As “The Most Hated Man In 12 Sleeps” begins, we hear the dispatcher on the radio talking about the hostage situation involving Nate (Mustafa Speaks). When Joe Pickett (Michael Dorman) learns the hostage is Nate’s attorney, he drives faster to the courthouse. He makes it, rushes inside, and won’t let Sheriff Barnum (Patrick Gallagher) stop him. He quickly unties Marybeth (Julianna Guill) who says Nate climbed out the window. Marybeth can’t understand why he’d do this although Joe says he is wanted out of Montana for killing two federal agents. Downstairs, Cricket (Aadila Dosani) suggests Nate might’ve had a good reason to kill two federal agents. Deputy McLanahan (Chad Rook) doesn’t like her saying that and argues it doesn’t work for people like him and Agent Kelmeckis. Although Cricket says she only talked to Nate from time to time, McLanahan says she had puppy eyes for him.

Kelmeckis admits they thought Nate had died until they saw his picture in their local paper. Sheriff Barnum invites Kel upstairs to interview Marybeth with him while Joe walks downstairs. Joe gets a call from Taylor Maldonado (Rachel Colwell) who says the scat sample didn’t match anything in the international database. Joe wonders if it could belong to an extinct species although that would be a miracle. If he is right, the animal wouldn’t be on the endangered species list. Joe believes he’d be the only protection for an extinct animal that is still alive. Joe sits with Cricket while waiting for his wife’s interview to end. She believes it’ll take an hour so Joe decides to visit the library. Before he goes, Cricket says the Sheriff is supposedly having a lot of trouble at home and has been spending a lot of time in his office. Since Joe only has 15 minutes before the library closes, he asks Cricket to tell Marybeth when she finishes.

Once he enters the library, he tells the man in charge about the escaped fugitive and quickly uses the nearby computer to research extinct animals. He looks through a book about extinct animals and finds information about the Miller’s Weasel. It was regularly found in Wyoming and Montana in the Big Horn Mountains before it was killed by pioneers. Marybeth tells the Sheriff that Nate was in police custody and she didn’t think it was worth risking her life doing his job for him. Cricket tells her about Joe going to the library before she steps outside. She runs into Joe outside as the media snaps pictures of her. She quickly complains about Joe leaving. He admits it sounds bad, but the library was about to close. Joe apologizes before saying he has figured out what Ote was trying to tell him. He tells her the pioneers deliberately exterminated the Miller’s weasel because they thought it stole and ate human babies.

Some shot them while others poisoned them. Joe believes a Miller’s weasel was in Ote’s cooler. Marybeth is surprised to find that Clyde was the last person to check out the book Joe now has. Vern (David Alan Grier) visit Hank (Roger LeBlanc) and Arlen Scarlett (Brendan Fletcher). He tells Opal (Judith Buchan) and the others that the InterWest pipeline will have to be moved because it ran through sacred native-owned land. They already have a good idea of where they can build it. Vern tells them he thought of everything almost while the rest worked itself out. He says they’re all going to become very, very rich before they toast to failure. After Joe and Marybeth put the kids to bed for the night, Marybeth says the InterWest pipeline is dead if Joe is right about the weasel. Since everyone wants the pipeline to happen, it could turn Joe into the most hated man in Twelve Sleep.

Joe doesn’t like the alternative which is to let the animal be wiped out forever. He believes the small weasel could keep a lot of powerful people from making a lot of money, and those people are willing to kill to keep it secret. Once they make it known, it won’t be worth killing for. Regardless, they agree they don’t have enough evidence to prove it yet. Marybeth believes knowing why people are being killed but being unable to prove it makes this the most dangerous time for them. That night, Joe has a nightmare about his father. When he goes downstairs, George comes in and orders him to go back to bed. Young Joe says he doesn’t belong here although Marybeth didn’t know that. She says he has been here the whole time.

