Summary
Peace proves unattainable in “Sickness”, as the inevitability of the Lincoln County War becomes very clear, and the battle lines are drawn.
The war between the House and John Tunstall continues to be fought on multiple fronts in Billy the Kid Season 2. Episode 2, “Sickness”, finds Thomas Catron, whom we briefly met in the premiere as the head of the Santa Fe Ring, giving orders to shut down Tunstall’s bank while he’s away on business.
The ongoing conflict continues to divide not just the major players and their gangs but also the ordinary townsfolk who’re caught in the middle, raising the stakes and turning citizens against figureheads of their community. Things are heating up, though the series, at least for now, remains fairly restrained.
In Tunstall’s absence, Jesse and his gang liberate some horses under the protection of the deputy sheriff, who exercises the position to strongarm the actual sheriff, bought and paid for by Catron, to lead a posse to run down Jesse and his crew for the crime.
This is the main bit of action in the episode and results in Jesse’s gang being apprehended and his horses being released. But this outcome is later reversed for reasons that’ll be duly explained.
Before we get into the meat and potatoes, let’s get the drier stuff out of the way.
Word around town is that Billy’s beau Dulcinea is already betrothed, and since Billy saw her playing nice with another man, he gets in a big sulk about it. As Dulcinea explains, the man he saw her with is her brother, but she is indeed arranged to be married to a man from a wealthy family and has been since she was a child.
This prompts Billy to take the big step of visiting Dulcinea’s father and airing his grievances about the entire concept of arranged marriage. His argument really takes, since later Dulcinea’s father opens up to her about his own marriage to her mother. He has come to believe that part of being free people in a free country like America means the freedom to make their own choices, and he wants Dulcinea to have that freedom.
When Tunstall returns from Vegas, he makes the bold decision of ordering his men to free Jesse and his crew from the local jail. Why would he do such a thing? Well, in simple terms, fear.
While he was in Vegas Tunstall was bedridden with smallpox, and during his weakest state, he was approached by Edgar Walz – “like the dance” – who basically threatened to kill him if he didn’t play ball. In such close proximity to his own mortality, Tunstall gets the willies, which I believe is the technical term, and returns home with designs on brokering a peace agreement.
Freeing Jesse and Co. is the first step of this. He thinks that Murphy will be inclined to make a deal after such a good-faith gesture, so, despite Billy’s reservations, he’s forced to take part. The sheriff is paid to look the other way, and the gang is freed.
‘Billy the Kid’ Season 2 (Credit – MGM+)
However, Tunstall is proven an idiot when Jesse immediately kills one of his men and insists that there will never be peace between the two sides. Jesse might insist that Billy himself is not killed in cold blood, but his position is made very clear. War is inevitable.
The episode ends with Tunstall finally realizing this. He apologizes to Billy for not being up-front about his reasoning or listening to Billy’s concerns. They shake hands with the agreement that Tunstall will trust Billy moving forward, and Tunstall himself resolved in his willingness to fight fire with fire, whatever the consequences might be.
Read More: Billy the Kid Season 2 Episode 3 Recap
