Buck Wild – As this episode of Joe Pickett begins, Joe Pickett meets Alisha Whiteplume (Cheryl De Luca) at the school because he wants to talk about Sheridan. Joe explains that Sheridan saw the protest and the punch. It scared her bad so he is worried about her. At the hospital, Marybeth asked him if he was trying to get himself killed. He insists it wasn’t his fault those men attacked him. Joe knew Klamath’s men were dangerous, but that wasn’t right. When he tried to stop them and got beat up, he remembers Marybeth asking that same question. Alisha will talk to Sheridan although she is more worried about him.

She asks about depression, alcoholism, or violence in his family. When she asks about suicide, Joe says his brother. Alisha believes that is depression in his family. She questions whether he recently had a loss in his family, but Joe insists it isn’t about that. Joe says he can see just fine and they’re talking about Sheridan instead of that. Alisha says her door is always open if he wants to talk some more although Joe says he won’t. Before he leaves, Alisha tells him she can help him put that heavyweight he is carrying down. Joe Pickett (Michael Dorman) and Luke Brueggeman (Keean Johnson) wait at the airport for Buck Lothar. Joe says the governor has to make it look like he tried everything before Klamath shuts down hunting season.

Buck (Patrick Garrow) introduces himself to them seconds later. As they drive, Buck says it is no wonder people hate Joe because of the weasel situation. Joe asks him to keep it civil and concentrate on the case since they don’t like each other. Buck insists he likes him because he has sold a lot of pillows thanks to him. Marybeth (Julianna Guill) tries to find out more about the Bull Grove Foundation. She asks Blaire Urman (Julianne Christie) because Frank has been making monthly contributions to it for years. Marybeth doesn’t think it is a tax shelter. Blaire claims not to know anything about it. She is busy watching Klamath speak about Frank being a hunter. Blaire offers to check Frank’s computer files since there could be something there.

Marybeth says it is okay since it is probably nothing. Chris Urman (Josh Collins) approaches Klamath (Aaron Dean Eisenberg) to tell him to leave his uncle alone. Chris says he is as bad as the psycho killing these innocent people. Klamath argues that Frank got what he deserved and he is just sharing that with the world. When Joe shows up, he has to stop Chris from attacking Klamath. Once Chris calms down, he says he is sorry for losing it. Joe tries to convince Chris that they’re going to find Frank’s killer while Buck takes pictures with his fans. Randy Pope thanks Buck for coming. Joe learns that Randy also brought in Wally Conway because he trusts him. They start talking about the murder weapon with Wally saying it is a 30-caliber weapon.

Buck goes on about the configurations that use a 30-caliber and says this tells them nothing. Randy tells them the importance of getting the killer. Buck thinks they’ll have it covered. Nate Romanowski (Mustafa Speaks) visits Big Merle who discreetly tells him about the men inside the house. Nate comes in firing and takes care of them. He tells Merle that he was attacked three weeks ago near Twelve Sleep River. He keeps getting the feeling that it is Mark V. He wonders why they’d be coming after them after all these years. Merle says he will handle it before urging Nate to get gone. Joe and the others wait for Buck to make up his mind. Buck doesn’t think the crime scene is helpful because too many people have trampled on it.

They’ll have to start their search from zero so there will be a lot of walking today. Frank was dragged to the crime scene so they’ll need to find out where he was shot. Joe and Buck argue about methods they should use to aid their search. Joe says Frank was hunting so he would’ve wanted to get a vantage point. He points out the ridge nearby. Buck notices marks on the ground where Frank’s body might’ve been dragged. Marybeth joins Missy (Sharon Lawrence) who talks about the men in her life. Marybeth tells her mom about Klamath and what happened to Joe. She isn’t sure what her plan is yet. Missy goes back to talking about her men. During Sheridan’s class, the teacher brings in Klamath to speak to the kids.

