When outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) discovers that his enemy Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) is being released from prison he rounds up his gang to track Rufus down and seek revenge. Those riding with him in this assured, righteously new school Western include his former love Stagecoach Mary (Zazie Beetz), his right and left hand men — hot-tempered Bill Pickett (Edi Gathegi) and fast drawing Jim Beckwourth (R.J. Cyler)—and a surprising adversary-turned-ally. Rufus Buck has his own fearsome crew, including “Treacherous” Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield), and they are not a group that knows how to lose. Directed by Jeymes Samuel and written by Samuel and Boaz Yakin.
* * *
[wind blowing]
[birds chirping]
Not at the table, son.
Come on.
[woman] Mmm-mmm.
Grace first.
You know better.
Father, we are gathered here to share this food in your name.
Bless this food into our bodies, O Lord.
Bless our hearts and all that we do, O Lord, so that we may walk in your name…
[horse neighs]
Who will that be at this time?
I have no idea.
[footsteps approaching]
[banging on door]
[sighs]
[“Three and Thirty Years” playing]
No.
[spurs jangling]
♪ Three and thirty years ♪
♪ I tried ♪
♪ To forget ♪
♪ All the tears I cried ♪
Leave my family alone.
[woman gasps]
Theodore.
It’s okay.
[woman whimpers]
It’s okay.
♪ Then one who knew me long ago… ♪
[whimpers softly]
Leave them out of this.
[guns cocking]
[boy whimpers]
Your quarrel is with me.
Let’s go outside, take a walk, and handle our business.
[man] Please.
[shakily] No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[softly] Please, I’m begging you.
No!
[body thuds]
[boy crying]
[boy screaming] No! No! No! No!
[crying]
[yells]
[screams]
[boy crying] No! No! No!
No! No! Please!
No!
No! No, no, no, no, no! No!
[scream echoing]
[footsteps approaching]
[in Spanish] Father Esparza?
I’m here for confession…
And the collection.
You know what happens when you’re late with my coins.
[man in English] What possesses a man to paint a scorpion on his hand?
Excuse me?
A snake, I understand that.
The Garden of Eden, the Bible, etcetera.
But a scorpion?
Well, that puzzles me.
Who are you?
Just a man.
Here to kill the Scorpion.
Jesus Cortez.
[pensive guitar music playing]
[Cortez] Those were, uh, different times.
Whatever happened between you and I must have been a long, long time ago.
No.
No.
[Cortez breathing shakily]
Please.
Please.
I… I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
[grunts]
[groans]
[somber guitar music playing]
[priest] Is it over?
This is a wanted man.
Turn his body in, you’ll get $5,000 for your church.
[spluttering] Why aren’t you taking him in yourself?
I’m worth ten.
[“Guns Go Bang” playing]
[music distorts and stops]
[whirring]
[music resumes]
♪ Avalon be damned ♪
♪ Venture foreign lands ♪
♪ I laid my sword in the sand ♪
♪ I’ve made my peace with man ♪
♪ They lay a violent feast ♪
♪ As far as my eyes can see ♪
♪ I seek a golden fleece ♪
♪ One day you’ll make your peace ♪
♪ So don’t tempt my hand ♪
♪ I’m just a man ♪
♪ A deadly scene, a weathered being ♪
♪ Men must cry where soldiers lie ♪
♪ On threatened land My guns go bang ♪
♪ I can make the guns go bang ♪
♪ I make all the guns go bang ♪
♪ I can make the guns go bang ♪
♪ I make all the guns go bang ♪
♪ Dot Seventeen with the switch It’ll change you ♪
♪ Mama always said you was an angel ♪
♪ Papa got ghost But these doors he never came through ♪
♪ He got ghost But those walls he never came through ♪
♪ Stain glass windows in the church I hope you stain proof ♪
♪ ‘Cause when the tides change I’m tryna stain you ♪
♪ Plotting for revenge Dig your grave too ♪
♪ Whatever you want engraved What your tombstone will say too ♪
♪ Crosses on the head of an angel ♪
♪ Sins of the father darken the doorstep I became you ♪
♪ Faithful till the end ♪
♪ Bullets with your names drew Cock back, aim, shoot, bang ♪
♪ Fragile life A reflection of the past we leave behind ♪
♪ For sake of something new ♪
♪ Fractured smile, open windows To the wounds we try to hide ♪
♪ Engraved in shadowed rooms ♪
♪ Bird in flight ♪
♪ Bird in flight ♪
[song ends]
[gun clicks]
[men whooping]
[man] Yeah!
[men laughing]
[man singing] ♪ Upon my return ♪
♪ See a changed soul ♪
[gun cocks]
♪ That road was far ♪
♪ And way too long ♪
♪ They’ll run from me ♪
♪ As they ran from you ♪
♪ That fear in me ♪
♪ Is in a distant… ♪
[horses neighing]
[gunshot echoing]
[whispers] ♪ View ♪
[men shouting]
[men shouting]
[gunfire continues]
[grunts]
[man 2] It’s the Nat Love Gang!
Stop firing! Stop firing!
It’s one man! We got him pinned!
Wait for his head to show, then blow the naps off that motherfucker.
Be patient.
[man 3] I hear patience is a virtue.
But I ain’t never been able to wait to see if the motherfucker true.
Jim Beckwourth.
Brothers Grime.
It’s Grimes with an “S,” you egotistical piece of shit.
I remember a time y’all hoods used to be crimson.
Known as the Crimson Hood Gang.
Them motherfuckers pink now.
You know, Mama used to say, “Jim is such a sweet boy.” You know what I said?
“Mama, fuck Jim! Look what he did to my fucking eye!”
I am sweet.
You’re not sweet.
I’m sweet.
You’re not sweet.
I’m sweet.
[man 4] You’re not.
[Jim] Bitch, I’m sweet.
[man 4] You know what?
I’d rather be dead than hear this motherfucker keep talking.
[both grunt]
[Jim] Whoo.
Much obliged, motherfuckers.
What the hell is that shit, playing quick-draw games when my ass is getting shot at?
Hey, hey. You got your lucky coin, don’t you?
Grow up, Jim. This is real grown-men shit. We can die.
But we not gonna die.
‘Cause I’m lightnin’ with the blam-blams. Admit it.
You know, you might could be, but I hearsay there’s a quick draw more lightnin’ than you, go by the name of Cherokee Bill.
[mockingly] “Cherokee Bill.”
You hearsay.
You don’t see-say.
So I say fuck Cherokee Bill.
You know, rather than complaining, you should be applauding my performance.
The only words that should be coming out your Black-ass lips…
“Black-ass lips”?
…should be…
[yelps]
[breathing heavily]
[softly] …gracias.
That was smooth.
I know.
Black lips are beautiful lips.
Would you stop reaching, negro?
[Jim] God damn.
You just killed my brother.
Your half-brother, calm down. Look like your day going a little bad.
Better than you sons of bitches when you find out whose money you done fucked with.
[cocks gun]
Correction. Who you done fucked with.
Y’all rob banks. We rob y’all.
And ain’t a negro from here to Africa gonna know we even exist.
[scoffs]
You think I’m talking about a bank?
[laughing]
[laughing loudly]
[“Better than Gold” playing]
♪ I don’t know ♪
♪ Where they go-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
♪ Where they go-oh-oh-oh-oh ♪
♪ Where are the children of men? ♪
♪ Questions that we did not know ♪
♪ Did not know ♪
♪ When will we see them again? ♪
♪ Questions that we did not know ♪
♪ Did not know ♪
♪ For queens and kings And shining things ♪
♪ They gave our souls ♪
♪ But they soon learned That freedom’s better than gold ♪
♪ Oh, inna the days of old ♪
♪ Inna the days of old ♪
♪ These are the tales untold ♪
[piano playing]
Evening, gent. Kindly check your weapon and enjoy the festivities.
