Don’t Sleep on This Neo-Western Murder Mystery Series

The Big Picture

• Joe Pickett is a Western series that stands out for its heart, strong characters, and engaging mystery.
• The show embraces its Western sensibilities while offering a modern perspective, including themes of Native American issues and conspiracies.
• Joe Pickett is a faithful adaptation of the book series, closely following the source material while bringing the Wyoming game warden’s stories to life.

With so many new Westerns out there nowadays, it can be hard to keep track of which ones are worth the time and which ones just recycle old material. The Paramount+ mystery adventure Joe Pickett falls into the former. Starring Michael Dorman and based on a series of novels by C.J. Box, Joe Pickett tells the tale of a Wyoming game warden who discovers a dead body in his backyard, and his whole world changes as a result. Relying heavily on a season-long mystery and strong characters, this isn’t a show to sleep on, even if it takes place in a place called Twelve Sleep County.

‘Joe Pickett’ Is a Western Series With Heart and Plenty of Mystery

If there’s one thing you could say about a show like Joe Pickett, it’s that it has more heart than most in the neo-Western subgenre. Unlike the usual Old West heroes who either lose their families to gruesome deaths or don’t have anyone to begin with, our titular Wyoming game warden is surrounded by women who support and challenge him. His wife, Marybeth (Julianna Guill), and two daughters, Sheridan (Skywalker Hughes) and Lucy (Kamryn Pilva)––not to mention an additional foster child in Season 2––give Joe something to fight (and live) for, and are also important factors in the plot rather than throwaway characters meant to establish our hero better. It’s refreshing to see a Western hero in a healthy marriage while taking an active role in his children’s lives, and it’s the strong Pickett family dynamic, which remains true no matter the trials they face, that keeps bringing you back for more.

But aside from the Pickett family themselves, Joe Pickett is a show that throws you head-first into a season-long mystery and keeps you guessing until the very end. With twists and turns more akin to your standard Agatha Christie novel than a neo-Western like Wind River, this show keeps you on your toes in all the best ways. On top of that, there’s plenty of action, moving character arcs, and entertaining asides that better expand the world, with side characters like Deputies McLanahan (Chad Rook) and Cricket Ludlow (Aadila Dosani) actually getting decent material to work with. Everything connects in the best of ways. After all, a good mystery ties everything together in the end, one way or another. Compared to other shows in the genre, which rely more on violence, gunplay, and heavy drama to move the plot forward, Joe Pickett is a smart series that prides itself in being more than just another Western cliche.

“Things are about to get Western,” as the book version of the character would say, though that remains true of the television series as well. This show isn’t afraid to lean into its Western sensibilities, though with a shockingly modern viewpoint. For example, viewers won’t be surprised to see Native American issues and spirituality on display here, but might be shocked to see a bunch of armed U.S. military operatives breaking into a character’s house for an impromptu assassination. Sometimes the show’s conspiracies are localized to the fictional Twelve Sleep County, while other times they tie into even bigger, national webs that threaten to swallow our heroes for good. But no matter what comes, we know Joe Pickett is up to the challenge, even if he’s standing alone.

Joe Pickett Isn’t Your Typical Western Hero

Joe Pickett isn’t your typical Western protagonist, but that’s exactly what makes him interesting. Sure, he’s dedicated, faithful, and single-minded, but he’s also fallible. He makes mistakes, including on the job, and he pays the price for them. Not portrayed as perfect, though not incompetent either, Joe would be more of an everyman if everyone were also a game warden. He’s relatable, and deeply human, even if you can’t relate to his direct life-threatening circumstances. Case in point is the opening of the series when Joe has his sidearm promptly stolen by poacher Ote Keeley (Ben Hollingworth), which nearly costs him his life. This mistake trickles into a major problem for Joe and his family throughout the first season (it nearly costs him his job, and shatters any positive public opinion), and he’s forced to learn from his nearly fatal inaction.

But perhaps what makes Joe more compelling than, say, any of the Duttons on Yellowstone, is that, unlike most Western icons who give fully into their anger, Joe genuinely struggles to keep himself under control. This darkness that lives within Joe is something that he fights desperately against, and aims to overcome. Because of his own childhood traumas, our hero (like many of us) copes in unhealthy ways. Thankfully, though it takes some time, Joe learns to keep these impulses toward anger behind bars and fights to break these generational cycles for the sake of his own children. Every time he lashes out and fails to keep himself in check, things get all the worse for our favorite game warden, and genuine consequences ensue. That’s certainly not something you’d see happen in Yellowstone, where everyone shoots first and fails to ask questions later.

