Why Fans Say This Is Longmire's Least Intelligent Character

Fans of Netflix's "Longmire" have some strong opinions about the show's characters. On the one hand, they love the strength and kindness of the underrated recurring characters Ruby (Louanne Stephens), the sheriff's department's dispatcher and office manager, and Travis Murphy (Derek Phillips), Branch Connally's (Bailey Chase) childhood friend. On the other, the title of "Longmire" fans' most hated character could go to Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff), whom one fan described as "a complete flop by the end" of the series. (While her character may have gradually become "super whiny about everything," according to another fan, however, Sackhoff's portrayal of the character clearly hasn't stopped her from making millions from her acting, so some viewers must have enjoyed her performance.) And, perhaps most shocking of all, some fans even hate the titular character, Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), for his total obsession over Nighthorse (A Martinez).

Although it's one of the more important metrics for ranking the characters of a TV show, likability is only one of many ways to look at things. Take, for example, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) from "The Office" — while he's definitely not the most likable, he's crucial to the show's dynamic, and helps make other characters like Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) more likable by comparison. Another metric is intelligence. Sometimes, viewers need a character to get frustrated with for making the absolute worst decisions. So when it comes to the least intelligent character on "Longmire," fans came up with an entirely different "winner" of this undesirable superlative. Keep scrolling to find out who it is.

According to a recent Reddit thread, the title of least intelligent character on "Longmire" goes to Walt's daughter, Cady Longmire (Cassidy Freeman), an attorney who, by the series finale decides to follow in her father's footsteps and run for sheriff. The original poster, u/bluebucks3, kicked off the drag session, writing, "I feel she was always presented as smart and capable, yet without question was the most gullible and impulsive of them all ... I love this show, but I wish her being the lawyer provided more substance/support to plots instead of derailing just about everything she touched."

Other fans also commented on Cady's Anti-Midas Touch. u/andyman1994 wrote, "As a lawyer myself I can't emphasize enough how dumb her taking a murder case was when she had no experience at all in criminal law." They even went on to exaggerate, opining that she "shoulda been disbarred." Later, however, the user clarified that in reality, Cady "probably wouldn't get disbarred. But might get a bar complaint for sure, [as] you need to be able to provide minimally competent performance in order to ethically take a case." Not only was Cady unintelligent according to these fans; she also made unethical legal choices.

As for why Cady is so ill-equipped to make smart decisions, u/ShivvyMcFly offered their take on her backstory. "I chalked it up to [the fact] that Walt and her mother kept her in a protective bubble and she didn't understand the harsh real world," they explained. Growing up without the tough lessons of the real world, Cady just didn't learn how to move through it with intelligence.

It's well known that "Longmire" the television series is based on an acclaimed series of books by Craig Johnson. It's also established that the show differs pretty substantially from the books — and not always to its benefit. This is a problem that's been around ever since the birth of cinema. Adaptations from literature can never fully emulate the depth and nuance of the books they're based on. Sometimes it's more of a problem than others, and in the case of "Longmire," the TV show disappointed some fans of the books.

That's what u/Spczippo was getting at when they wrote, "The show really messed up [a lot] of the characters from the books. Vic is a hell of a lot more vulgar and Philly then the show makes out, Walt is smarter and alot more introspective then I feel the show makes him out to be, I could go on and on picking apart each one but I will just say read the books and you will see." So, it's possible Cady isn't as unintelligent in the books as she is in the TV series — but we'll let you read them yourself to find out.