The Golden Goose – Episode 2 begins with Sheriff Steve Park (Rob Yang) and DA Sue Herlitz (Emily Davis) going over the Bobby Jesus (William Apps) crime scene. Park doesn’t bother hiding his belief that Del Harris (Jeff Daniels) was involved. Sue doesn’t deny sharing his belief but continually points out their lack of evidence and Harris’s phone pinging at his cabin on the night of the murder. A phone call with the news of Chloe Tatlock’s (Jamie Neumann) murder brings their debate to an end.

Harris appears to be having problems sleeping and attempts to get out of bed without waking Grace Poe (Maura Tierney). He soon realizes he’s failed when she confronts him in the kitchen asking whether he is being careful or sneaky. He claims both.

Later that day, Harris meets Agent Joe Dordt (Ben Cain) and another FBI agent to pick up an elaborate Zippo Lighter-style recording device. The agents are particularly proud of the device while Harris just hopes it’ll light a few cigarettes. They stress the importance of names and plans before ending the meeting.

Park arrives at the Main Street Bar where his deputy walks him through the scene and what they know. Park eventually tasks the deputy with alibiing Grace Poe without revealing why.

At the station, Harris leans on Vic Walker’s (Marc Menchaca) love for hunting deer to build more trust with the Brotherhood. Chief Bolt (Leon Addison Brown) soon interrupts with complaints about the heat he’s getting in the press over the mail bombings.

Harris and Detective Angela Burgos (Luna Lauren Velez) continue to investigate the Liam McKenna (Andrew William Smith) murder by reviewing the security tapes from the motel where Nell McKenna was staying. Although Nell’s alibi is now airtight, they soon learn that she did not spend the night alone.

Gene Howland (Josh Drennen) and Terri Howland (Teri Clark), along with their lawyer, Anthony Martino (Tim Perez-Ross), are brought in for questioning about the tainted water case again. Despite their attorney’s best efforts Rinna Bransford (Amelia Workman) practically vilifies them for not being able to produce the results of the test they claim they had done in 2008.

Grace introduces herself to her new neighbors Lucy (Jama Williamson) and Drew (Matt Hopkins) in hopes of recruiting them for her fracking campaign. Having experience with corporate greed leading to polluted land, Drew initially appears uncaring. His disposition changes once Grace lays out her plan to leverage the company for millions.

Later that day, Grace sets out to finalize her divorce by collecting the signed divorce papers from Virgil Poe (Mark Pellegrino). Well aware of her new land acquisition and potential payoff with Landwill Energy Company, he wastes little leveraging the papers for a big payday himself. She reluctantly agrees to a payoff after collecting on the Landwill payout.

Billy Poe (Alex Neustaedter) appears to be considering enlisting in the Army. He even ramps up his physical therapy at home and it appears to be going rather well. Despite his rapid improvement, he still becomes frustrated at a certain point.

Harris visits Detective Ramon Fisher (Kyle Beltran) and tries to get him on tape admitting to illicit activity. Ramon isn’t at all forthcoming but promises to contact him if and when he’s needed.

Elsewhere, Virgil makes a big deal of unveiling his new potential purchase of Rylan’s to Billy, which he cleverly renamed, Snarly. Although Billy asks, Virgil lies about where he’s getting the funding for the establishment. Virgil’s excitement fades a bit when he learns that Billy doesn’t have any interest in working for him. Billy claims his injury has led him to realize the need to make his own path.

Virgil later shares his new acquisition with Dennis (Brendan Burke) while also using him as a guinea pig for his potential drink menu. They soon find themselves being questioned about Chloe’s murder when Chief Parks and Deputy Hannah Geddy (Rae Gray). Virgil admits to Grace being there but attempts to downplay her argument with Chloe. Much to Virgil’s surprise, Dennis doesn’t hold back about what happened or Grace’s anger. Parks later questions Grace about the argument which she doesn’t deny. She, however, runs him off her property when he asks her to voluntarily hand over her gun for testing.