This is Stagecoach Mary’s place and ain’t no guns allowed?
‘Cept for Mary’s, naturally.
Naturally.
Naturally, she put a fresh-faced pup like yourself here to see to it.
Oh, I got to see to a lot of things, Mr. Love.
People see me and they don’t feel too intimidated by what they see. See?
We familiar?
No, but you right famous around these parts.
Folks say you once cut down three men with one bullet.
Now, I ain’t met a man who can do that yet. Excuse me.
Evening, gents. Kindly check your weapons and enjoy your evening.
I’d sooner check my right arm, boy.
Then you can head on over to Jourdon Anderson’s.
You can hold your weapon and drink over there.
We drinking here, you puny little fuck.
[grunts]
[man] Hey!
[grunting]
[body thuds]
Some folk tend to feel a way, regardless.
Get ’em over to Doc Brown’s.
Take they guns to the sheriff.
[man groans]
They can get ’em back when they leave town.
What they call you?
They call me Cuffee.
[thudding]
[men whooping softly]
[indistinct chatter]
[man 1] This why I’m here!
[indistinct chatter continues]
[man 2] Don’t hurt nobody!
[whooping]
[thudding continues]
[whooping and cheering]
♪ One! ♪
♪ Get that horse and his wagon ♪
♪ Two! ♪
♪ Get that man and his rifle ♪
♪ Three! ♪
♪ Get that priest and his Bible ♪
♪ Four! ♪
♪ For them that’s dead on arrival ♪
♪ Five! ♪
♪ Them that pray see heaven ♪
♪ Six! ♪
♪ Them that don’t see the devil ♪
♪ Seven! ♪
♪ Separate but equal ♪
♪ Eight! ♪
♪ Say them that slaved my people ♪
♪ Nine! ♪
♪ So break them chains and shackles ♪
♪ Ten! ♪
Come again.
♪ One! ♪
♪ Get that horse and its wagon ♪
♪ Two! ♪
♪ Get that man and his rifle ♪
♪ Three! ♪
♪ Get that priest and his Bible ♪
♪ Four! ♪
♪ For them that’s dead on arrival ♪
♪ Five! ♪
♪ Them that pray see heaven ♪
♪ Six! ♪
♪ Them that don’t see the devil ♪
♪ Seven! ♪
♪ Separate but equal ♪
♪ Eight! ♪
♪ Say them that slaved my people ♪
♪ Nine! ♪
♪ So break them chains and shackles ♪
♪ Ten! ♪
Not again.
[applause and cheering]
[romantic guitar music playing]
You still ain’t talking to me?
[softly] Get out.
What?
I said leave.
What was that kiss for, then?
To remind you of what it was.
[patrons exclaim]
[chuckles]
[groans]
That’s to remind you of what it is.
Excuse me.
Cuff, clean this man up.
Oh, yes, ma’am.
[Mary] Thank you.
Second floor. Third room on the left.
[door closes]
[man] Mary.
The only thing I need to hear coming out your mouth is “Goodbye, Mary.”
[man] The one thing you’ll never hear me say again.
Till the next time you hear tell of the whereabouts of some man that done you dirt.
Ain’t none of them left.
So you found the Scorpion?
Mary, the only thing that mean anything to me in this world now is you.
And what about the Nat Love Gang?
Ain’t been much of a gang since you left.
Just me, Jim, Bill.
Next time they come around, I’ll sort it.
[Mary] Mmm.
You know, I can almost believe that.
Almost, ’cause you didn’t get the last one, did you?
You can say his name, Mary.
What about Rufus Buck?
Rufus in Yuma for the rest of his natural life.
For a man like him, that’s worse than death.
As long as that man draw breath, your spirit is gonna be cursed and wild as it ever was.
[man] Hmm.
I made things,
I built things, and I ain’t gonna risk all that just because you decide to come trottin’ back.
“Trottin'”?
Yeah.
[scoffs] Okay, well.
[Mary] Mmm-hmm.
I guess I came to the wrong saloon ’cause I ain’t talking to the Mary Fields I thought I knew.
Yep. Things have changed.
I see that.
[Mary] Mmm-hmm.
‘Cause that Mary…
That Mary…
[romantic string music playing]
…don’t shy away from nothin’.
What was it the Apache called you?
[man] Wolf Lady?
No. That’s some bullshit Pickett used to say.
That’s bullshit Pickett used to say.
Apache called me Coyote Woman.
Hmm.
Yeah, Wolf Lady more like it.
[both grunt]
[man] My hat.
There.
[doorknob rattling]
[door opening]
[man 2] I’m coming in.
Now, Wolf Lady, don’t blow the head off my neck.
Nat.
[Nat] Pickett.
You got the worst timing in the history of timing.
Oh, y’all was makin’ sex?
I apologize.
But what I got to show you can’t wait.
Well, well, well.
If it ain’t the debonair dipshit himself.
Whoa, easy, Nat. Listen to what the man got to say first.
So he can tell me the same stories he been tellin’ you?
Why the fuck would I lie?
Rufus Buck is behind bars for the rest of his life.
[man] He gettin’ out.
[cocks gun] How?
Damned if I know.
I just know it’s so.
All the gangs are gettin’ set to ride for him again.
Half that take was his. [chuckling]
And you fools took his money.
[grunts]
You think Rufus Buck was gonna let you keep half that money, and you callin’ me a fool?
I guess I am. [chuckles]
On your feet.
[man grunts]
Exhale.
[man breathing deeply]
[gunshot]
Now get out of here.
Leave.
What you doin’? We coulda killed the last of the Crimson Hoods.
It’s called the Crimson Hood Gang. You think that’s the last one?
Yeah.
I woulda bet my left six-shooter he was about to kill that boy.
If that man telling the truth, Nat just did him a whole lot worse.
[“Here I Come” (Jeymes Samuel Remix) playing]
♪ Whoa, seen! Here I come! ♪
♪ Whoa, seen! Here I come! ♪
♪ Whoa, seen! Here I come! ♪
♪ Here I come! ♪
[song ends]
[horn blowing]
[horn continues blowing]
[brakes screeching]
[driver] What the hell are you doin’ out here?
That ain’t no way to board a train, you damn stupid ni…
[body thuds]
You know, he might coulda said nincompoop.
We ain’t no nincompoop.
If they say something that even start with “N,” they gonna meet the same fate.
Let ’em see your faces.
All right, stay calm, everybody. Don’t… Hey, don’t touch nothin’.
My name is Cherokee Bill.
Now let it be known that I don’t particularly enjoy violence.
That being said, you are currently in the company of extremely violent individuals.
Try some of that.
Ugh. Shit.
[women gasp]
So, don’t do no stupid shit. All right?
Get off this train now, you motherless scum.
You must be the hero.
Great Spirit, why is there always one?
You’re rude.
I might actually enjoy inflicting violence on you.
But who knows?
Maybe you’ll win.
Let’s see.
[tense instrumental music playing]
[groaning]
See my point?
Now, step aside so that we may conclude our business here without further ado.
All right, everybody…
Stop right there.
No.
[nervously] I said stop.
Put the weapon down, boy.
Or we kill everybody on this train.
I said put the gun down.
[passengers gasping]
It’s okay.
[rifle clatters]
Are there any more soldiers on that car?
There are.
Exactly how many?
Thirty.
[gasps] Ten!
See, that’s all you had to say.
Open the door.
I said open the damn door.
[tense instrumental music building]
Here we are.
My dear battalion.
[music stops]
I imagine you have all your artillery aimed at the door.
I’d like to inform you that in front of that door lies one of your very own troops.
Any bullets coming through that door will hit him first, okay?
State your name, criminal.
Oh, I’m not a criminal, sir, um, but my name is Cherokee Bill.