George tries to snatch Marybeth before Joe wakes up. They run into the kids’ room as they hear Sheridan (Skywalker Hughes) screaming repeatedly. She pleads with them to not let him kill her. Joe and Marybeth wake and comfort her. Joe promises she did nothing wrong and was only having a bad dream. In the morning, Marybeth grabs the newspaper and looks at herself on the front. She complains about looking tired although Joe thinks it is better than crapping your pants. Wacey (Paul Sparks) calls to check on them and ask if they’d like to move into the Kensingers’ house since he is house-sitting there right now. While Joe isn’t eager to do it, Marybeth thinks it would be a good idea for the family. Once the call ends, they find out about the pipeline having to move to a new route. Marybeth is surprised InterWest didn’t realize that before wasting all this money. Joe says Vern knows a lot about it and that information would make a lot of money for whoever owns land in the new pipeline location.

Marybeth is convinced the new route will run right through Elk Bend. Joe leaves to go speak to Vern about the InterWest job offer. Joe meets with him at the club to say he is going to take him up on that job offer after he files a report with the Wyoming Game & Fish and EPA about the Miller’s weasels. Vern curses him before saying he doesn’t have any loyalty. He can’t recommend hiring a guy without loyalty. Joe tells him to cut the crap because he knew the InterWest route was going to fail and bought all that land with the Scarlett family. When Vern tells him that the whole town wants him dead, Joe denies it while saying it is only the crooks. Vern suggests he is the endangered species and just too stupid to see it. He goes on to say he tried to help him over and over, but horses sometimes just won’t drink the water. He bumps into Joe on his way to the bathroom. He calls someone and admits he was wrong since Joe is going to be a problem.

 

At home, Sheridan grabs a handful of something from a cabinet. She walks in and learns from Marybeth that they’re going to go stay somewhere else even though she doesn’t want to. Sheridan looks toward the woodpile outside the window. Meanwhile, Jeannie (Leah Gibson) and April Keeley (Vivienne Guynn) learn that their power and water have been cut off. Jeannie curses the guy in charge saying she still has three days before she needs to move, but he isn’t going to change his mind. Jeannie tells April they’re not going to walk all over her like they did Ote because she is going to go get what is hers. When Wacey arrives, Sheridan doesn’t like the idea of going with him. When Wacey is left alone with her, he tells her she is doing great. Before Sheridan leaves, she grabs the pocket knife from her drawer and takes it with her. As Cricket walks through the alleyway, Nate watches her from the rooftop.

Marybeth and the family arrive at the Kensingers’ place. Missy (Sharon Lawrence) is thrilled with the property. Wacey says he is the only one who knows they’re here so they’ll be safe. Once Wavey leaves, they go inside to check out the house. Lucy (Kamryn Pilva) likes it although her sister doesn’t. Back at home, Joe gets a note from Marybeth saying they’ll meet him at the Kensingers. As he begins packing his clothes, he has a flashback of his brother, Victor (Oliver Mandelcorn), packing clothes too. Victor asks what is going to happen if she won’t do it. Young Joe (Zebastin Borjeau) says they’ll make her go because they have to. Meanwhile, Joe gets a call saying Les Etbauer (Blair Young) wants to meet him first thing tomorrow morning at the Cheyenne office. Cricket returns home and worries when she sees the door open. Then, she gets a visit from Marshall Kelmeckis.

Once he steps inside, he asks her to sit down so he can ask a few more questions. He opens his suitcase and plugs up his polygraph while asking about her relationship with Nate. She wonders about the missing fingerprints. She talks about a special operations group that burns off their fingerprints. He warns her that she could get into trouble if she lies to them about knowing where Nate is. Then, he asks her to take a polygraph and really doesn’t give her an option. He jumps behind her and begins choking her until Nate shows up to stop him. Nate breaks his neck. He checks Cricket while telling her those guys killed his wife. She learns the guy wasn’t a US Marshal. Nate gives her something, tells her to go to the motel, and come back to report what she saw. Cricket kisses him before they call each other weird. When she says she’ll let him get on with his special ops stuff, Nate reminds her he never said he was special ops.

Joe arrives for the meeting as the rude receptionist tells him to have a seat. When he sits with Les, he is called his problem child. Les tells him about the complaints he received and asks how he let a suspect take his gun. Joe explains himself before quickly snatching Les’s badge to prove his point. Les gets angry while telling Joe they’ve decided to suspend him without pay immediately. He’ll have three days to journal his area before his duties will be assigned to an interim warden. Joe is told to find other accommodations because they’ll need the house if they decide to fire him. Before Joe leaves, he asks Les whether someone told him to do this. He says no. He also tries to file a report about the extinct species that has come back to life, but Les isn’t eager to accept a report from a suspended warden. Les reminds him he hasn’t seen one of these animals so he can’t just file a report without any proof.

