Review #Longmire season 1

Longmire is not your average crime of the week drama. There's nothing average about it! It doesn't take place in a big city, but in the off the beaten track (fictional) Wyoming county, Absaroka (pronounced ab-suh-ro-ka).

Not only does Longmire give us a glimpse of small town life that could almost hark back to the 1800s, except with cell phones and except for Walt Longmire who refuses to use one, but it also shows us that if you live in a remote town in Wyoming or the heart of Manhattan, bad guys are everywhere.

Longmire offers interesting and unique characters far from the ordinary fare. Longmire himself is a leathery old-town sheriff set in his ways, but he has incredible depth, insight, and compassion with his work. Flawed and very human, he is.

Two of his deputies, Branch and Vic, are opposites but bring their own unique perspectives to the show. Vic is a transplanted Philadelphia cop who does not want to be in Wyoming, but the gas company her husband works for transferred him. Branch is the rich local boy turned sheriff's deputy still looking for his own path.

Season 1 is full of mysteries and what I loved most about this is other than the mystery-of-the-week, there's an ongoing one involving Walt's dead wife. Walt's best friend, Henry Standing Bear, has his own secrets about the wife's death, but since season 1 is only 10 episodes, not much is revealed.

I loved that about Longmire, because they didn't drag out this mystery, but the clues kept me coming back for more. Other than the deputies, the secondary cast is outstanding. Everyone has their own quirks, their own lives, their own flaws. It makes for a very believable world and very believable stories.

I highly recommend Longmire season 1.

Longmire is based on a series of contemporary western mysteries by Craig Johnson. Season 3 starts Monday June 3 at 10p.m. EST on A&E.