What’s your name?
My name is Officiant of the Goddamn Law.
You let that soldier go immediately.
Leave this train now and no one will be hurt.
Oh, that sounds like fear talking, Mr. Officiant of the Goddamn Law.
And we done already hurt a couple people.
You’re just going to let us get away Dred Scott free?
State your purpose, bastard.
Also, I’m not a bastard.
But you’ve got something we want. We’ve got a soldier that you want.
Now, I suggest we make a peaceful trade and everybody lives to see another day.
Sound dandy?
Just let the boy go.
[screams]
Jake!
[Jake groaning]
I’m okay, Pa!
That’s just a flesh wound, sir.
You got ten seconds to put your guns down and open up this damn door, or your little kin here shall perish.
Harm him further and I will kill every last one of you godless sons of bitches.
[Jake screaming]
Goddamn, Trudy. You know I like my countdowns.
My apologies, sir. My friend here doesn’t like arithmetic.
Be that as it may, seven seconds.
Six.
Lay down your rifles.
Five.
I said lay them down.
Four.
Three.
[tense instrumental music resumes]
Well, all right. Thank you kindly. Go ahead and walk, boy.
Keep walkin’. Just keep moving. No one do anything stupid.
Just walk like you been taught.
[mimicking drill sergeant] Left, right, left. Left, right, left.
Left, right, left.
♪ Skip to the Lou, my darlin’ ♪
[Jake groaning]
Open it.
I can’t.
[officer] The key is back in Yuma. And the next…
One more time.
You will be hounded to the ends of the earth for this.
I don’t like long distances, Lieutenant General Abbott.
Ever cross your mind why you was given the task of transporting a lone outlaw from one prison to another?
Full pardon for Mr. Buck and all his associates for all misdeeds.
Signed General George Pryce.
What’s this about?
Well, he came to us with a proposition.
Kill a particular Officiant of the Goddamn Law.
A man so crooked that even the government is embarrassed by his misdeeds.
Apparently, you and your men wiped out an entire town, women and children included, to steal silver.
Now, that’s some unscrupulous shit.
Unscrupulous shit.
[metallic creaking]
[chains clinking]
[breathing deeply]
[unlocks chains]
[chains clatter]
[suspenseful music playing]
Please. I’ll dis…
Shh.
[Jake] No!
Pa! No, no, no, no, no.
[crying] Pa.
No.
Who here can drive a train?
[Jake sobbing]
I said…
Everybody but him.
[“Here I Come” resumes]
♪ Whoa, seen! Here I come! ♪
♪ I’m broad ♪
[emphatic piano chord]
♪ I’m broad ♪
[emphatic piano chord]
♪ I’m broader than Broadway ♪
[song echoing, fading]
[piano playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[men whooping]
Evening, sir. Check your weapon with me and enjoy what’s left of the night.
Oh, no need to show me that star. I know who you is.
In here, though, I be the sheriff, and that make Ms. Mary the marshal.
And the marshal say, “Don’t nobody come in here gunned up, or they might could get gunned down.”
My badge begs to differ.
Check your gun-belt.
Excuse me.
[ominous string music playing]
[chuckling]
So how you plan on taking me in, Marshal?
Staring me to death?
How about just death?
Just a pipe.
You mind?
Never known you to touch it.
Only after I kill a man.
Or before.
I was on the trail of the Crimson Hood Gang on account of a bank robbery in Kansas City.
Turned out somebody got to ’em before me.
You know I don’t rob banks, Marshal.
But you rob them that do, which is all the same to me.
Texas.
What?
I was in Texas at the time of that robbery.
How you know when it took place?
Whenever any bank robbery took place, I was in Texas.
Unless, of course, the robbery took place in Texas.
Way I hear it, some of them boys with the Crimson Hoods are part of a new Rufus Buck Gang, Nat.
Rufus in Yuma.
He out. But you knew that already, didn’t you?
Why you sitting here monologuing, drinking up my whiskey, when you should be out rounding up your little deputies?
‘Cause he been pardoned, Nat.
Rufus Buck been absolved of his countless depredations.
Seeing as I’ve been scouring the terrain looking for bank robbers and such, that particular piece of news failed to reach me.
What they sayin’?
Something about guns, killin’.
Why you let that kid take my gun? What kinda stupid rule is that?
Should be four guns pointing at…
Shut up, Pickett.
[marshal yells]
[ominous music playing]
You shoot, he dead.
You miss,
all y’all die.
You, come here.
Take these cuffs. Cuff this man.
Or I put three in his chest right now, lessen the trouble.
Go on.
Tell this young buck to back up.
Easy, Jim.
Everybody in here know who I am.
I’m taking Nat Love to Fort Smith to be tried.
Anybody try to follow me, y’all know what I do.
Come on.
Y’all enjoy the rest of the evening.
[“Promise Land” playing]
♪ Well, now ♪
♪ Whoa-oh, well ♪
♪ The promise land ♪
♪ Going to the promise land ♪
♪ Yes, the promise land ♪
♪ Oh gosh now ♪
♪ To the promise land ♪
♪ Make a step down to Wasmara ♪
♪ Then we stopped in Addis Ababa ♪
♪ Made our way to Shashamane land ♪
♪ Riding on the king’s highway ♪
♪ To the promise land ♪
♪ Going to the promise land ♪
♪ Oh gosh ♪
♪ To the promise land ♪
♪ To the promise land ♪
♪ Yeah, the promise land ♪
[song ends]
[man] Rufus.
Cherokee Bill, Ms. Smith, top of the morning to you both.
Mr. Buck, glad to have you back in Redwood, sir.
Any word on the take from the Kansas City bank?
The Crimson Hoods took it for $25,000.
But they were ambushed before they got here.
Everybody knows it’s suicide to take from us.
Someone obviously disagrees.
Goddamn it. That just put us right back where we started.
How we supposed to build a Mecca without any bricks?
[Trudy] We gonna have to take it out of our own bank.
[man] We don’t have that type of money, Trudy.
We only got a few pennies over $2,500.
What did he say?
[man] 2,500…
I heard you.
[Trudy] Wiley.
[Cherokee Bill] Yeah.
[Rufus] Sure is hot, ain’t it?
[indistinct chatter]
[Rufus exhales]
[tense orchestral music playing]
What’s up, little man?
You wanna see something?
[boy] Yeah.
Watch this now. Don’t take your eyes off it.
Oh, it’s still there! [laughs]
Rufus Buck.
Look at you.
Relic of yesteryear with nothin’.
And you think you can roll into my town and take what belong to me?
Who the fuck you think I am, huh?
Ain’t nobody scared of you and ain’t nobody runnin’.
I’m a sinister motherfucker too.
One click of my finger and you disappear.
So I suggest you leave…
Before I finish my steak.
And if you even think about sticking…
[knocking on door]
Come in.
What is it, Carson?
Sheriff, Mr. Buck wants to see you out front.
Tell that man I ain’t got nothing to say to him.
It wasn’t a request.
[“Do Unto Others” playing]
Wiley Escoe.
Rufus.
[Rufus] You wanna sell this town while I rot in prison?
The world you knew is gone.
There’s a flood comin’.
Do you think you can hold onto this place when it hit?
At least I know enough to get mine and get out.
Kill me…
And you’ll have nothing.
You know, a man like you will have us all subservient till the end of our days so’s long as you can buy yourself a house, a badge, and them goddamn gold teeth.
You want to do this here?
[crowd gasps]
[horse whinnies]
[Wiley] There you go. That’s what you want, right?
That’s what you came here for?
I won’t disappoint you. Come on.
That’s what you want. Want some more?
You want some more, right? You want some more?
[crowd gasps]
[woman screams]
[Rufus] Come here, motherfucker.
[gasping]
Here you go.
[exclaiming in pain]
Oh shit. I done hit gold.
