That Dirty Black Bag Season 1 Episode 8 Recap

Chapter Eight: The Great Duel – The show begins with Anderson (Travis Fimmel) and Teen Bill (Francesco Piacentini-Smith) at a crime scene comparing their victims to wanted posters. Anderson fires another shot into a victim’s body. With all the victims’ lifeless bodies outside, he warns Bill about the dangers of traveling through the Red Zone from there to their next stop, New Orleans. Bill agrees to ramp up watching for bandits while loading the victims’ bodies into the back of Anderson’s wagon.

Bringing his wagon to a halt, Anderson looks at his map. He assures him that it is okay to relax before explaining the Italian meaning of potato. Laughing, Bill doesn’t believe it means a female “hoo-ha.” Anderson encourages him to take a bite to see what it tastes like. When he spits it out, Anderson the taste is not desirable to everyone. A shot is fired into the back of Anderson’s head and another into his abdomen. The shots are coming from the back of the wagon. Bill jumps out of the wagon to release the tailgate. As the bodies slide to the ground, Bill stabs the man to death before he can fire another shot.

Anderson and his horse are both dead. Teen Bill has flashbacks of his time with Anderson. As he hacks away at the culprit’s body, images of Red Bill’s Mother (Maria Grazia Toccacelli) and Young Bill (Tommaso Di Marco) pop up on the screen. Looking at Anderson, he asks if “a head weighs less than a body” ever crossed his mind. Throwing his bag of human heads over his shoulder, he promises Anderson to never stop.

Charles Thompson (Paterson Joseph) visits father’s gravesite. He acknowledges that he was right about a gold vein in Greenvale. He assures him that their dreams for Greenvale are about to come true.

Red Bill (Douglas Booth) and Arthur McCoy (Dominic Cooper) walk through the desert. McCoy asks how he learned how to kill, with a tomahawk. He claims the Natives raised him and an alcoholic bounty hunter who ate raw potatoes trained him. When Red Bill directs the question back at him, McCoy assures him they are “the same.”

After getting dressed, Steve (Christian Cooke) checks on Dorian (Lorenzo McGovern Zaini) to see he has company. Thompson speaks to Dorian about collecting what looks like train cars. Steve orders him to get out of his house. Pointing his cocked gun at Dorian’s head, Thompson orders him to get Michelle (Zoe Boyle).

McCoy asks Red Bill the value of his bag of human heads. He assures him that he will get enough bounty to pay his way to California. Red Bill asks him about Eve (Niv Sultan). McCoy says Eve is the best thing to happen to Greenvale. Red Bill says he believes McCoy is holding Greenvale together. When McCoy asks why he agreed to return, he says the attack that caused the scars on his back was the same as his mother’s. McCoy asks if he could still remember the culprit’s face. He acknowledges remembering his face.

Rome – A Man in Rome (Massimo Vanni) is attacked by Young Bronson/Carlo (Lorenzo Giovaniello) and Young McCoy/Marco (Andrea Arru). Marco pleads with Carlo to stop beating the man, but he refuses until the last kick kills him. As Carlo goes through the bag, he complains about the lack of ham and butter. Marco refuses to eat any of the food. Carlo assures him that he will drown if he falls into the ocean. He pleads with him to not tell their mother. Marco acknowledges he will say nothing about what happened. He is thrilled when Carlo promises they will always be together. They embrace each other.

Bronson (Guido Caprino) and Vonnet (Liam Smith) ride toward Greenvale.

Steve makes a promise to Dorian that everything will be okay. Thompson assures him that Steve cannot predict the outcome. He orders Steve to sign his land over to him in exchange for zilch. Michelle pleads with him to free Dorian. When she reaches for his arm, he pushes her up against a wall and puts his gun in her face. He demands she tell Steve about their former agreement. Thompson tells her that she was beautiful at one time. He asks Steve if he ever truly loved her. She assures him that they will never leave their property. Steve pleads with him to stop when he cocks his gun.

After he signs the document, Michelle is free. Staring at the document, Thompson thanks him for the “wonderful gift.” Steve asks if he would like to see the gold mine.

McCoy and Red Bill continue through the desert. When they see Derek (Victor Calero) and The Stranger (Eugene Brave Rock) on the road below, McCoy warns them that they are dangerous. He describes The Stranger as being crazy and Derek as having the capability of shooting a target from a mile away.

Symone (Rose Williams) takes a shower.

Hellen (Anna Chancellor) brushes Matilde’s (Charlotte Gentile) hair. She allows her to pick whatever she likes to eat. She says, “Chocolate.”

Symone enters the saloon for something to eat. The Saloon Landlord, Tony (Ramiro Alonso) gives her a meal on the house. He questions why she returned to Greenvale, with no one in charge. She tells him of her plans to take the town over when Bronson and Vonnet walk in. Bronson offers $100 to anyone who would be willing to take them to Condor. No one accepts his offer. Bronson orders Tony to take them. Symone tells him that his boots cost more than his offer. She offers to take him for $200. He sarcastically asks about the man who scared her face. After telling him the culprit is dead, she assures him no one will agree to take him to Condor because they are afraid. He asks about her.

