As this episode begins, Sheriff Barnum (Patrick Gallagher) slams Joe’s flashlight onto his vehicle and begins questioning Joe Pickett (Michael Dorman) about it being found in the wreckage of Clyde Lidgard’s trailer. Marybeth (Julianna Guill) immediately says the door to the trailer was unlocked. Joe had a feeling so they want to look around, but the trailer went up in flames before they could find anything. The Sheriff finds it convenient that both happened to be outside when the explosion occurred. When Joe says he saw brake lights so someone else was there, Barnum asks if there were any witnesses. Joe says yes and names himself as a witness. The Sheriff threatens to take him and his wife to jail the next time he finds them someplace they shouldn’t be. Next, Joe drives with Marybeth as they discuss how far this goes up the chain, whether the Sheriff is involved, and how dangerous it is getting.

Joe suggests Marybeth should distance herself by refusing to represent Nate Romanowski (Mustafa Speaks). She believes he should distance himself as well since Clyde has a photo of him. However, Joe admits he is in the middle of it and they need to find out who it is so they can defend themselves. He thinks he is the only one looking for the truth and finding the truth will help protect them. Marybeth suggests otherwise since Ote and Clyde knew the truth but they died. The argument continues as Marybeth tells Joe about the promise she made to raise her kids better than her mother raised them. If they would’ve died last night, Missy (Sharon Lawrence) would’ve been left to raise their kids. She wants Joe to make peace with the fact they’ll never know what Ote was trying to tell him since it could get them killed too. They arrive at the funeral where Jeannie (Leah Gibson) and April Keeley (Vivienne Guynn) prepare to say goodbye to Ote.

The three coffins are buried on top of a pickup truck so Jeannie jokes she’d like to see the repo man take Ote’s truck now. Joe listens as Wacey (Paul Sparks) talks to the men about possibly stopping it if he had gotten up there in time. Wacey approaches Joe to talk about the trailer explosion. April places a ballerina figurine on her father’s coffin and says goodbye to her daddy. Jeannie gets mad when her daughter doesn’t listen to her so she pulls her away by her arm. Marybeth notices and follows them to their vehicle. She offers them a hand and to take April to their place. Jeannie tells Marybeth not to judge her because she is losing her home and only has thirty bucks in her pocket. If she wants to help, she can help save their home. Marybeth learns that the whole trailer park was sold out from under them a few months back.

While they owned the trailer, they didn’t own the land. Ote promised he was taking care of it and claimed he had it worked out. Jeannie is convinced the land nonsense got him killed. Despite being some type of lawyer, Marybeth doesn’t think she should get involved in this one. Before Jeannie goes, Marybeth agrees to look into it although they should keep it between themselves. She also tells April to come see her horse whenever she wants. On their way back, Joe and Marybeth talk about someone buying the trailer park land and evicting all the tenants. She believes she might’ve been a little harsh although Joe thinks she was right. He promises to stop looking into the murders and she agrees to drop Nate’s case. Then, Joe takes his daughter outside and tells her about predators and prey. He tells her how predators help prey become more defensive and elusive to protect themselves. As a result, predators have to become better hunters.

As for people, it depends on who it is and the situation. He says falcons can’t pretend to be anything but predators. People are different since you can’t tell what they are at first. Marybeth visits Nate at the jail to say she is not going to take his case after all. He gets upset and punches his bunk a few times before saying most people don’t have the courage to see things how they are. He thinks Marybeth is different because she is here and a fighter. She tells him what Jeannie said about the land dispute and says it is something his lawyer can look into for him. Nate remembers that the Keeleys live out near Elk Bend Valley. He saw a group of men out there holding maps once and it seemed like they were up to no good. They weren’t dressed for camping or hunting, but he doesn’t know what they were doing.

Meanwhile, Joe gets his clothes ready for the next day. He listens to a message from Vern (David Alan Grier) wishing him luck opening hunting season. In a flashback, young Joe (Zebastin Borjeau) and Victor (Oliver Mandelcorn) hang out under the trampoline while their parents argue inside. Joe reads a pamphlet about becoming a game warden and decides that is what he wants to do. His brother wants to do it too so he can follow Joe. The next morning, Joe gets up early, gets dressed, and heads to work. While Joe works, Beth goes to the Twelve Sleep County records office to see what she can find about the land under the Sunny Days Mobile Home Park. She is given a big stack of folders to look through. Eventually, she finds a record of sale for the park with Red Sky Holdings being listed as the buyer. While Joe answers questions about Game Warden strippers, Marybeth prints copies of the files.