Hey, boy. Come here. Come, get that gold. Get that gold.
All right. Tell your mama you rich now! Go ahead!
[crowd gasps and screams]
[Wiley coughs]
[Rufus spits]
[Rufus] Now, I ain’t gonna kill you, Wiley.
[echoing] You and I were friends once.
[spits]
But know this.
Redwood will never be yours, never.
Never.
Matter of fact, you ain’t welcome here no more.
Now…
I want you to vacate immediately or die where you lay.
Say what?
[exclaiming in pain, crying]
That’s right.
♪ Going home to my Lord ♪
♪ Going home to my Lord ♪
♪ I’m going home ♪
♪ I’m going home now to my Lord ♪
♪ I’m going home to my Lord ♪
♪ I’m going home now to my Lord ♪
♪ I’m going home to my Lord ♪
[tempo increases]
♪ I’m going home now to my Lord ♪
[song continues]
[melodic whistling]
[song ends]
[door unlocks]
[cocks rifle]
You coulda taken these off a while back.
Yep.
Tell me something. How you know Rufus will be in Redwood?
[Nat] He’s taking that money from them Crimson Hoods.
That’s where he’ll be.
Now you teaming up with a marshal to bring him in.
I ain’t bringing him in. I’m bringing him down.
And we ain’t teaming up, old man.
Your life’s expendable, Marshal. My gang’s ain’t.
Shit, since we’re out here, I oughta tell you…
I was fixin’ to kill you…
When you and your fellas brought in Rufus.
A lot of men be fixin’, son.
They always seem to die before they get the job done.
Just for the record…
I took Rufus in alone.
[pensive orchestral music playing]
[Nat] Mary.
I figured you’d be halfway to Fort Smith by now.
You can put that gun down, Marshal. This ain’t a ambush.
You, on the other hand, might wanna keep yours handy.
Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for that bullshit y’all pulled in my saloon?
I don’t want you mixed up in this no more.
Then you shoulda told me so.
I must confess to some raw feelings myself.
This ain’t no road to ask a friend to travel.
Now you take that money we took off them Crimson Hoods and you buy that ranch you always blabbing about. Hmm?
That’s mighty generous of you, but that ain’t how this gang work.
Take stays in the usual place, ready to be shared three ways when we come back.
Ain’t no coming back from this.
Now get out of here.
All of you. This ain’t your fight.
You take on the Devil himself, you gonna need more than you and the marshal.
I seen the Devil, and Rufus Buck ain’t him.
Devil’s white.
[cackles]
You got a reason you wanna die, Jim?
Outside of you saving me from this?
Besides, Monroe said Cherokee Bill run with Rufus.
Every time I speak on my speed, a motherfucker wanna pull Cherokee Bill out they ass.
I’ma put a end to that argument once and for all.
Like they say in the Book of Clarence, “No man out-speed me.”
Out-speed ain’t a word, and Clarence ain’t no book.
I’m hopin’ Cherokee put a bullet in your ass just to shut you up.
Hey.
You left these on my wall, Mr. Love.
Figured we going after villains, you’ll need ’em.
Obliged.
[emotional string music playing]
What y’all waiting around for?
You think destiny is comin’ to you?
Hyup! Go!
[“The Harder They Fall” playing]
Yeah. I know.
[horse whinnies]
Go ahead.
♪ Wahala they go Wahala they come ♪
♪ Wahala they ride Wahala they run ♪
♪ Wahala they sing ♪
♪ Wahala they go Wahala they come ♪
♪ Wahala they ride Wahala they run ♪
♪ Wahala they sing Wahala they call ♪
♪ Wahala they fly Wahala they fall ♪
♪ Wahala they go Wahala they come ♪
♪ Wahala they ride Wahala they run ♪
[music fades out]
[Rufus] How do I look?
[Trudy] All right.
Everybody out there?
Just about.
[Rufus exhales]
How could you do it?
Leave all of this to Wiley?
If you were runnin’ Redwood, who woulda kept the operation goin’?
Who else woulda kept all them gangs in line?
Look, I know that Wiley got his ways, but he was loyal once.
Loyalty is a virtue, Rufus.
Till it ain’t.
You loyal to me?
See these folk here?
Either they can’t see it or they don’t want to.
But I believe in what you’re doing.
This place can be the promised land for us.
And as long as that so, ain’t nothing I won’t do to see it through.
You tell them.
[Trudy] Citizens of Redwood.
A new day is dawning.
As by now you have doubtless learned, the territory will officially open up for settlement.
Now they say everything we own is gonna stay our own.
But you know as well as I do how much that’s worth.
See, your land, your businesses, your homes has all been promised to the highest bidders by your one-time sheriff, Wiley Escoe.
Now, Mr. Buck can prevent this from happening.
But in order for us to do that, it’s necessary that we levy a tax.
[crowd muttering]
At what cost to us?
$50,000.
[man] Ooh.
You could scrape every penny from every living soul in this town, and it wouldn’t come near to that.
You got us between a rock and a hard place.
How long you been alive in this country?
A rock and a hard place is what we call Monday.
I’ve heard of Rufus Buck.
How bad a man he is.
But he got himself thrown in jail once before, and I reckon he’ll be back there again soon enough.
When he is, maybe I’ll come back to this town.
‘Cause I ain’t paying shit.
You think I made Redwood for myself?
To what end?
Redwood ain’t a hiding place, ’cause I don’t hide.
It ain’t a dream.
I don’t dream.
You know what it is?
It’s an example.
It’s an example…
For others to follow.
And you…
You are an enemy of progress.
[crowd murmuring]
Please. Please.
I got a family.
What’s your name?
James.
[crowd gasps]
[body thuds]
[menacing orchestral music playing]
[Rufus] Rest in peace, James.
[breathes deeply]
Now, how much?
How much can be gathered?
Ten thousand.
Maybe 15, if every last cent can be squeezed.
[Rufus] Mmm-hmm.
Ain’t nobody leave town until we collect it all.
And if you fail to comply, you and everything you love will burn.
[crowd gasps]
[gun cocking]
I ain’t got nothin’ to rob.
But I got somebody to shoot.
Step down.
[whistling]
Wiley Escoe.
Bass Reeves.
Fuck.
Redwood crawling with gunmen.
Rufus came with 12 and took six of mine.
Who knows how many he got by now.
I don’t believe a thing this man sayin’.
He a scout.
I say we kill him.
And we take the rest of them teeth.
You ever shot a sheriff, boy?
A mayor?
Little harder than shootin’ regular folk.
And I’m both.
[Bass] You both alive and dead ’cause Rufus don’t like loose ends.
Law don’t find a man like Rufus Buck unless you got inside information.
Ain’t that right, Wiley?
If I had my way, you’d be right up under the jail next to Rufus.
But you cut yourself a deal, wound up wearing a badge instead.
You got your reasons you want Rufus gone, and I got mine.
Ain’t the enemy of my enemy my friend?
Rufus tryin’ to save Redwood. But for that, he need money.
And that’s one thing he ain’t have.
All right, look here. You made a deal with the Devil.
Now he come to collect.
You rest up, but be gone before sunup.
Or it’s gonna go from bad to badder. You hear?
[Jim] Ooh.
Marshal.
Marshal. Marshal.
All them tricks’ll get you killed, son.
[Jim] Listen, Marshal.
I’m faster than any weapon. You can trust in that.
I seen faster.
All right. Where?
In the mirror.
[Jim and Pickett laugh]
Negro said, “In the mirror.”
[Jim] I’m so… I’m sorry.
I rather ride into a gun battle on a dark horse over a golden stallion.
Fuck that mean?
Shiny shit get shot.
You gonna shoot me?
[scoffs]
What you think about that, lawman?
I think y’all gonna die.