Klamath speaks out against hunting. Sheridan (Skywalker Hughes) argues with Klamath about hunters. Joe and the others find a rock with blood splatter on it. Randy speaks to Wally in private while Joe finds a footprint. Buck says it is fresh so the killer could still be out there. Buck and Wally argue about whether they should go now. Joe eventually splits them up and reminds them to focus on finding the killer. Then, he gets a call from the school about Sheridan’s argument with Klamath. The teacher says she didn’t want to send Sheridan home, but they have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying. Joe learns that she bullied Klamath. Joe decides to give her ice cream. Meanwhile, Klamath’s friend thinks he went a little too hard on that girl today.

Klamath believes they can get publicity by invading a school. He says he’ll be out late tonight working because he can’t rest until their mission is complete. When Joe and Sheridan get back, Marybeth says her phone died and she called the school when she got the message. Joe tells her about Klamath visiting Sheridan’s class today. He goes on to say he is working with two guys who may be just as obnoxious as Klamath. Joe admits he has been down lately, but he is working on it and talking to someone. Joe leaves and returns to the others. He handcuffs Wally Conway to his steering wheel and leaves Luke to watch over him. Once he goes back to Buck, he tells him he thinks it was two brothers.

Joe tells him about his horse and how the brothers almost killed him. Buck suspects people didn’t believe him because no one trusts a lone man in the wild. He believes the killer is well over six feet so it could be one of the brothers. They head into the woods. Nate visits Cricket (Aadila Dosani) who wants him she is going to shoot him one of these days. She suspects he is going to leave her, but she’d hoped a part of him had changed. Cricket doesn’t want him to contact her again. They hear a knock. Nate tells Cricket to go. When someone bursts through the door, Nate shoots them. Their vehicle is chased by another car. Once they get away, Nate argues that they’ll have to stick together now since they’ve been spotted together.

Marybeth comforts Sheridan and says this’ll be over and Klamath will be gone when Joe solves the case. She learns that Klamath might be targeting kids so that could be criminal. Luke keeps Wally company in the truck. Wally urges Luke to free him. Joe doesn’t understand why the killer took every precaution when he went after Frank yet he was sloppy today. Buck doesn’t say since he just wants to smoke him. They continue talking until Buck notices a broken spider web that tells him someone has been through there. Marybeth finds a news article about Klamath Moore attacking a grade school teacher. While Joe is in the woods, he starts thinking about the Grim Brothers and his horse.

He hears someone telling Buck to drop his weapon. Buck begins screaming and shooting at the person but gets shot. Luke and Wally hear the gunshots so Wally asks to be freed again. Joe finds out that the shooter is Chris and that Buck is seriously injured. Buck dies. Joe questions why the heck Chris is out there. Chris thought he could catch the guy himself. Joe says he didn’t know because Buck didn’t mention who he was. Wally takes the gun from Luke and demands to be freed. Someone shoots Wally through the windshield and causes him to shoot Luke in the neck. Joe tells Chris to call 911 as he rushes back to the truck. Marybeth notices something when looking at the information about Klamath.

She learns that Klamath was in town when each of the men was murdered. Joe finds that Luke has been shot although he is still alive. A poker chip is in Wally’s hand.

 

Joe Pickett Review

Joe Pickett’s second season has been a mixed bag with most scenes being disappointing or silly and a few bright spots scattered throughout. One of the biggest issues with the season and the episode in particular is the fact that everything is crammed together. There is no room to breathe and having so much chaos in such a small town creates a really unrealistic situation.

Any likeability Joe Pickett had from the first season has pretty much been erased in the first four episodes of the season series. The character has been transformed into a buffoon who probably couldn’t tie his shoes without Marybeth or a grade school guidance counselor’s help. The character doesn’t inspire any confidence and instead can accurately be described as a sad sop.

The flashbacks in the first season were okay because the series was new, but Joe needs to get over this phase quickly and get his act together. Mr. Magoo Pickett is too difficult to cheer for so there isn’t anyone to care about. As for the stuff going on with Nate, it is too farfetched to genuinely work. The fact that it was thrown into a season with two other stories doesn’t help matters though.

Once again, Marybeth will be there to resolve the Klamath problem which is another storyline that just doesn’t ring true. The season has been dismal to say the least. This episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Joe Pickett can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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