Knowing better than to dwell on its title character's early life in bondage, Lawmen: Bass Reeves grants him his freedom early on and establishes him as a man of inherent dignity and complex emotion. Even in the first two episodes watched for this review, Reeves (thanks to a stellar performance by David Oyelowo) is defined by a wide range of relationships and skills—all of which is unified in the character's realization that emancipation has not automatically led to peace, and that America remains a relatively lawless land. It's all handsomely mounted, with high production values and a willingness to breathe through quiet moments that give its somewhat obligatory western action the gravity it needs.

Oyelowo continues to prove himself as one of the best actors of his generation, able to play action hero, romantic leading man, and vulnerable victim of institutionalized racism all at once (even speaking Native American languages in some scenes). He easily avoids the pitfalls of making Reeves sound like a caricature of an enslaved person. In fact, you can tell exactly what Oyelowo is doing when he does take on a slightly more exaggerated twang with his voice—a survival tactic to keep the eyes and the whips of the white slavers off of him for a little while longer.