[Nat singing] ♪ And away with the wind ♪
♪ She goes ♪
♪ As her garden grows ♪
♪ Hold those flowers close ♪
♪ For away with the wind ♪
♪ She goes ♪
I’ll be back with information by sunup.
Information from where?
Redwood.
You know we can’t trust Wiley’s word.
Someone’s got to get the lay of the land before we make our next move.
Yeah, Mary, but that somebody ain’t got to be you.
Every gunhand in the territory’s gonna recognize you the second you hop off your horse.
Same with Bill and Beckwourth.
In case you forgot, your face more famous than all of ours put together, Stagecoach Mary.
Got it up on advertisements for that saloon of yours from here to Texas.
Which is why I can ride into town in plain sight.
Everybody knows I’m buying saloons.
Rufus need money. I’ma make him an offer on Trudy Smith’s place…
Mary, what in my character makes you think I’ll allow that?
I’m not asking for your permission.
All right.
Then I… I guess I’ll just be asking you for yours.
Since you’ll never let a man give you away, I just have to ask you direct.
[gentle guitar music playing]
That’s the ring my father gave my mother.
I was gonna give it to you back in Douglas.
But you didn’t.
I am now.
I used to hate feeling helpless over you.
Those days are over now.
Mary…
When the dust settles, we gonna go our separate ways, for good.
[Mary inhales]
But not till the dust settles. I’m here till then.
[romantic string music playing]
See you sunup.
[“Black Woman” playing]
♪ Woman cry, give life ♪
[gun cocking]
♪ Mother Mary and baby The burden she carries all time ♪
♪ Woman cry gives us life ♪
♪ And she begs he forgives us The sin and the sinners all time ♪
Whoa.
[song ends]
Are you a resident of Redwood, ma’am?
You don’t own a gun confident enough to ask where I reside.
Well, this gun say answer the damn question.
Well, this gun don’t talk.
[guns cocking]
[Trudy] Stagecoach Mary.
Ghastly Gertrude Smith.
I prefer Treacherous Trudy myself, but I’ll take it.
What brings you to my town?
I heard Rufus Buck was back.
News travels fast.
[man chuckles]
I have an offer he might wanna hear about.
Well, any offer you got, you can make it to me.
[chuckles]
I don’t do business with the help.
Give me that shit.
Lead the way, Treacherous Trudy.
[piano playing]
[woman singing] ♪ Monday’s child is ever smiling ♪
♪ Tuesday’s child will play inside ♪
♪ Wednesday comes with a gun ♪
♪ Thursday’s tears have just begun ♪
♪ Friday’s ships are filled with crying ♪
♪ Monday seems so far away now ♪
♪ Tuesday was not bad at all ♪
♪ Wednesday came with a flame ♪
♪ Thursday never be the same ♪
♪ Friday’s ships are not returning ♪
♪ Monday’s child is torn asunder ♪
♪ Tuesday’s child is thrown in chains ♪
♪ Wednesday’s child used to smile ♪
♪ Thursday’s tears are now a Nile ♪
♪ Friday’s child is ever burning ♪
[singer humming]
Speak your piece.
I assume you know who I am.
I assume you know who I used to run with.
[chuckles]
Those days are over for me anyhow, but I didn’t get to be Stagecoach Mary Fields without having my ears to the ground and my ears tell me you just lost 25 thou that was coming your way.
[Trudy] I hope your proposal rivals your nerve…
Allow me the latitude of completion.
My saloon in Douglas is boomin’.
Bought me another one in the Elks, and I got a restaurant in Cascade too.
For the sum of all that, I could take this one off your hands.
[laughs]
The mere mention of my name brings forth good business to any establishment attached, whereas, with all due respect, but the name Rufus Buck instils fear.
We know who you are.
You walkin’ into my town with that proposal is risky.
The kind of risk a woman such as yourself wouldn’t tie herself to unless there was a whole lot more at stake.
See, I don’t believe in coincidence, like you just gonna walk in here right after the Crimson Hoods get ambushed with my money.
What are you thinking?
[Mary grunts]
[man] Oops.
You must have forgot whose name is on the door.
[man chuckles]
Another round.
We havin’ a party, y’all. Come on.
[Nat humming “Away with the Wind She Goes”]
[Nat] All right, Mary.
All right.
So you still sayin’ you don’t know nothin’ about that money and you done come here alone?
That’s right.
You done rode all the way over here to get yourself killed.
And for what?
For love?
Love is the only thing worth dying for.
But you wouldn’t know anything about that.
You know, I had a sister named Mary.
She was pretty, strong-willed, like you.
She died of polio when I was 11.
Always was in pain, but she’d never let me see her cry.
Mmm.
There’s this girl called Hope lived by us.
Big fat kid, always picking on the smaller kids.
Obviously out of jealousy.
But she ain’t never fuck with me though.
She hated Mary with a passion, always teasing her about how thin and frail she was.
Then one day, Hope walkin’ by our house, apple in one hand, blade in the other.
She decided to throw the apple across the street at Mary, and it hit my sister in the head and knocked her out of balance.
She fell down the steps.
Broke her ankle.
And now that…
That was the first and only time I physically seen my sister cry.
And there was Hope standing there laughin’ her ugly fuckin’ face off.
My daddy…
He got home, he took off his belt, and he beat me for not protecting my sister.
He lashed me until my whole body went numb.
Then he went to Hope house to do the same thing to her.
When he got there, he saw her whole family standin’ on the side of the house, all of ’em screamin’ and cryin’, and there was Hope…
Iyin’ on the floor in a pool of blood.
Somebody had slit her throat.
Killed her with her own knife.
Daddy was speechless.
He ain’t said a word to me when he came home.
The next day, he sent me to live with my grandparents.
And then the next time I seen my sister, she was laying in a coffin.
Disease had killed her.
I’m sorry your sister had to suffer.
I admire her bravery.
But you get no words from me.
You know, I actually admire your bravery.
But I’m afraid the outcome is still the outcome.
Hope must die.
[Mary continues struggling]
But not yet.
[gasping]
[coughing]
[breathing heavily]
[Mary grunts]
Leave her out here in the street so everybody can see her.
No one come to collect her ‘fore sunup, put a bullet in her head.
[man] Yes, ma’am.
Looks like we don’t have to wait that long.
[dub music playing]
Whoever die first, right?
Whoever die first.
[Jim] Mmm-hmm.
Get her up.
“Whoever die first”?
Now, what kind of dumb-ass saying is that?
You two trying to get shot out here?
Nat Love. How predictable.
You predict my friend Bill Pickett aiming at your bowler cap?
You’ll be dead before your boys get their aim.
And you die right after.
But your boss won’t see one red cent of that money.
My boss?
Where is he?
Where is who?
[Nat] Marshal.
I’m speakin’ English, yeah?
Sound like English to me.
[Nat] Mmm-hmm.
Where’s Rufus Buck?
[Trudy] Oh.
Ooh-hoo.
Bass.
[Bass] Trudy.
If I’d known you were switchin’ sides, I’da asked you to come join us.
You here for your damsel in distress?
You don’t look hard of hearing.
So I’ma ask you again.
Where’s Rufus Buck?
Well, clearly, you don’t know me.
Tell your men to go, but you stay, and maybe your damsel will live a little longer.
Marshal.
[Trudy] Oh.
You’re pretty though.
[laughs]
Ah, take her ass back in there.
Yes, ma’am.
Gonna get me a drink.
[Jim] Hey.
That the quick draw I hear tell about, Cherokee Bill?
I hear you so fast that your opponents ain’t got time to draw before you put two in they back.
No, that ain’t me.
I’m the Cherokee Bill that shoots men in the mouth that talk too much.
[Jim scoffs]
I’ll make it easy for you, then.
You draw first.
[tense string music playing]
That what you think this is? “Who the quickest draw in the West?”