Marybeth finds another document that shows Red Sky Holdings was represented by Stone & Associates. Joe is called out to an incident involving an eagle that likely got caught up in new barbwire. He is told it used to be the Rasmussen property, but someone bought it and installed fencing around it. Joe checks the barbwire and realizes it was custom made. He takes a piece of the barbed wire before crossing onto the property and finding a bobby trap. One of the men tries to help Joe grab the eagle, but Joe ends up getting pecked on the hand. A woman shows up and says they’re doing it wrong. While Joe keeps the eagle distracted, she places a sock on its beak. Then, they cover it with his coat. Meanwhile, Deputy McLanahan (Chad Rook) visits Missy to ask her about stealing two $20,000 chairs from her ex. He confesses he’d have to haul her in right now if she wasn’t so attractive. He offers to help her take them back.

Missy agrees, but she can’t leave right now since she is watching her grandchildren. The Deputy promises to come back later to deal with the chairs. Taylor Maldonado (Rachel Colwell) introduces herself to Joe and reveals she is from the Wind River Animal Rescue. Ernie came from their rehab and it looks like he needs to go back. She insists the rehab on the reservation is much better than the one Joe’s guys have in Cheyenne. Taylor says she was the game biologist there until Les Etbauer took over. She says they didn’t see eye to eye on the value of her skin tone so she created her own rehab on the reservation. He asks her to perform an independent analysis of the scat sample he collected from the cooler because the sample he sent to Cheyenne went missing. Then, Joe rushes over to meet with Vern and two women who complain Geraldine Ferraro is missing. Vern explains their emus were likely snatched right from under the fence.

Vern believes it was the wolves that were reintroduced here last year. Joe believes they’ll keep coming back and they won’t be able to stop them unless the pen has a concrete bed. Vern pulls Joe aside and says they need to help these sisters out. When Joe says he doesn’t have the money to lay them a new foundation, Vern suggests moving them to the old chicken farm that is for sale out by 22. Vern admits game wardens spend a lot of time looking after people. Joe rushes to the records off to look up a land deed, but the office is closed until morning. He asks if the man in charge knows who the Rasmussens sold their ranch to, but he doesn’t. When he sees Joe’s nametag, he recommends talking to Marybeth since she was in his office all afternoon looking at records. Vern sits down with Marybeth for a drink at the Pickett place. Vern wonders whether Joe is suited for the job although Mary says he loves it.

Vern says he was a game warden for a long time and saw a lot of men get killed doing it. He believes what happened at Crazy Woman Creek was lucky. He suggests Joe should take the new job with InterWest which Marybeth knows nothing about. When Joe arrives, Vern pours a drink to celebrate Joe Pickett becoming a land consultant. Missy walks in just in time to hear Vern say InterWest decided to pick Joe for the job. She likes it since it means he’ll get more money. Vern says it’ll last five to ten years with some stock options possible. Next, Missy shows Deputy McLanahan the $20,000 chairs. He doesn’t get it because they don’t look comfortable. However, she explains she first saw them in a storefront in Saint-Germain, wanted them, and bought them because she had the means. It felt good to buy something so expensive on a whim and she knew her life would be different from that point forward.

The Deputy believes he has something that might cheer her up. He kisses her and asks whether that did anything for her. She admits it might before saying she doesn’t want to be seen having sex with a public servant. They agree to put the chairs into his truck and go since he has the perfect place for her to go slumming. Joe bandages his arm while telling Marybeth about Ernie, but she’d rather know about the job offer. He has known for three days although he didn’t think it was real. Marybeth begins complaining about growing up in a family full of secrets and she took the secrets vow very seriously. She says he hid the job and the fact that Ote took his gun. She continues complaining until Joe says he was 12 when he decided this is what he wanted to do. He admits this is what he wants to do and he loves it, but he didn’t know the job choice would force his third child to sleep in a crib in the closet.

He didn’t know his family would be put in danger either. Since he is getting a chance to decide after everything he knows, it is a different choice. It might be a selfish choice, but it is one he hoped he wouldn’t have to make. She asks if there is anything else she should know so he tells her about sending the scat sample to the other lab. Then, he confronts her about sending half the day at the clerk’s office pulling land records. Initially, she says it isn’t the same, but quickly agrees to call it even. When he asks if she found anything, she pulls out the records and they begin going through them together. She tells him about Red Sky Holdings before he learns they bought the old Rasmussens’ place. They circle all the land they scooped up on the map in front of them. There is a spot left in the middle that happens to be the Bouviers’ emu ranch which Joe visited earlier. She asks if it could have something to do with the pipeline, but he says it is not close to the land.

