The second night of the Lonesome Dove miniseries was 6 February, 1989. William D. Wittliff’s adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel continued chronicling the journey of the Hat Creek outfit’s cattle drive to Montana.

And it picks up exactly where the previous episode closed out, with the vicious water moccasin attack. Beginning with this death, we are plunged into an episode that has a lot of impact on the characters of the outfit and those around them.

Jake (Robert Ulrich) has ridden off to town and left Lorie (Diane Lane) alone. It’s a good thing Gus (Robert Duvall) is around to check on her. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make a move when they encounter the vicious Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest), and he later abducts her.

Lorie is abused and brutalized by Duck and his men, but Gus goes after them and is able, eventually, to rescue a broken Lorie.

Call (Tommy Lee Jones) is struggling with revealing his paternal identity to Newt (Ricky Schroeder) even as the young man proves himself an able part of the outfit.

July Johnson (Chris Cooper) and Joe (Adam Faraizl) are still trying to track down Jake, and Roscoe (Barry Corbin) is trying to track them down. Roscoe ends up pairing up with a young woman, Janey (Nina Siemaszko), who is of great assistance on the trail.

Roscoe is after them to let them know about Elmira (Glenne Headley), who has taken off on a whiskey boat and is now travelling with Big Zwey (Frederick Coffin) and Luke (Steve Buscemi) in a quest for a former lover. Luke is going to cause problems along the way.

Gus, July, Joe, Janey and Roscoe all meet up as Gus hunts down Blue Duck, and it has disastrous results for almost everyone.

It’s a sweeping, engaging tale that hits all the major points of this section of the novel and does it beautifully, and on a miniseries budget. The casting is exemplary, and it looks wonderful. I think some of the emotional kick is lost because the novel lays so many things out, but overall, I think this is a fantastically made series, and I absolutely love the look and feel of it.

I tried to stay away from knowing who played what character while I was reading the book, but now seeing these actors in the roles, they have brought them to life, and I wouldn’t want to see anyone else in their boots.

This installment puts us halfway through the story, and there is still so much more to come. Let’s see how it all plays out.

Saddle up, and join Gus and Call as they ride further north, pursuing a new life, old loves, and dangers aplenty.