All comes down to who fast and who ain’t, right?
No, it all comes down to who’s alive and who’s dead.
[tense string music building]
Trudy, I’m gonna get me something to drink.
Good night.
[music ends]
[laughter]
Hey, hey, drink, my ass, man.
I practiced that standoff all night.
Jim.
[Jim] You’re not about to walk away.
[Nat] Get out of here.
No, nobody…
[Nat] Get out of here, Jim.
[Jim] That chicken…
[Bass] It ain’t the time.
Okay. Okay.
[suspenseful orchestral music playing]
[man] March, boy.
I said march!
March.
Hup, two, three, four.
[both grunting]
[grunting continues]
That’s enough.
[breathing heavily]
[coughs]
[grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[door opens]
[door closes]
They beat you bad?
I’ma kill ’em all.
[door opens]
[man whistling “Away with the Wind She Goes”]
[footsteps approaching]
[whistling continues]
[inhales]
[Rufus] You familiar with Napoleon?
He said, “I am driven towards an end that I do not know.”
“As I reach it, as I shall become unnecessary, an atom shall suffice to shatter me.”
“Until then, all forces of humankind can do nothing to stop me.”
That’s a man who knew exactly who he was.
Most importantly, he knew that his time would come to an end.
Cut him down.
[grunts]
[object clattering]
You know why… I gave you that scar?
[Nat] So I’d remember you.
[Rufus] No.
No, I gave you that scar so I can know your face when you come back to me.
Nat Love, the outlaw who robs outlaws, the angel of death who hunts down those who trespass against him with no mercy.
I know who you are.
And I see the line that you won’t cross.
[somber song playing]
See, I know what’s on the other side.
Apologize for the beating.
[chuckles]
It was more of an indication for what Ms. Fields might see if we fail to come to terms.
[Nat] What terms?
You will return the money you stole from me by Friday noon.
Not a moment later.
And you will add $10,000 on top of that. We’ll call that interest.
Somethin’ funny?
Ooh, shit, how… how you reckon I’ma get that?
You’re gonna rob a bank.
Nat Love is gonna rob a bank.
In the meantime, here’s a little token of my appreciation in advance.
Go ahead, open it.
I expect my money on Friday.
All of it.
[Bass] You know I can’t let you do that.
If that money ain’t in Rufus’ hands in three days, Mary’ll die.
[Pickett] What bank we talking about anyway?
[Nat] Maysville.
Maysville?
That’s a white town.
Yeah, which is why they gonna have $10,000 in their bank.
It’s crazy.
[Jim] My emotions are all types of confused.
I mean, Pickett, I agree. That’s crazy.
But, Nat, I also agree with you telling the marshal that we gonna do that shit anyways.
That’s some true outlaw shit.
We outlaws, ain’t we?
[Nat] Ain’t no “we,” Jim.
Not after that shit you pulled in town nearly got us all killed.
I had that.
[Nat] Fetch that money you took from the Crimson Hoods.
Pickett, kid, you comin’ with me.
If Rufus Buck want that bank took, why don’t he send his own men?
This way he clean, see?
I gotta go in barefaced as day, a freshly minted bank robber, face up on wanted posters all over the territory.
They’ll be on you like flies on shit before you open the door.
Yep.
I said I had to be recognized.
Go ahead.
[Jim stifling laughter]
[Cuffee] Hell no.
For Mary.
Whoo! Hoo!
Close shave.
Close fucking shave!
I thought I was falling for a fella for a little bit.
That’s why I didn’t say nothing.
Well, I ain’t the only one. I can’t… I can’t… It wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just me.
It was just you, Jim.
[clears throat]
[“Black Woman” playing]
♪ Follow, follow People they go they follow ♪
♪ People they know they copy Go all up in my grotto ♪
♪ They see me like a genie Try to keep me in a bottle ♪
♪ Petty, petty people Keep them incommunicado ♪
♪ They tie you up with strings They play niggas like pizzicato ♪
[song ends]
[Nat whistling melodically]
[Cuffee] Giddup now.
[Nat] Allow me.
[grunts]
What’s your real name?
Cuffee my real name.
Name I was born with?
Cathay Williams.
You walk worse than you ride, Cathay.
Mr. Love, my momma always told me to respect my elders, so I’m not gonna say what I’m thinking.
That’s all right. I can read your mind.
Then I’m sorry you had to hear that.
[indistinct chattering]
[chattering stops]
Go ahead.
Go ahead, honey.
[tense string music playing]
[tense string music building]
[teller] Yes?
[clears throat]
I’d like to make a withdrawal.
[laughing]
Ooh.
[laughing loudly]
What…
You have to have an account, ma’am.
And, well, I’d recommend a bank in Jericho or maybe Redwood for that.
Oh.
I’m not talking about that kinda withdrawal.
I’m talk…
I’m talking about…
Talking about that kind.
[woman gasps]
[pounding drum beat playing]
[man grunting]
[suspenseful drumming]
Hey, blue eyes.
You scared.
Your hand is shaking. You’ll miss.
I won’t.
[rapid drumbeat]
Exhale.
[exhales shakily]
[suspenseful drumming builds to crescendo]
Attaboy.
I ain’t like my partner.
He don’t wanna shoot nobody, but all of a sudden, I’m of a mind to.
Now open the fuckin’ gate.
[suspenseful drumming]
Think I’m funny now?
What you lookin’ at?
Get all the customers over there.
Get ’em over there!
Okay, okay.
Everyone, please, this way quickly.
You too. Move!
[rapid drumming]
Times have changed, ain’t they?
They say robbing banks is hard work.
[suspenseful drumming]
That’s a lie. Robbing banks is easy.
The hard part is doing it without killing.
So, what’ll it be…
Mr. Manager?
[manager sighs]
Good man.
[“Guns Go Bang” playing]
[Cuffee grunts]
[Cuffee] Come on. Let’s go.
Come on. Giddyap. Go.
Come on, come on.
Pleasure banking with you.
Okay, sir.
Nat Love.
[siren wailing]
[song continues]
[song ends]
Don’t even look like much.
Ain’t what it look like. It’s what it can buy you.
Rufus won’t let Mary go once he gets that money.
Yeah, I know it.
He’ll kill her, let me go, so’s I carry that hurt with me.
So what, we just went through all that trouble for nothin’?
Now we got something he want.
And that’s it?
Gonna have to be.
[wagon approaching]
You can be all hasty and shoot me now if you want, or you can wait to see what I brought with me first.
[Nat whistles] Ooh.
[Wiley] Rufus got stashes like this all across these hills.
Enough for a small army.
Don’t nobody take what I got coming to me.
Not even the Devil himself.
[Bass] Rufus Buck is a man.
Y’all best reconcile yourselves with that fact.
Man or devil, this gonna be Buck’s last day amongst the living.
♪ Upon my return ♪
♪ See a changed soul ♪
♪ That road was far ♪
♪ That road was far ♪
♪ And way too long ♪
[Nat and Jim] ♪ And way too long ♪
♪ They’ll run from me ♪
[Nat and Jim] ♪ They’ll run from me ♪
♪ As they ran from you ♪
[Nat and Jim] ♪ As they ran from you ♪
♪ That fear in me ♪
[Nat and Jim] ♪ That fear in me ♪
♪ Is in a distant view ♪
♪ Is ♪
♪ In a distant ♪
♪ View ♪
[suspenseful orchestral music playing]
[Bass whistling “Upon My Return”]
[man whistles]
[Bass continues whistling]
[Bass] Whoa there, whoa there. Whoa.
[whistling]
[whistling]
Afternoon.
I would ask you to run go fetch your superior, but that’d be like asking you to run go fetch your daddy.
It could be anybody, right?
[man] Hmm.
You know, I’m willing to bet my right arm
I’ve got a higher body count than yours.
