‘That Dirty Black Bag’ Recap – ‘Chapter One: A Head Weighs Less Than a Body’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘That Dirty Black Bag’.
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It is definitely safe to say that the wild west is something that we romanticize in the United States of America and understandably so. After all, every school kid is taught about the wonder of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and how the push west built America as it stands today… and that lesson, and the belief that good men helped to tame the wild west in the name of justice and honor, another concept reinforced by Hollywood’s John Wayne Western Era of filmmaking… really does make this time period appear to be a noble and wonderful part of American history. But the fact of the matter is, this Americana-esque view of a volatile time in our history, is woefully incorrect through and through.
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For the wild west lived up to its namesake and was violent and vile and of course, great atrocities and genocide were committed in the name of the gold rush and ‘Manifest Destiny’ and unfortunately those are facts about the growth of America we aren’t too keen to face since they go against our teachings and the strange need to prop America up as ‘perfect.’ But thankfully, there are folks out there now, eager to really examine the darkness of that era through either enhanced and earnest history lessons or through fiction and the latter of those two options is top of mind today, courtesy of AMC+. For the network is now host to a brand-new show about the raw and ugly nature of the wild west, and taking that angle storytelling wise, makes That Dirty Black Bag quite the visceral experience.

For its series premiere, ‘Chapter One: A Head Weighs Less Than a Body’, wastes little time in plunging us into the lawless world of the wild west. Wherein we are introduced to a bounty hunter named Red Bill who takes the heads of his bounties instead of bringing them in whole, and his violently chosen career path is also designed to help him narrow down the field of criminals out in the desert, to find the monster that killed his mother and he’s not the only one surrounded by death and trauma and chaos, there’s also Steve. A farmer that is trying to do right by his family and make an honest living but is being shut down at every turn by greedy landowners eager to continue the gold rush by snapping up his precious land and they are stopping at nothing to chase him and his family away.

Which of course begs the question, where is the law in all of this and well, that question is quickly answered as well. For we are also introduced to one Sheriff McCoy, an egotistical man with a badge that is oft worried about his own agenda and making the office of the Sheriff profitable over actually helping the citizens of his town. To the point where a foiled robbery of a bank caravan accomplishes a great deal of personal goals for McCoy, since it gives him the line of credit he’s always dreamed of. And of course, he’s so eager to protect his newfound fortune and its potential, that anyone willing to speak of it or go against him, will face the bad end of his steel and well… this really is a wonderful and uncomfortable way to introduce us to this world.

Since it  makes it clear that the wild west was a violent and angry place, so far removed from the fledgling, civilized core of America, that there were no bounds or limits to the evil that men could do. For prying eyes and neighbors and the law for that matter, were simply not a thing and now the stage is set for a powerful story. One filled with corruption and greed courtesy of McCoy and revenge and darkness, courtesy of Red Bill and of course… Steve and his family will forever serve as the poor folks stuck in the middle of the madness as they try to uphold what they believe the wild west should stand for. And it will be quite interesting to see, where this bleak and engaging journey through life in the past is going to take us in the weeks to come. Until next time.

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