pat Garrett, who Billy used to run with as part of the 7 Rivers Gang back around Billy the Kid Season 1 Episode 6, had become the Lincoln County Sheriff.
Billy definitely relied too much on their prior friendship when he wisely wrote to Pat to ask him to use his authority to clean up Lincoln.
But Catron installed Pat in Lincoln, and Murphy quickly reminded him that Pat owed him as well.
So, what side will Pat come down on? (History or Wild West buffs already know that answer.)
But after he met with mean drunk Murphy, Pat had to be inspired to bring down The House regardless of who his benefactors are.
In any event, Pat promises to be one conflicted individual for the remainder of the series.
Jesse, Billy’s brother from another mother, also figures to remain conflicted as well. However, as the series has proven, that won’t stop him from doing evil deeds.
But Jesse is the only one who truly understands that Billy is more than a murderous gunslinger. He’s the leader that the disenfranchised of Lincoln need.
The Age of the Renewed Limited Series
Still, the arrogant businessmen and politicians ignore the cautions of this hired gun, the only person who truly knows Billy.
Billy strongly encouraged Jesse to leave town to avoid the coming violence at their most recent showdown in this season’s fourth episode. As always, Jesse didn’t listen.
Jesse’s 7 Rivers Gang ended up being the hammer in Catron’s latest scheme: Extorting Antonio Del Tobosco, Dulcinea’s father.
Antonio is a respected Spanish landowner.
Unfortunately, he used that land as collateral when he borrowed $100,000 from Catron’s bank over the years.
Catron: You’re making a very big mistake.Antonio: Forgive me, but it is you who is making the mistake. You have no idea who I am but I know exactly what you are.
Catron and his lieutenant, Edgar Walz, show up unannounced to squeeze Antonio.
They want him to agree to repay his loans in 28 days or sacrifice his properties.
Antonio is too proud to sign the document. Unfortunately, pride comes before the fall.
That’s when Jesse and his gang came in. Walz went to Murphy, wanting to borrow his muscle to intimidate Antonio into submission.
Jesse knew something that others at The House didn’t. Billy was sweet on Dulcinea, and threatening her family might be just the thing to bring him out of hiding. Surprisingly, that plan drew admiration from the scheming Walz.
Nearly 50 Years After Fonzie Jumped the Shark, TV is Still at It
Jesse even used Billy to get inside the Del Tobosco estate, putting on a hat similar to Billy’s to fool the guards into opening the gates.
That situation went downhill quickly because he overplayed his hand. Antonio was ready to let everything go outside their home. Instead, Jesse and his gunmen began shooting everyone in sight.
Dulcinea was soon the last member of her family alive. Luckily, she didn’t fall for Jesse’s explanation that he was Billy’s brother and shot him in the shoulder with her lady gun rather than handing it over to him.
Jesse’s actions drove Dulcinea back into Billy’s arms in his camp, where she discovered that his Regulators squad had now grown into an army, including other Mexicans bullied by Muprhy and The House.
Billy snuck into town to receive some good news. The federal government had sent a special agent to look into Tunstall’s murder and corruption at all levels in the territory.
Billy was heartened to hear from Judge John Wilson that he had people in power on his side. Let’s see how things develop from here.
What do you feel Billy is doing right and wrong?
Whose side will Pat Garrett come down on?
Is having right on his side enough to help Billy to win the war?
Comment below.
Edit Delete
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
