The Heartbreaking Reason Bass Reeves Takes Billy Crow Under His Wing in Paramount’s Western Show

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 4.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves continues with the Wild West lawman taking the unlikely Billy Crow under his wing as his law enforcement mentor. Across four episodes of the eight-part miniseries, Bass Reeves quickly established himself as one of the most effective and intelligent lawmen. in the jurisdiction of western Arkansas and Native Territory (modern Oklahoma). After delivering Billy Crow to justice in Episode 3, the series jumps forward in time to 1877, when Bass appointed the former outlaw as his official posseman.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 4 features Billy Crow with a change of heart after his alleged prison sentence for helping the Underwood Gang commit a violent stagecoach robbery. At the end of Lawmen: Bass Reeves In episode 3, Bass had gently asked the famous hanging judge Parker, who had sworn Bass in as one of the first black deputy marshals in the American South, to sympathize with Billy Crow’s situation and consider him as the product of despair and confusion. opposed to true evil or criminality. Bass had to use his infallible reputation to convince Judge Parker to give Billy a second chance at life.

RELATED: Yellowstone Creator’s New Show Leaves Out Biggest Twist in Bass Reeves’ True Story

Billy Crow makes it easier for Bass Reeves to be separated from his family

As a young man given a new chance in life, Billy Crow is indebted to Bass Reeves for seeing in him the potential to live his life on the straight and narrow path. The pairing of Billy Crow and Bass Reeves is actually mutually beneficial.as Bass is able to teach and mentor the young outlaw-turned-lawman as if he were one of his own children. Lawmen: Bass Reeves Episode 4 contains a powerful scene in which Bass is saddened by how little time he spends with his many children and his wife, Jennie, while he is at work for days and weeks at a time.

In this way, Billy Crow is particularly useful to Bass as a sort of replacement for his own children and for the family time he misses. This also works in Bass’s favor, as the fact that Billy is like a son, but isn’t actually his son, makes the situation less stressful and less concerned about his safety. He is able to offer Billy perspective and experience through the eyes of a lawman. without the agonizing anxiety of fearing losing one of his real children in the line of duty. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to one of Bass Reeves’ children, Robert, who was killed while working with his father.

Lawmen: Is Bass Reeves’ Billy Crow based on a real person?

Billy Crow is not based on any individual person and is a completely fictional character in Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Although Billy Crow is representative of the indigenous people Bass often rode and worked with, the character himself was designed for the sake of the Paramount+ series. As indicated Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 1, Bass lived among many indigenous people after escaping slavery in the mid-1860s and lost a young indigenous friend who was murdered. by Confederate soldier Esau Pierce (Barry Pepper). Billy Crow’s indigenous background probably puts Bass at ease and reminds him of the young friend he lost early on Lawmen: Bass Reeves.