Additionally, if Yellowstone is a more post-modern take on the neo-Western genre, then Joe Pickett is a more traditional one. Unlike so many “morally grey” protagonists out there, Joe is an honorable man who makes an honorable living, even if that doesn’t mean much financially. A family man, he wastes no time putting his own life on the line for the sake of others (especially his girls), and he often finds himself at odds with other lawmen who would rather ignore the problems plaguing Saddlestring, WY (which is sort of a real place) than solve them. He’s not a selfish man fighting for power or an outlaw for money; rather, he cares about the people, wildlife, and land he’s sworn to protect. Yes, Joe has his flaws, but he’s a generally morally upright guy who never backs down. Especially when he knows he’s in the right.

‘Joe Pickett’ Expertly Adapts the Original Source Material

In many ways, Joe Pickett shares a kinship with the A&E-turned-Netflix series Longmire. But while Longmire––based on the Walt Longmire mysteries by Craig Johnson––is more of a loose adaptation that mostly captures the spirit of the source material, Joe Pickett takes its time with the text. Entire novels are adapted over the course of an entire season, with plotlines from other C.J. Box stories peppered in to fill in the gaps. Season 1 is primarily an adaptation of Open Season, the first Joe Pickett adventure, but also includes major elements from the third Pickett novel, Winterkill. Likewise, Season 2 covers multiple books, taking pieces from Blood Trail, Nowhere to Run, and even Force of Nature to construct a highly engaging narrative that doesn’t feel entirely complete. Given that there are currently 24 Box-penned Joe Pickett novels, there’s more than enough material for another few seasons.

What’s impressive about Joe Pickett is how closely it sticks to the books while not being limited by them. If you read the first few chapters of Open Season and then watch the very first episode, you’ll find scenes that play identically in the novel as they do on screen––particularly when Joe finds Ote’s dead body or when he first meets up with fellow game warden Wacey Hedeman (Paul Sparks). Even in some of the best adaptations, that kind of synchronicity can be rare. But Joe Pickett doesn’t feel like it’s copying what C.J. Box already did on the page, rather it feels like the long-running tales of this Wyoming game warden have been brought to new life. Of course, Season 1 is arguably more akin to the Box novels than Season 2, but even the show’s sophomore year still feels directly inspired by the original pages. Particularly with the portrayals of the Grim Brothers (Alex Breaux).

Because of the series, many have ventured into reading the books for themselves (including this author), which only fuels our need for more Joe Pickett going forward. Compared to Big Sky, which is only loosely based on Box’s Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series of novels, Joe Pickett is by far the more faithful adaptation of the author’s work. Of course, some things are different. Nate Romanofski (played by Mustafa Speaks on the show) is described in the novels as a blonde, white man; and Joe himself carries the wrong firearm on camera. There are some other small differences in the Pickett timeline and characters too, not to mention audience criticisms of over-dramatization. Many long-time fans of the books thought that Michael Dorman was a miscast as Joe, despite his clear commitment to the role. But even with these criticisms, Joe Pickett is an excellent series that deserves better, as does Dorman who, at least in this author’s view, embodies the character fairly well.

‘Joe Pickett’ Was Canceled Too Soon (But There May Be Hope)

Unfortunately, this often slept-on Spectrum Original-turned-Paramount+ series was canceled after its second season, right off the tail of Box’s Big Sky also getting the ax at ABC. After two thrilling mysteries centered around Joe and his family (with the hopeful promise of more on the way), it seems like we may have seen the last of the Picketts for now. Thankfully, even if we won’t be seeing any more of the television versions of these characters, C.J. Box is still writing more novels about our favorite Wyoming-based game warden, with the latest installment, Three Inch Teeth, dropping in February 2024. But even Box isn’t convinced that Joe Pickett is gone for good.

“Fingers crossed for [a] new home for the TV series,” Box tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) on January 24. Could there be hope that Joe Pickett might return for a third season? Anything is possible, and Box seems confident that those behind the series––namely showrunners John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle––will be able to find another home for the show. The author has even linked renewal petitions on his social media pages (#SaveJoePickett) in hopes that the neo-Western mystery might return to continue where that cliffhanger ending left off, but only time will tell. With how popular the Western is right now, especially on Paramount+ (1883, 1923, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves being the most notable), it’s hard to imagine why viewership for Joe Pickett seemingly fell flat, though maybe its original status as a Spectrum Original had a hand in its demise.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a new neo-Western to binge, or you’re just interested in a good mystery with well-rounded and engaging characters, then look no further than Joe Pickett. This series is full of meaty drama and intricate puzzles, and while it may leave you with a hole in your chest when it’s all said and done, know that you can just open the pages of one of C.J. Box’s fabulous novels and pick up where the show left off. Well, mostly.

Joe Pickett is available for streaming on Paramount+.

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