A Call For Help – This episode of Joe Pickett begins six weeks earlier. Frank Urman (Marc Gaudet) hangs out with a hunter. Randy Pope (Chris Gauthier) talks to Dan Garrett (Michael Jonsson). Hank Scarlett (Roger LeBlanc) sits down with them as they begin drinking beers. He asks Marissa (Tanchay Redvers) if she is going to cook for them. Later that night, Hank asks if Marissa wants to play cards. Wally Conway (Joel Jackshaw) thinks she should finish the dishes first. They tell her to get a drink because she can worry about the other stuff in the morning. Later, Marissa wakes up on the floor in the shed. She walks out and stumbles to her tent. Hank wakes her up in the morning.

After he offers her something to drink, Marissa asks what happened last night. Hank says she barfed all over the place. At home, Charlie (Sean Wei Mah) asks Marissa if she wants to play keno. Marissa says she might later and seems standoffish. Once Charlie goes inside, Marissa searches online to try to find out whether she was drugged. Then, she finds another woman who had gone through a similar experience. In the present, Joe (Michael Dorman) tells Shannon to put the knife down. When she is apprehended, a poker chip happens to fall on the ground. Joe begins zoning out until Nate (Mustafa Speaks) checks on him. Nate thinks she has a right, but Joe claims no one has that right.

Joe calls his wife to say it wasn’t Klamath and instead was Shannon. Marybeth (Julianna Guill) asks him to come to Charlie’s house because this isn’t over yet. When Joe makes it to his wife, he begins having flashbacks. They go inside Charlie’s house and listen to another woman who had a bad experience with the hunters. She tells them about meeting Hank where she worked. He invited her out on a hunting trip. He offered to pay her $1,000. It surprised her that there were many other guys on the trip but they were nice. They drank too much. She blacked out and made bad decisions. She thinks she might’ve slept with Hank. Marissa called her a year later. Although she blamed herself, Marissa said she blacked out too.

Gloria says that is when she realized what really happened to her. Charlie doesn’t know why she couldn’t come to him for help. Gloria says she was afraid that he would’ve killed those men. Marissa wanted to get more statements from other survivors, but Gloria never heard from her again. Charlie knew his daughter was up to something because he saw her looking stuff up on her computer. Joe suspects her disappearance wasn’t a coincidence. He mentions that Hank is still alive. Marybeth says whoever took the photo is still alive too. They confront Sheriff Barnum (Patrick Gallagher) to tell him that Marissa was kidnapped or killed. Marybeth says they have statements from 12 different women who were assaulted by the hunters. Barnum tells McLanahan (Chad Rook) to help Charlie get a missing person’s report because they’ll need it for the warrant.

Marybeth and Joe say they need to move on Hank before he finds out. Barnum agrees to call the DA and get on this right away. Joe says they don’t have time to get a search warrant and need to arrest Hank now. Barnum thinks it’ll be tough to get the judge on their side unless the girls say Hank tried to kill them. Joe suggests he can get Hank himself. Barnum tells him not to do that because he could get killed or get the department sued. Joe says they’re going to have a problem if Barnum drags his feet on this. Outside, Joe tells Marybeth that Barnum isn’t going to do anything and the case is going to die. Marybeth suggests otherwise because they can find the seventh hunter. Joe says they’re dealing with a desperate man who may find them.

Barnum closes the blinds and burns the picture because he is the one who took it. Shannon hides what appears to be a razorblade in her mouth. Barnum tells her he doesn’t know what she thinks she knows. He says she obviously believes he and his friends did something to her. The DA will want her dead for what she did. It’ll go a long way if the sheriff asks him not to go for the death penalty. He wants her to know that he wasn’t one of the men at the hunting party. Barnum says prisoners escape in transfers from time to time and it could happen to her. Barnum thinks running is better than being locked in a cage. Marybeth tells Joe she is waiting for calls about the seventh man, but no one has identified him yet.

They also have the unlisted number which was the last call Marissa ever made. As she continues trying to call, Joe begins having a panic attack. Joe and Marybeth argue about arresting Hank Scarlett. Marybeth asks if it is going to make him feel better if he goes out there and gets himself killed. Joe gets mad and throws a can at the wall. The girls come in and ask what is going on. Joe apologizes and walks out. He visits the school guidance counselor Alisha Whiteplume (Cheryl De Luca). Joe says he is cracking up and he doesn’t know what to do. People like Hank make him feel out of control. He questions who will stop them if he doesn’t.

