The Plains (7 Feb. 1989)

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 (novel), William D. Wittliff (teleplay)

Stars:

Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Duvall	...	Augustus 'Gus' McCrae
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Woodrow F. Call
Danny Glover	...	Joshua Deets
Diane Lane	...	Lorena Wood
Robert Urich	...	Jake Spoon
Frederic Forrest	...	Blue Duck
D.B. Sweeney	...	Dish Boggett
Ricky Schroder	...	Newt Dobbs
Anjelica Huston	...	Clara Allen
Chris Cooper	...	July Johnson
Timothy Scott	...	Pea Eye Parker (as Tim Scott)
Glenne Headly	...	Elmira Boot Johnson
Barry Corbin	...	Roscoe Brown
William Sanderson	...	Lippy Jones
Barry Tubb	...	Jasper Fant

Storyline

Gus returns to the cattle drive with Lorena who is still recovering from her ordeal. Jake Spoon has joined up with Dan Suggs and his gang supposedly to rob banks. They rustled horses however shooting several men in the process. When they come across farmers, Suggs shoots them in cold blood. When Joshua Deets finds one of the murdered men Call, Gus several others from the cattle drive head off to find the horse thieves. When they catch up to them, frontier justice is dispensed swiftly and dispassionately. July Johnson writes home to tell them about the deaths and goes on to look for his wife Elmira who is approaching her destination in her search for her first husband. She doesn't get good news. Everyone soon arrives at Clara Allen's horse ranch. Gus is reunited with is love and Lorena finds a new home for herself.

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Plot Keywords:

native american attack | native american

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1989 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motown Productions, Pangaea, Qintex Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Call beats up the Cavalry Scout for hitting Newt, the branding iron that Call uses flexes when he moves it around. It is obviously made of rubber.

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Quotes

Augustus 'Gus' McCrae: I told you what happened. It's an accident she's even on this trip.
Clara Allen: Oh, I never noticed you having accidents with ugly girls!

User Reviews

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.