Phil Burbank

The engine that drives the plot, Phil Burbank’s character, is defined less by what he is and more by what he refuses to be. In the rough and tumble homophobic world of the Old West embodied by the Montana outback in the 1920s, Phil cannot be what he is: gay. His dark and ugly character in turn is defined by that reality. Phil has a remarkable ability to sense the most vulnerable parts of people, as a closeted gay, he appreciates that one thing that if exposed would destroy that person. Deeply read, he understands the need to suppress his identity. He distances himself from others as a strategy for maintaining that moat, preserving what he sees as an ugly secret. He fends off others, stays apart, aloof, pretending to enjoy the companion of the ranch hands while all the time maintaining a safe distance. He...