[tense drumming]
That’d be a bad bet, son.
I fancy that song or whatever it was you was whistling there.
[Bass] Go, Jerry. Go.
That our money?
[clicks tongue] Uh…
Walk with me.
Hey, just… just walk with me.
Keep an eye on this, Angel.
[Angel] Mmm-hmm.
[grunts]
You know they call your boss the Devil hisself?
Even the Devil needed money, right?
So being as how we are in possession of that money…
let me dictate the terms of engagement.
[people screaming]
[horses neighing]
What the fuck was that? What the fuck was that, old man?
Is that the right arm or the left?
Oh man.
Well, now there’s us…
And there’s y’all.
[drumming builds to crescendo]
[tense string music playing]
[suspenseful string music playing]
[Cuffee] Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
You get a hold of your feisty buddy here.
You got a little rowdy rascal.
Mary.
[Cherokee Bill] Yeah, we’ll get to that.
We gonna count this first.
Now, Cherokee.
Or your boss gonna be one quick draw and $35,000 short.
[whistles]
[tense orchestral music playing]
All right.
Unhitch this horse so’s Mary can ride out.
You always move so slow?
[Cherokee Bill] You always talk so much?
[tense orchestral music building]
[Nat] Really?
In the back?
What you think, Beckwourth?
[gun cocking]
Nah, he wouldn’t do that ’cause then I would have to put a bullet in his cranium.
And we’ll never know who the fastest really is now, will we?
[Cherokee Bill] I gotta hand it to you, boy.
You do know how to make a grand entrance.
[Jim scoffs]
Shit, I didn’t even rehearse that one.
You know, quick draw, Nat Love is a dead man walking.
But you don’t have to be.
Why don’t you get on your horse, get your shit, and go back to whatever it is you call home?
You know that’s impossible.
Count down from five?
[tense drum roll]
Five…
[menacing orchestral music playing]
[tense drumming]
Four…
[tense drumming building]
Three…
[drumming ends]
Why do they always have to count so slow?
Jim!
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
Blow that bitch, Bill!
[music ends]
[gunshot echoing]
[“Do Unto Others” playing]
♪ Do unto others ♪
♪ As you will have them do ♪
[song abruptly ends]
Kill her.
[“Ain’t No Better Love” playing]
♪ Oh, that reaper, he gonna win ♪
♪ All them people that live in sin ♪
[gun clicks empty]
♪ Give that lady a ring of fire ♪
♪ You’re dead in your blood ♪
♪ That’s yo woman Ain’t no better love ♪
♪ All them people that live in sin ♪
Mary!
Push!
♪ There dat coffin you gonna lie, so ♪
Trudy’s mine.
♪ Dead in your blood ♪
♪ That’s yo woman Ain’t no better love ♪
[“Let’s Start (Live)” intro playing]
We gonna play for you our first tune tonight.
[cocks gun]
And the first tune is called…
O I’oun t’awa se n’yara. Je k’abere
Which means, “Let’s start what we have come into the room to do.”
Let’s go.
♪ One, two, three! ♪
[both grunting]
[“Let’s Start” (Live) playing]
[Nat grunts]
[man grunts]
[both grunting]
[Mary yells]
[Trudy grunting]
[Trudy groaning in pain]
[Cherokee Bill] Son of a bitch!
[yells, grunts]
[both grunting]
[Trudy yells]
[song stops]
[screams]
[song resumes]
[grunting]
[song ends]
[high-pitched tone]
[horse snorting]
Exhale, motherfucker.
[wind blows]
[chuckles]
[whistling]
[body thuds]
[dramatic percussive music playing]
[Bass] Come on.
[footsteps approaching]
[Nat grunting]
[gunfire]
Where’d they get you?
Shoulder. Get down!
Matches.
You wanna smoke now?
Matches, Bass.
[gunfire continues]
[grunts]
Okay.
Jump, motherfuckers.
[music ends]
Fuck it.
[creaking]
[somber orchestral music playing]
[exhales]
I always knew it was you who gave me up.
God knew my heart.
[breathing deeply]
Goodbye, old friend.
Rufus, I didn’t have a choice…
[man mimicking bird call]
[grunts]
[gunfire continues]
[high-pitched tone]
[guns clicking empty]
[horse neighs]
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[music ends]
[emotional string music playing]
I told that kid.
Them damn tricks…
[grunts]
[grunts]
[gasps]
Sorry, ladies.
[footsteps rapidly approaching]
You all right, Cuffee?
Just need to reload.
You look hurt, Mr. Pickett.
Ain’t nothing but a flesh wound. Maggie ain’t ready for me today.
Huh?
What the fuck?
I’ll be damned.
[gunshot]
[Cuffee] Pickett!
[Pickett wheezing]
[somber orchestral music playing]
[gun clatters]
[Pickett wheezing]
[Cherokee Bill] Now, why you got that look on your face?
No. No, no, no, brother, no, no, no.
Stop that. Don’t do that.
You had a choice.
You always got a choice.
[Pickett gasps]
[speaking Cherokee] Being scared will only give you bad karma in the afterlife.
[gunshot]
[body thuds]
He didn’t even have a chance, you son of a bitch!
[loading gun]
[gun clicks]
You gonna shoot me in the back too? Or cheat the count?
[gunshot]
[“Blackskin Mile” playing]
[gasps]
[Cherokee Bill coughing]
♪ I lost my shadow in violent sin ♪
♪ Never knew the search would be within ♪
Beckwourth was faster.
♪ Drew a picture of my only desire ♪
♪ Take me back to Blackskin Mile ♪
♪ I thought my karma would be my fate ♪
♪ Never saw the sun Until it was too late ♪
♪ And, oh ♪
♪ Drew my loneliness Chasing every last high ♪
♪ Take me back to Blackskin Mile ♪
♪ I never met a madman’s soul ♪
♪ That I didn’t see reflections Of that which I own ♪
♪ But I know There’s something better outside ♪
♪ So won’t you Take me back to Blackskin Mile? ♪
Look after my friend.
[Bass] Nat.
Don’t miss.
[song ends]
Pick up your guns.
[Rufus] I know what it is now.
It’s the eyes.
Pick ’em up, I said.
[breathing shakily]
[Rufus] Your father, he was a good man?
He was.
And my mother was a good woman before you cut ’em down.
Seems we had a different upbringing.
I don’t care how you was raised.
Now pick up your guns and turn around.
I used to watch my father beat my mother to a pulp if she overcooked his food.
He cut her up real good if she undercooked it too.
One day, I decided to intervene, and he turned his wrath on me.
My father was not a good man.
Not a good man. He was an outlaw.
Robbin’ banks…
He liked to drink.
My mother took a bottle and cut him to protect me.
He lashed back at her, and just like that, she was gone.
Then, like the coward he is, he took everything we had and left, leaving me with my…
My mother.
I was ten years old, you know…
About the same age you was…
When I gave you that scar.
I had to fend for myself, but I became who I am, just like you.
As I did, all I could ever think about is wanting my father to pay for what he did.
I searched for him for years and years, and I could never find him.
It’s like he disappeared off the face of the earth.
I ain’t stop though. I kept looking…
Until I did find him.
One day…
Io and behold, there he was, my father, a new man.
He was clean now.
[emotional piano music playing]
Sober.
Man of God.
Had a church.
He had a pretty little wife.
And he had a son, about the age of ten years old, whose eyes blazed like mine.
[cocks gun]
You’re lyin’.
You’re lyin’!
[“Three and Thirty Years (Opera)” playing]
Killing our father was retribution, but…
My father!
My mother!
But it weren’t enough.
Letting you live, that was the true revenge.
Every sin you made, every bank you robbed, everybody you killed.
I mean, look at you.
You everything he tried to run away from.
Buck.
