Summary
Billy the Kid is back with several bangs, reminding audiences of the stakes for the famous outlaws and his remaining allies.
After a very long wait since Episode 4, MGM+’s most underrated original, Billy the Kid, is finally back for Episode 5 of Season 2, “A Debt Collected”. And it isn’t just back with a bang, but several, since it’s largely about people being violently butchered to raise the stakes for the final few episodes.
It’s worth reminding folks of a couple of key conflicts that are unfurling here since as mentioned the show has been off the air for a while. So, the ending of the previous episode saw Pat Garrett being appointed as Lincoln County sheriff, which is historically significant since in real life he was the guy who ultimately killed Billy the Kid.
We were also left to wonder about the ongoing conflict between Billy and Jesse, since the latter seems unable to kill the former despite having zero compunctions about slaughtering everyone else he meets, and the romantic future between Billy and Dulcinea, who didn’t quite understand why Billy was adamant about embracing the outlaw lifestyle and going to war.
By the end of “A Debt Collected”, she sees his point.
Bye Buckshot – We Barely Knew You
This show has never been shy about reminding us how preternaturally gifted Billy is as an outlaw, but it also likes to highlight how difficult this is for all of his enemies to believe. Remember, folks like Riley and Murphy have controlled Lincoln Country with impunity for a long time, so they’re used to getting what they want. It’s almost inconceivable that one guy could cause them so much trouble.
And yet, here we are. This theme is reiterated through Buckshot Roberts, a talented but arrogant marksman who promises Riley and Murphy he’ll do away with Billy for them and then naively decides to go it alone, very stupidly and obviously. He manages to kill Brewer and Middleton, but he ultimately ends up dead at Billy’s hands, and word gets back to Pat Garrett.
Will the show change history?
A part of me wonders whether Billy the Kid will change history a little. Thus far it has been pretty close to the historical record in the broad strokes, but based on how Pat has been characterized thus far, there’s an outside chance that he might let Billy live and take credit for his death, allowing Billy a chance to get away and the audience a potentially happy ending.
I could be wrong. But there’s history between these two characters, and in the letter Billy sends to Pat in Episode 5, he lays out something rather obvious – that Riley and Murphy are the real bad guys here. Given that Pat has been depicted as anything but an idiot, he must know this to be true. Is he principled enough to do anything about it?
Dulcinea Gets The Message
The big tragedy of this episode is the fate of the Del Tobosco family and the subsequent radicalization of Dulcinea, who suddenly sees Billy’s point of view after seeing her entire family massacred in front of her.
Dulcinea’s family becomes targets for two reasons. One is that Catron wants to take over Mr. Del Tobosco’s entire estate, and the other is that Jesse knows attacking Dulcinea will bring Billy out of hiding. You can see how these two things fit together. It’s a win-win for the bad guys, so Jesse and his gang ride out to kill the Tobosco family.
Dulcinea is able to escape, but everyone else is brutally killed. Through her description of the events, Billy is easily able to work out who’s responsible. This surely won’t go unanswered, and now that Dulcinea is on his side, Billy will feel even less compunction than usual about getting his hands dirty. However, is his fate already written, or is there a curveball coming?