Joe ignores a call from his wife as he walks toward his vehicle. When he gets in, he takes off his shirt, badge, and hat. Jeannie tries to collect the money Wacey owed Ote. Although she didn’t tell anyone about it, she knows Ote was working for him doing something stupid before he died. Wacey says Ote was working for him and they had a deal, but Ote never finished. Ote forfeited what he owed him when he had to put an arrow through him. He pulls a gun on her before telling her to run. She hits him, runs to her vehicle, and gets away as Wacey fires at her several times. Cricket searches her property with a gun drawn but finds it empty. Nate is shown feeding his birds with the dead body nearby. At the police station, Deputy McLanahan complains to Cricket about Kelmeckis not showing up to their meeting. He calls the local US Marshal’s office to see what he can find out only to learn Kelmeckis wasn’t a US Marshal after all.

Cricket enjoys it when the Deputy has to tell the Sheriff about it. The Sheriff blames his Deputy for not checking the paperwork. Meanwhile, Jeannie drives to the school where she sees April sitting alone during recess. She asks God to forgive her before driving away without her daughter. Joe stops when he sees the sign that says 100 miles to Saddlestring. He drives toward Rawlins. When Marybeth goes to the school to pick up the kids, she sees that April is waiting alone. April says her mother is supposed to come get her. Marybeth tries calling Jeannie only to learn the phone number is no longer in service. April suggests her mother left her since she has done it before. Marybeth agrees to take her until they can find her mother. Joe returns to his childhood home where he has a flashback of trying to escape with his brother and mother. Before they can leave, George (Kyle Mac) arrives and forces them to go back inside.

He walks over to their treehouse or fort and finds an old yo-yo. He sits it to the side before finding a makeshift game warden badge. A flashback shows Victor giving Joe his birthday present early. It is the game warden badge Joe just found and Victor got one for himself too. They pretend to be game wardens with their dog Merle. In the distance, we see a cross that has Victor’s name on it so it could be his gravesite or a memorial. Joe walks over and tells Victor he blew it. He apologizes and places the badge on the ground near the cross. When Joe makes it home later that night, he has to tell Marybeth that he lost his job and they’ll need to find a new place to live.

Joe sits down and begins talking about visiting his childhood home. He admits he could sometimes hear the violence coming when he lived in that house. It was like a ringing in his ears until it exploded. The anticipation was sometimes worse than the pain itself. The violence became a relief somehow because it felt like a reset. He can hear the same ringing noise now and it is very loud. He claims the violence is coming and he doesn’t know how to stop it. When he tries, he seems to make things even worse. Marybeth refuses to believe that and thinks Joe knows otherwise too because nobody can change what happens. She tells him that he always tries and never backs down to power. April walks outside to ask if she can have some water. Marybeth tells her it is okay to get whatever she wants without asking and to call her Marybeth instead of Mrs. Pickett. When she goes back in, Joe says Marybeth doesn’t seem to turn away either.

Joe says he has to go finish this thing. He drives away and goes to pick up his rifle and ammunition just before the episode ends.

 

Joe Pickett Review

After finishing the 7th episode of Joe Pickett’s first season, I am torn. While I mostly enjoy the show, I think it could be significantly better with some slight improvements. The biggest issue is the fact that the episodes drag on for far too long so I end up getting bored with certain scenes. I’ll also say that the camera work irks me from time to time as the camera swings around too quickly.

It is also annoying that Joe and Marybeth continue ignoring Sheridan’s distress. They’re too wrapped up in other things to ask her what is going on and find out about Wacey much sooner. Some of the minor actors and actresses in the series have been hit and miss while the southern accents aren’t necessary. Still, the episode had some genuinely good moments, some of which were emotionally effective.

In particular, the flashback scenes with Joe and Victor are usually pretty deep. It was also sad to see April left behind, but good that the Pickett family was willing to help. The episode wasn’t bad and the series is watchable. I just wish the episodes didn’t feel like a chore to watch from start to finish. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. All Joe Pickett recaps will be available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.