Lee English (Julia Mayorga) visits Billy to finally address her guilty feelings about leaving him in prison, knowing that he was innocent. Although he claims to forgive her, it doesn’t appear to put her at ease.

Grace shares Park’s visit with Harris and asks for advice. He tells her that Parks will likely go to Judge Glenn Paronne (Guy Boyd), who will practically laugh him out of the courthouse. He does warn her that Park likely has some evidence otherwise he wouldn’t bother with approaching her. There is also mention of the Brotherhood as well as Grace’s reveal about taking on Bethany’s (Zenzi Williams) overflow of customers. After sharing the signed divorce papers, she confesses to burning the trailer, which he already suspected.

While Grace and Lucy are offered an insulting settlement figure by a Landwill Rep, Barry (Will Blagrove), Burgos proves to be a competent investigator by tracking the hotel’s security footage to a Roark professor, Marta Canter (Kelli Simpkins). While Burgos shares her discovery with Harris, Mike Orr (Nick Sandow) interrupts to confirm his attendance at the night’s poker game.

Grace turns to Lee for advice about the pitiful Landwill offer. Lee claims she can’t in good conscience offer counsel because Landwill is a big client for her firm. She does point out that Grace holds more power than she might assume.

The poker game in a back room at Lombardozzio’s appears to be going well but unrevealing. The mood immediately becomes moody and tense when Vic shows up late and wants to openly speak about some earlier proposal he made to Fisher. Much to everyone’s relief, the topic is tabled for later discussion. Although Harris has several close calls with the Zippo, he realizes he’s in real trouble when Vic pockets the lighter.

Throughout the episode, Isaac English (David Alvarez) has been receiving glances from Landwill’s newest employee, Russell Wolfe (Christopher Denham). One night while out at the bar, Russell acts on his desires. Despite Isaac being more than receptive, Russell is immediately scared off when two other patrons unexpectedly show up.

While cleaning up the kitchen, Chef Park assures Maya Park (Sara Lindsey) that his mother enjoyed her cooking. After the typical ‘catch up after work’ chat, Maya asks if he plans on spending time in the basement tonight. He appears pleased when she gives him a small action figure modeled after Chloe and claims to have already gotten him started.

Burgos visits Cynthia Frazier (Britian Seibert) to discover that Vic has beaten the crap out of her again, revealing why he was late for the poker game. Burgos encourages Cynthia to turn him in to Internal Affairs but she expresses no interest, at times blaming herself for the beating. Cynthia eventually excuses herself to the bathroom and Burgos uses the opportunity to steal the photos of the attack from her phone. She is nearly caught by Vic who returns home a bit intoxicated.

The episode ends with Harris playing his acoustic guitar along with Mickey Newbury’s, ‘The Future’s Not What It Used To Be.’

 

Golden Goose Review

Man oh man, I’ve thought so much about what I would say here that I could nearly fill a small notebook. In an attempt to keep things as concise as possible, I’ll start with the positives. Despite the negative reviews, I found the episode intriguing. Basic perhaps and a bit boring at times, but not entirely awful. Some of the characters are fairly complex with complicated struggles and even more intricate work/social lives. There is a fair bit of suspense and I can appreciate the fact that it appears all the storylines will somehow eventually connect.

What I do not appreciate is the constant bouncing back and forth. If I was merely watching the show as a viewer, I likely wouldn’t mind as much. I found some of the character’s dialogue a bit distasteful. The strangest thing was all the dark scenes. I never got a low-budget feel from the series, so to me, the darkness appears intentional. I’ve noticed that in a lot of contemporary series/movies.

If the series was financially struggling, they could easily save thousands by cutting back on the cast. Heck, you could probably feed a small country for several months just by getting rid of a quarter of the oversaturated crew. All in all, I have to say I am intrigued and interested enough to keep watching. A bit frustrated, yes, but intrigued.

 

The episode deserves a 5 out of 10. The episode deserves a 4.5 out of 10. Get more American Rust recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic movies and TV series, sports, crime, and more.