Marybeth reveals the land cost roughly 13 million in total. Joe mentions the Scarlett family since they’re one of the few families that could afford the custom barbed wire. She admits there is one way to find out if he is right, but he’ll have to promise to be careful. The next day, she prepares to go to the law firm while he says he should get there in 20 minutes. Joe goes to the Scarlett property to compare the barbed wire to the piece he took with him yesterday and it seems to match. An older woman greets him outside with a shotgun and asks what he is doing. Once Joe says he is clearing up some game warden business, she tells him to make it quick because they’re sitting down for dinner. Marybeth gets a picture message as Joe goes around back and talks to the Scarlett family about what happened on the old Rasmussen property yesterday. He tells them what he found. Marybeth tells the lawyer that the type of rate hike they made at the trailer park violated several Wyoming statutes that prohibit predatory lending tactics.

She says they’ll file injunctions to stop the evictions before filing civil suits against Red Sky Holdings and his client or clients who own it. He tells her to give him a copy of the statutes so he can see if they’re anything for his client to worry about. As for his clients’ names, she’ll have to get a court order for that. She knows he might be right about never winning, but she says they can make it hurt like heck going down. Joe tells the Scarletts that it could be a problem if the animals get hurt because they don’t fix the fence or the bobby traps. He gets a call while Scarlett gets a call too. Before Joe goes, one of the Scarlett boys asks him about his wife being a lawyer. Joe asks if Red Sky is looking for new representation. Arlen Scarlett (Brendan Fletcher) says he is going to enjoy running all of them out of town.

Joe says it likely isn’t wise to use the same custom barbed wire if you’re trying to conceal land deals. Joe is attacked without warning. Once the assault stops, Joe manages to pull himself into his truck and drive away. He gets a call from Taylor who says she has found something baffling. She ran the sample through a local database and didn’t get a hit. She agrees to send it off to an international database. When the call ends, Joe imagines his brother is with him and jokes about him living and looking like a million. Joe stops to collect himself before driving back home. He promises he is okay and it has to be the Scarletts. Marybeth recommends calling Sheriff Barnum because they can’t do this. Joe says otherwise since they know Barnum isn’t going to do anything. He doesn’t believe anyone will look into if they kill him either just like when Ote died and the outfitters.

Joe says they’ve pushed the wrong guy this time over and over as Marybeth tries to calm him. He wishes he was smarter because there is a piece of the puzzle he is missing and can’t see. Later that night, his daughter sneaks out of the house to feed the weasels she calls Willy and Rosy. A silhouette approaches her and asks if her name is Sheridan (Skywalker Hughes). He claims to be a friend of her dad’s and asks about her friends in the woodpile. It looks like Wacy. He asks if her mom and dad know about her friends in the woodpile. It is good that they don’t know about her friends because he knows the people who killed Ote and they want to kill everybody who knows about those critters. Wacy wants to keep it a secret from everyone so Sheridan agrees. He threatens that those people will come back and kill her with an ax if she tells anyone including her stupid little doll.

Wacy says the little animals will have to go to heaven. Her family will be okay as long as she keeps her mouth shut. The episode ends after he tells her it is past her bedtime.

 

Joe Pickett Review

Those willing to stick with Joe Pickett may start enjoying it a bit more as the episodes continue. The episode had some good points. It is unique, the scenery is beautiful, and the story is good. If there is one thing that will really hurt this show in the end, it will be its length. The episodes are always so drawn out that I end up losing interest with many scenes. It has already been five episodes and I feel like the series could’ve ended by now.

Honestly, I sincerely believe it would’ve been better if the creators were forced to condense the series to six or eight 45-minute episodes. The editing is a bit odd sometimes as the transitions include large time jumps. An example of this would be when Joe and Marybeth are planning to find out whether the Scarlett family was involved in the land deals. They created a plan that night. Then, Marybeth was entering the law firm and Joe was visiting the Scarlett property around dinner.

A good chunk of time was lost. I hope the dialogue from Taylor isn’t a sign of things to come. The show has already made several questionable choices trying to appease those in charge when it really doesn’t fit the narrative, environment, or theme of the show. It has been tolerable so far. The episode was decent with a good twist at the end. I just wish it wasn’t so dark since I could barely see Wacey’s face. It scores a 7 out of 10. All Joe Pickett recaps can be found on Reel Mockery here. Interested in supporting the Reel Mockery project? Find out how to do so by following this link.