Changed his name to “Love.”
[inhales shakily]
You a Buck.
You lyin’.
Just like me.
[breathes deeply]
Just like him.
But you better. You gonna surpass even me because…
I couldn’t kill my brother.
Yet here you are about to kill yours.
[sighs] It’s time to take your revenge, Nathaniel Buck.
Go on.
[sniffs]
Nathaniel Buck.
No.
Take your revenge.
Nathaniel Buck.
[gunshot]
Take your goddamn revenge!
You a Buck.
Nathaniel Buck.
Nathaniel…
[gunshot]
[gunshot]
[grunts]
[gun clicking empty]
[grunting]
[gun clicks empty]
[song ends]
[“No Turning Around” playing]
[exhales shakily]
[exhales deeply]
♪ And upon my return ♪
♪ You’ll see a changed soul ♪
♪ The road ♪
♪ Was far too long ♪
[Mary, softly] Is the Devil dead?
I don’t know.
[exhales]
♪ They’ll run from me ♪
♪ As they ran from you ♪
♪ The fear in me ♪
♪ Is in a distant view ♪
♪ And there ain’t no turning around ♪
All right, fellas.
You sure the law gonna believe he’s dead?
I’m the law, Ms. Mary.
If I say a man dead, he dead.
And you?
You sure this what you want?
I always kinda wanted to be a deputy, sheriff, marshal person.
♪ Hold up your lighter and come ♪
♪ Flame inna de air, fire fi bun ♪
♪ Holla from the top of a mountain And cry ♪
♪ Tell them Say my love will never die ♪
What you lookin’ at?
We got work to do, Mr. Love.
Hup.
Let’s go.
♪ And when we get there, we shall sing ♪
♪ The harder they fall ♪
♪ Across the heaven Love shall ring, ring, ring… ♪
[grunts]
All right.
[choir vocalizing]
♪ Where shall we walk? Where shall we run and run? ♪
♪ Where shall we walk? Where shall we run? ♪
♪ Over the mountain to the sun ♪
♪ On to the sun ♪
♪ And when we get there, we shall sing ♪
♪ And we shall sing ♪
♪ Across the heaven Love will ring, ring, ring, ring ♪
[music crescendos]
[“The Harder They Fall” playing]
♪ Hold up your lighter and come ♪
♪ Flame inna de air, fire fi bun ♪
♪ Holla from the top of a mountain And cry ♪
♪ Tell ’em Say my love will never die ♪
♪ Where do we go? ♪
♪ A long and winding road ♪
♪ The louder they roar ♪
♪ The harder that they fall ♪
♪ See fi de man with him bible and gun ♪
♪ See him deh ♪
♪ Badman no scarper nah run ♪
♪ See fi de woman afraid of no man ♪
♪ See she deh ♪
♪ Bad gyal no scarper nah run ♪
♪ Pam pam ♪
♪ Lick a shot And every man wave your hand ♪
♪ Pam pam ♪
♪ All of de woman jussa rise and stand ♪
♪ Oh gosh ♪
♪ Bandolero dem a watch when we walk ♪
♪ Bad gyal no take bak no talk When I say ♪
♪ Hold up your lighter and come ♪
♪ Flame inna de air, fire fi bun ♪
♪ Holla from the top of a mountain And cry ♪
♪ Tell ’em Say my love will never die ♪
♪ Where do we go? ♪
♪ A long and winding road ♪
♪ The louder they roar ♪
♪ The harder that they fall ♪
♪ Fire fi bun Mister Man we have no time to play ♪
♪ You love a woman Tell her night and day ♪
♪ Send dem come Jah know me tell you right away ♪
♪ Me love you like me love me waistline ♪
♪ Dress pretty pretty Still me a walk nitty gritty ♪
♪ Round up de woman committee And ride fi him city ♪
♪ Two of we a free like bird So better they listen my word ♪
♪ When I say Hold up your lighter and come ♪
♪ Flame inna de air, fire fi bun ♪
♪ Holla from the top of a mountain And cry ♪
♪ Tell ’em say my love will never die ♪
♪ Where do we go? ♪
♪ A long and winding road ♪
♪ The louder they roar ♪
♪ The harder that they fall ♪
♪ Better we fall ♪
♪ Our time is borrowed ♪
♪ Live like it’s our last day ♪
♪ There is no tomorrow ♪
♪ We’ll be reborn ♪
♪ In a beautiful morning ♪
♪ Blowing like tumbleweed ♪
♪ Night come like thief ♪
♪ Till rooster crow ♪
♪ I know, I know we’ll… ♪
♪ Hold up your lighter and come ♪
♪ Flame inna de air, fire fi bun ♪
♪ Holla from the top of a mountain And cry ♪
♪ Tell ’em Say my love will never die ♪
♪ Where do we go? ♪
♪ A long and winding road ♪
♪ The louder they roar ♪
♪ The harder that they fall ♪
[song ends with click]
[“We Go Harder” playing]
♪ Every day we go harder ♪
♪ For the night, we live faster ♪
♪ When the rain come down harder ♪
♪ Light a flame, we go faster ♪
♪ For the pain will try test we ♪
♪ No Wahala can best we ♪
♪ Better know we don’t lazy ♪
♪ Better know we go crazy ♪
♪ Every day we go harder ♪
♪ For the night, we live faster ♪
♪ When the rain come down harder ♪
♪ Light a flame, we go faster ♪
♪ For the pain will try test we ♪
♪ No Wahala can best we ♪
♪ Better know we don’t lazy ♪
♪ Better know we go crazy ♪
♪ Every day we go hard ♪
♪ For the night, we live fast ♪
♪ When the rain come down hard ♪
♪ Light a flame, we go fast ♪
♪ Go bring dem, come we go ♪
♪ Go louder, silence no ♪
♪ Come fire, water go ♪
♪ Sing higher, cry no mo’ ♪
♪ Nobody came for we We tired, oh ♪
♪ Fire the flame they see We stronger, oh ♪
♪ Every day we go harder ♪
♪ For the night, we live faster ♪
♪ When the rain come down harder ♪
♪ Light a flame, we go faster ♪
♪ For the pain will try test we ♪
♪ No Wahala can best we ♪
♪ Better know we don’t lazy ♪
♪ Better know we go crazy ♪
♪ Every day we go harder ♪
♪ For the night, we live faster ♪
♪ When the rain come down harder ♪
♪ Light a flame, we go faster ♪
♪ For the pain will try test we ♪
♪ No Wahala can best we ♪
♪ Better know we don’t lazy ♪
♪ Better know we go crazy ♪
[song continues in Cape Verdean Creole]
[in English] ♪ For the pain will try test we ♪
♪ No Wahala can best we ♪
♪ Better know we don’t lazy ♪
♪ Better know we go crazy ♪
[song ends]
[“No Turning Around” playing]
♪ And upon my return ♪
♪ You’ll see a changed soul ♪
♪ The road was far too long ♪
♪ They’ll run from me ♪
♪ As they ran from you ♪
♪ The fear in me ♪
♪ Is in a distant view ♪
♪ And there ain’t no turning around ♪
♪ Here I go, no mercy for the sinner ♪
♪ Don’t you ever turn around ♪
♪ Here I go ♪
♪ It hurts within the winter ♪
♪ Never, ever make a sound ♪
♪ Don’t you ever ♪
♪ Never, ever ♪
♪ Don’t you ever ♪
♪ Make a sound ♪
♪ And upon my return ♪
♪ You’ll see a changed soul ♪
♪ The road was far too long ♪
♪ They’ll run from me ♪
♪ As they ran from you ♪
♪ The fear in me ♪
♪ Is in a distant view ♪
♪ And there ain’t no turning around ♪
♪ And there ain’t no turning around ♪
♪ No, there ain’t… ♪
[song abruptly ends]
