S1.E3

The Plains

Episode aired Feb 7, 1989
TV-14
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Gus and Lorena rejoin the cattle drive. Elmira makes her way to Ogallala, with July close on her heels. Jake's new partnership doesn't turn out as planned.Gus and Lorena rejoin the cattle drive. Elmira makes her way to Ogallala, with July close on her heels. Jake's new partnership doesn't turn out as planned.Gus and Lorena rejoin the cattle drive. Elmira makes her way to Ogallala, with July close on her heels. Jake's new partnership doesn't turn out as planned.

Director
- Simon Wincer
Writers
- Larry McMurtry
- William D. Wittliff
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.6/10

544

YOUR RATING

Director
- Simon Wincer
Writers
- Larry McMurtry
- William D. Wittliff
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Margo Martindale (Buffalo Heiffer) goes on to appear in Days of Thunder (1990) with Robert Duvall (Gus).

Goofs
When The Suggs Gang is hanged, they swing and choke to death, instead of breaking their necks. But they die within a couple of seconds when choking to death would take a lot longer to kill them.

Quotes
Pea Eye Parker: What's it read, Gus?
Gus McCrae: It says, "Josh Deets. Served with me 30 years. Fought In 21 engagements with the Comanche and the Kiowa. Cheerful in all weathers. Never shirked a task. Splendid behavior." That's what it says.
Pea Eye Parker: My lord. Old Deets is gone. My lord.

Connections
Featured in The 41st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1989)

User reviews2

Review

Featured review

A prairie home companion

This is the best episode so far for my money, a little gem of western film. There is once more a lot of heartbreak and separation, and typically for the series, the ending is sentimentally abrasive—the only note off so far in Lonesome Dove, proof that the script and actors are great, but the filmmaker, when he has to dramatically engage with the camera, is average. Duvall is once again his rascally self. Jones broods. These guys are great together, they have a knack for the life, Hemingway men that they are at heart.

In this episode, however, they finally reach Ogallala, drifters docking for a while. The resonance between dusty, weather-beaten wanderers and the clean prairie home in the cosmic middle is something to watch.

Everything about this is so rich.

Anjelica above all. Diane Lane is great, great but too fragile to support this world of dreams. It's Huston who has been the center— the hearth, the bosom—pulling us in her orbit all this time.

Memories. Love. Regret. She binds all.