'Longmire' Season 5 Updates: Upcoming Episodes Will Be Longer; Writing Process Has Begun

By Jackie Villegas, Christian Post Contributor Sunday, December 20, 2015

For a minute there, "Longmire" had its fans worrying when the show was dropped by A&E after its third season. But after fans clamored for the return of the American crime drama series, Netflix nabbed the show for itself, ordering 10 episodes that launched on the streaming service in September this year. On Oct. 30, Netflix announced that it had renewed "Longmire" for a fifth season.

Fans gave a collective sigh of relief upon this announcement, as Season 4 of the show had ended on a cliffhanger, with Walt Longmire's (Robert Taylor) fate put in question. At the end of Season 4, Walt is shown relaxing at home with his new love, Dr. Donna Sue Monahan (Ally Walker), the worst seemingly behind them, when an intruder enters his cabin. Walt's earlier line "Do you ever feel you've created more evil than you've stopped?" plays over the scene.

"I think that speaks to all of our optimism!" Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays Henry Standing Bear on the show, told Variety when he was asked about the Season 4 finale. The suspense-filled final episode was released even though the show's cast and crew had no assurance that there would be a fifth season.

Luckily, it wasn't long before Netflix announced Season 5. Phillips also talked about the move from A&E to Netflix, saying that the network is a good home for the show. He said: "We were previously constrained to 42 minutes and as a result, a lot of my work hit the floor. With an additional 20 minutes, we can let those moments breathe and round out those characters and it's a much more cinematic experience episode to episode."

Meanwhile, as fans await news of their favourite "Longmire" characters' fates, show writer Tony Tost announced that he is returning to the writer's room to begin work on Season 5. In a Twitter post from last week, Tost said that he was re-watching Season 4 of the show in preparation for writing the fifth season.

Netflix has yet to announce the release date for "Longmire" Season 5.