As they prepare to leave, he asks if she knows Sheriff McCoy? She admits to knowing him well. He requests she tell him about McCoy during their trip. She asks if he plans to kill McCoy.

Thompson is amazed by what he sees in the gold mind. When he admits to being right all along, Steve knocks him out cold. He asks if this is what he wanted before beating him to death. Dorian is standing there when he turns around. Dorian takes off running.

Derek sees McCoy approaching through his telescope. He asks where Blaine is at. McCoy reminds him of Blaine’s (Terry McMahon) inability to swim. He says with all the flooding, he didn’t survive. Derek asks about the Federal Bank money. He assures him that the money couldn’t swim either. Derek warns him about playing games because there are two against one. McCoy tells him about Red Bill who approaches and drops his bag of rotting skulls. Dereck says Bronson’s order didn’t include his brother before asking about the money. McCoy claims it is all gone.

Derek, Red Bill, and McCoy prepare to pull their weapons while The Stranger prepares the gun attached to his right forearm. Red Bill shoots Derek’s gun out of his hand, McCoy is shot in the leg, and Red Bill is shot. The Stranger walks over to an injured McCoy demanding to know where the money is at. He cocks his gun when Red Bill throws his ax cutting off his forearm. Derek fires his rifle at McCoy, then Red Bill, missing both. He zooms his scope in on Red Bill just in time to get shot by McCoy. The Stranger picks up his gun and shoots McCoy. As he cocks his gun, Red Bill throws his ax, hitting him in the forehead. The Stranger who has Red Bill’s ax in his head appears to be alive. McCoy complains about the bullet going straight through his body. Red Bill sarcastically tells McCoy that he said nothing about his brother being responsible for his scars.

McCoy swears he has spent his entire life trying to forget his brother. Red Bill angrily jerks his ax out of The Stranger’s head. He assures him that no one hates his brother more than him. Helping him to his feet, Red Bill says he will need to prove it. When McCoy refuses to go, Red Bill reminds him of their deal. Red Bill kicks him before turning away. McCoy gets his attention when he says, “The things we do for money,” Red Bill hears his mother screaming. McCoy admits to being present when Bronson was torturing his mother. He claims to have saved him from Bronson and Butler (Aidan Gillen). He pleads with him to promise to add his brother to his dirty black bag.

As they stare at each other, McCoy draws his gun, hitting Red Bill in the chest. When he hits the ground, his mother appears on the screen. McCoy is shot in the forehead.

Dorian finds McCoy and Red Bill’s lifeless bodies. He removes a black book from McCoy’s coat. Steve tells demands they leave but Dorian signs that Red Bill is still alive. Steve picks him up.

Bronson and Symone head toward Cordon. He jumps off his horse when he finds McCoy. Cradling him in his arms, he rocks back and forth.

Michelle assures Steve he did right by Thompson. She reminds him of how he threatened to take Dorian’s life. Steve agrees to bury him and the gold mine.

Red Bill wakes up while Michelle tends to him.

Matilde sits in the center of a circle of people, including Hellen. She plays with her doll while Hellen has the book held out in front of her. She can be seen sitting on the pupil of an eye symbol. Someone wearing a mask gradually lowers a chain, with a hook above Matilde’s head.

Red Bill wakes up in a panic. Approaching Dorian, he asks what he is reading. Dorian holds up McCoy’s book while Red Bill stares at it in disbelief. One of the pages has an eye on it.

Bronson holds McCoy’s body while staring wildly at Red Bill’s bag of decaying skulls as the episode comes to an end.

 

That Dirty Black Bag Review

The finale turned out as expected. Not the best, but at least memorable. According to rumors, AMC Networks has three seasons planned for the show. At this rate, it is questionable if they will successfully pull it off.

I was disappointed with their decision to kill off Dominic Cooper. McCoy was the glue that held Greenvale together. What will become of Greenvale, now? It would have been less risky to write off Bronson as he was the least popular of all the characters.

I don’t know if it is their plan to start anew, with an entire new cast or push those left to the next season. This may work for Red Bill, Symone, and Bronson but not Steve and Michelle. Steve became obsolete when Eve was killed, and both are obsolete with Thompson out of the picture.

It is risky to kill off nearly the entirely main cast unless the goal is to start again from scratch. If this is the case, why keep Bronson and Red Bill?

Travis Fimmel’s character, Anderson, will surely be missed. Anderson and Teen Bill built a strong onscreen relationship as did Kurt and McCoy.

Wow, the cult agenda popped up out of the blue. It appears as if Hellen plans to sacrifice Matilde, which feel so out of place. This would have been better for another show, not That Dirty Black Bag.

What is up with Marco and Carlo in Rome?

The finale deserves a 6.8. Get more That Dirty Black Bag recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link to learn more.