Comanche Moon (miniseries)

Part 1

The series starts in The Republic of Texas in the early 1800s with a massacre of Comanche chieftains, observed by a young Buffalo Hump. The opening coda then explains that The Texas Rangers "were formed as a volunteer troop to contain the Comanche" before indicating the locale as north-west Texas in 1858. Woodrow Call and Augustus McRae join a party of eight others, led by Captain Scull and supported by a Kickapoo scout (Famous Shoes), who are hoping to capture Kicking Wolf, who is hiding in the camp of Buffalo Hump. Meanwhile, in Austin Clara Forsythe runs her shop and is visited by Maggie Tilton - the become closer while both waiting for the party to return. In the nearby mansion, Inez Scull briefly seduces a young ranger, Jake Spoon.

The tables turn on the Rangers as the Captain's horse is stolen by Kicking Wolf. Scull departs with Famous Shoes to retrieve it, deputizing Call and McRae to take the party back to Austin. The party comes across a burnt out wagon and are able to rescue a traumatized mother and her young daughters from some Comanche before returning to Austin. Separating at a river crossing to the Sierra, Scull then tracks his horse alone towards Yellow Cliffs, northern Mexico, a known slavers den, and finds an injured Kicking Wolf but no horse. Buffalo Hump then plans a combined and perhaps final raid to the ocean for all Comanche. In Austin, having met the governor, McRae and Forsythe reunite, as do Call and Tilton (who announces she is carrying Call's child). Meanwhile, Scull is captured by Ahumado's men and put into a wooden cage. Call and McRae, now confirmed as Captains, are then tasked with retrieving Scull just as the Comanche army departs.

Part 2

The show begins with a Comanche attack on Austin during which the town is ravaged. With the exception of a last stand at the Scull mansion, property losses are extensive, alongside most of the men being killed and the surviving women raped or kidnapped. News of the attacks filter back to the Rangers, who decide to return immediately, and learn of the extent of the devastation. Meanwhile, Scull, having survived the cage is moved to Ahumado's snake-pit while awaiting ransom. Blue Duck falls out with his father, Buffalo Hump, and is exiled, and the camp is decimated by cholera. Also, in Galveston, Forsythe is brought news of her parents death in the raid and the loss of the store, and is proposed to by her other romantic interest, Bob Allen, a horse-trader from Nebraska.

In Austin, the governor re-issues the order to Call and McRae to go and rescue Scull, on the proviso they can convince cattle ranchers to provide them the 1000-head ransom on credit. After burying Bill Coleman, Call tries to come to terms with becoming a husband, while McRae ponders why Forsythe chose Allen over him. En route to the ranchers, they have a run-in with some wild cattle before being directed to rancher Dick King and the "town" of Lonesome Dove. Unable to secure the ransom, Call and McRae set off alone to rescue Scull. Meanwhile, in the snake-pit, Scull is still alive, although his sanity is weakening. Outside the pit, Ahumado is bitten by a spider and dies en route to the medicine tree, and the rest of the camp is abandoned. Scull is rescued and returned to Austin. McCrae loses the love of Forsythe when she learns of his affair, and Call remains restless since Tilton has had a son, named Newton.

Part 3

Seven years later, in 1865, the American Civil War ends, Call is still single and McRae is mourning the death of Nellie, his wife. Call remains listless, and is blind to Spoon moving in with Maggie (who now is a clerk at the store), and is equally unable to admit feelings for her or accept his son, even though he regularly has dinner with both of them. In Austin, Governor Pease is again in charge, but the pending arrival of Union cavalry represent a new phase in the struggle with the Comanche, with Rangers to be used as scouts. In Nebraska, Clara Allen, now a mother of two, hears of Nellie's death and mourns the loss of her own child too. In Boston, the Sculls are still married, although infidelity is still an ongoing source of tension.

On the plains, Blue Duck continues to attack and kill settlers, increasing the chances of "Blue coats" arriving in force to suppress the Comanche. Led by Charles Goodnight, the Rangers and cavalry locate a Comanche camp, and recapture "the Parker girl". Heading back to Austin, they meet Clara Allen who is visiting again in order to sell her family's property. Allen and McRae rekindle their friendship, and she returns to her family in Nebraska, just as Maggie begins showing symptoms of TB. At the Comanche camp. Buffalo Hump realizes his time has come and leaves for good. His brother-in-law then relays the news to his nephew, Blue Duck at his hideaway in the forest. The Rangers and sheriffs soon raid the camp and hang most of the outlaws, but Blue Duck has already left seeking to kill his father, whose death represents the end of an era for the region.

Production

As with others in the Lonesome Dove series, the teleplay was co-written by author Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. It was directed by Simon Wincer, with the music directed by Lennie Niehaus.

Historical accuracy

Events such as the shooting of the chieftains (ahistorical, but based on the Council House Fight), the attack on Austin (ahistorical, but based on the Great Raid of 1840), and the rescue of the white woman (historical, based on Cynthia Ann Parker) were all included in the series, although actual timelines or events were altered.

Reception

The series received generally negative reviews from critics. Common complaints were the clownish portrayal of the Texas Rangers, who were continually drunk on duty and tumbling into bed with beautiful women under the slightest pretext, the negative stereotyping of the Mexican characters, who were largely portrayed as unwashed wild-eyed drooling killers superstitiously worshiping long-vanished Aztec gods, and the simplistic portrayal of frontier women, who were either weak-willed, simpering victims or cruel and manipulative Gorgons. Brian Lowry from Variety called it "tedious, at times cartoonishly bad".

Home media

It was released in Region 1 on DVD on February 26, 2008.