Image via Paramount Network
Published Oct 27, 2026, 8:36 AM EDT
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wonderful wife and precious daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, interviews, and breaking news on select occasion. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own, from supernatural thrillers to historical fiction. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" in 2025 from the Western Writers of America, of which he is a member. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
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If you're tired of the oversaturation of Taylor Sheridan-produced Western media and want something that goes beyond what Yellowstone was able to deliver, then we have some great news for you. Folks who have yet to embark on Longmire ought to give the neo-Western gem a try now that it can be found on both Prime Video and Paramount+. In addition to delivering some of the finest Wyoming-centric mysteries the on-screen genre has to offer, the A&E-turned-Netflix drama helped pave the way for further Native American representation on television.
'Longmire' Is Arguably the Best Neo-Western Series Out There
There are several things that set Longmire apart from the works of more recent neo-Western filmmakers. For one thing, the show was unashamedly a police procedural with a Western flare that leaned more into the drama than anything Marshals is doing right now. It struck an inspired balance between making Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) feel like a classic Old West lawman and ensuring that viewers still buy that a man of his "honesty and integrity" would exist today. It helped that the series itself was loosely based on the popular mystery novels by author Craig Johnson, who had fully fleshed out the character over several stories by the time the series premiered on A&E in 2012. Although Longmire could sometimes lean too episodic early on (by the time the show moved to Netflix it became a bit more serialized), it ultimately worked in the show's favor, allowing Walt and his crew to speak to individual issues on the Rez.
No doubt, a show like Yellowstone dealt with the conflict between the contemporary West and modern-day reservations, but Longmire did it first, getting into the nitty-gritty by pulling from historical and contemporary events alike. Season 1's "Dog Soldier," for instance, was inspired by a real-life investigation into how some take advantage of the foster care system by displacing Native children from the Rez. Likewise, Season 3's "Miss Cheyenne" chronicles the dark history of medical malpractice on the reservation, pulling from actual historical accounts to craft the modern-day narrative. In all this, it never resorts to caricatures, instead challenging Native American stereotypes and ensuring that characters are well-rounded and psychologically complex. Just as there are "good white men" and "bad white men," there are also "good Indians" and "bad Indians," with every character so well-crafted that it can sometimes be hard to tell who is which.
This is, of course, what sets a show like Longmire apart. There are no "wise old Indian" caricatures or Tonto-inspired sidekicks. Every major Native American character (and several non-major characters) were given meaty material to work with. For instance, A Martinez's Jacob Nighthorse is a layered opportunist who, on one hand, appears to genuinely care for his people and, on the other, seems to prey upon them. Walt famously can't stand him for his business practices, but not due to any racial prejudices. In fact, Walt's closest friend is Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips, who was given the blessing of the Cheyenne elders in his portrayal, per Cowboys & Indians), who gives back to his local community often and serves as a bridge between the viewer and the tribal practices. And this isn't even noting Graham Greene's provocative Malachi Strand, Irene Bedard's compassionate May Still Water, or Zahn McClarnon's capable Tribal Police Chief Mathias, a stepping stone on his path to playing Lt. Joe Leaphorn on AMC's Dark Winds.
'Longmire' Was a Trailblazer In Native American Representation
Part of what made Longmire so great was the fight for authenticity when it came to Cheyenne customs and cultural issues. Audiences have long praised the series for its attention to detail regarding reservation life — and that means both the good and the bad. While Longmire doesn't exclusively deal with Native politics or issues, it never shied away from getting Walt on the Rez every chance it got, both as a concerned citizen trying to help and a lawman looking for justice. Eventually, his daughter Cady (Cassidy Freeman) would try to do the same. Of course, the rest of the non-Native cast is great too, and some episodes have nothing to do with the Rez at all, focusing instead on issues regarding military veterans, serial bank robbers, organized crime, and other one-and-done Western mysteries. Sometimes, as was the case in Season 1's "Unfinished Business," those issues would lead to the Rez, but other times not.
It's no wonder that Native American artists and creatives have flocked to Longmire. "It gave a lot of Indigenous actors a lot of work playing really interesting, fully realized human beings," A Martinez told UPI at a "Longmire Days" event years later. "It was revolutionary in that regard." Indeed, the show's commitment to realizing its entire cast — Native and non-Native alike. Although a show like Yellowstone or Marshals may touch mildly on Rez-based issues (indeed, the former always stopped just short of saying something profound while the latter relies too heavily on uninspired episodic reservation plots), Longmire lived in this space, no doubt paving the way for other Native-centric shows like Dark Winds or Reservation Dogs to do the same. If you've not yet given Longmire a shot and you're looking at something modern to scratch your Western itch, look no further than this grand six-season drama.
Longmire is available for streaming on Prime Video and Paramount+.
English (US) ·