Summary
Billy the Kid returns for Season 3 as if it never left, which is both a good and a bad thing in Episode 1, which seems to be going through the motions on its way to the inevitable climax.
Billy the Kid’s back for Season 3, still free and clear after his escape from custody in the second season finale, and becoming an enormous thorn in the collective backsides of the House. Episode 1, “The Beginning of the End”, doesn’t necessarily feel as though it lives up to its title, since it doesn’t feel meaningfully different from where we left things. But plot-wise, it’s inarguable that we’re approaching a real climax, and that this season will be the last, since if history is anything to go by, Billy’s on his last legs.
You can sort of feel this. He certainly has no shortage of enemies. And he’s beginning to adopt the vibe of one of those cops in crime dramas who are due to retire, thereby confirming they’ll get killed sooner rather than later. After being sprung from captivity by Dulcinea, the two of them are hiding out in Saint Patricio, New Mexico, trying to figure out how best to take the fight to their enemies. When Dulcinea later reveals she’s pregnant, it’s like a death knell for Billy. Suddenly having something much more important than himself to fight for is a hangman’s noose in TV terms.
Interestingly, there’s a theme of doomed love threaded through this premiere. Billy and Dulcinea at least fare better than Jesse, who goes to the lengths of enacting a prison riot to steal a moment with his beau, Ana, only for their secretive late-night tryst to end in tears. Despite Ana warning him that her father could turn up at any moment, Jesse still charms his way into her bed. When daddy does arrive, he catches them right in the middle of the no-pants dance. He calmly pulls his gun and fires at Jesse, but misses completely and kills his own daughter. Then Jesse kills him. It’s such an unexpected flurry of violence and tragedy in such a tragicomic context that I responded to it in much the same way as Jesse, who ends up utterly dumbfounded. I thought for a little while about the point of this scene, and reasoned it was a way to justify letting Jesse well and truly off the leash.
While this will likely make Jesse yet another thing for Billy to worry about, he’s far from the only problem. Billy’s apprehension has evolved beyond a necessity for the House and into the key issue for various political careers. There’s a fair amount of backroom toing and froing in Billy the Kid Season 3, Episode 1, with Catron pulling strings in Congress to remove Governor Wallace after his mishandling of Billy’s escape. It’s a worthwhile reminder that the system, such as it exists in this time and place, is controlled by a handful of powerful men and by no means represents justice and fairness in any traditional sense of the terms. It underscores the importance of Billy’s battle, and also why his continued elusion of the authorities is such a pressing concern – his freedom is anathema to the authority that people like Catron want to wield.
But since the beginning of this show, Billy has often been a few steps ahead of his pursuers. It helps that he’s fighting the good fight, which is pretty easy to see when the House commits atrocities on such a regular and flagrant basis. Ironically, it’s these two things that conspire to imperil Billy here in Season 3, and as we get closer to his famed historical fate, a lot of the show’s simple A-B plotting is taking on a slightly more ominous note, which helps it along.
But this is all why Billy is inclined to believe Miguel Ortega when he says that, despite previously working for Riley and co., he was able to see the error of his ways and realise they were monsters. Ortega claims his sister, Isabel, was needlessly killed when the women marched against the army, and Dulcinea confirms this. So, he seems genuine; another version of Billy himself, inspired by personal loss to seek revenge on the true villains. Billy has no reason to suspect he’s a traitor, which makes it all the more painful that he is.
Billy thinks he’s using Ortega to spring a trap for Riley and Sheriff Garrett, but he’s really allowing Ortega to set a trap for him. What he believes to be his moment of coming victory is really him marching into what might be his own demise. I think that’ll do for setting the stakes of a season nice and early. But is it only me who feels as though this show is just going through the motions until it gets to that point?