In the truck, Joe sees a young Joe next to him. He tells young Joe to stop looking at him like that. He makes it back and speaks to Sheridan (Skywalker Hughes) who is sitting on the fence outside. Joe apologizes for what happened earlier and says it won’t happen again. Sheridan wants to know what was going on. Joe says he has been trying to show his feelings more. He doesn’t want her to be scared of him like he was scared of his dad. Sheridan says Joe would be the first person she’d call if she was ever in need of help. Joe goes inside and takes a look at the phone records. He agrees that Marissa’s last call might’ve been a call for help. Joe recognizes the area code for Durango in Colorado which is where Klamath Moore owns a ranch. Marybeth suggests Marissa was calling Shannon for help and left a voicemail.

They need to get the phone. Marybeth says they need to go to the Saddlestring Motel because the Moores never checked out. The show jumps back six weeks. Shannon comes to town to meet Marissa. She learns that Marissa had two sips of whiskey before going out. Shannon doesn’t want to talk about her experience. Marissa wants to take their statements to the police because they can’t ignore all of them. Shannon doesn’t want to be a part of it. Marissa gets upset and tells Shannon that she could’ve prevented this if she had just spoken up. Shannon did go to the police and asked for help, but the deputy called her a liar. When she wouldn’t let it go, he locked her up.

Then, he threatened to charge her with false reporting. She let it go to avoid ruining her chance in college, but she couldn’t go to college. She couldn’t concentrate and could barely get out of the house. Marissa tries to convince her to speak to the police. Shannon tells her not to put her name on that list. In the present, Barnum tells Shannon to get up because she is being transferred. She keeps the razorblade in her hand while she is being handcuffed. Barnum tells her not to do anything stupid. When Joe and Marybeth reach the motel room, Joe tries to smooth things over with Deputy McLanahan. Marybeth searches while Joe keeps him busy. Once she gets the phone, Joe rushes out of the room. Then, the show jumps back six weeks. Marissa sends a picture of one of the documents to someone before going into the station.

Joe tries to guess the passcode on the phone. Barnum is shocked to see Marissa in the station. Joe tries to use Marissa’s mugshot to unlock the phone. They find a voicemail in which Marissa tells Shannon that she was right. She went to the police and it was the sheriff. Marissa tells her that he is there because he is pulling her over. The police car continues. Marissa tells Shannon where she is before the police car approaches her. Barnum approaches her with a gun and yells at her to get out of the car. He shoots her. She tries to run only to get shot again. Barnum takes the phone and backpack. He makes it look like a vehicle accident. Joe and Marybeth talk about Barnum who is keeping Shannon in isolation.

Marybeth worries that he is going to kill her. Joe tells her to take the voicemail to DCI because he is going to stop Barnum. The Sheriff has Shannon in his vehicle. He tells her that her statement wasn’t in the folder that the girl brought to the station. Barnum suggests she felt guilty about not going with her. Joe goes to the station and learns that Barnum is alone with Shannon. He goes outside and calls Marybeth to say Barnum is taking Shannon to Rawlins. Joe tells her to stick to the plan. Shannon asks when Barnum is going to pull over and let her escape. When she tries to make her move, Barnum swerves and causes her to drop the razorblade.

Barnum says Frank was his best friend so he would string her up if it wasn’t such a mess. He’ll still make it bad for her. Barnum calls on the radio that she has escaped and asks them to send reinforcements. He notices a vehicle stopped on the road. When he gets out, Marybeth gets out and approaches him with a shotgun. She says she is taking custody of his prisoner.

 

Joe Pickett Review

Unfortunately, the second series of Joe Pickett has been a steep decline in quality compared to the first which wasn’t great either. The camerawork could’ve been a lot better in the early scenes at the campsite. Joe’s constant need to visit a school guidance counselor is pretty annoying because it makes the character look like such a turd. The flashbacks could’ve been spaced a little more.

The twist revelation wasn’t all that surprising considering there were so few characters to pinpoint as the seventh hunter. The biggest issue has been the unbelievable writing though. Nothing ever goes right for Joe until everything is too easy for him. Deputy McLanahan being a Gomer Pyle and allowing Joe to get the phone was one eye-rolling moment. Letting Marybeth somehow find out where Barnum is going to be was another.

Joe is really being put on the backburner with his tail between his legs while Marybeth does everything for him. With the way the series is going, Joe will probably end up being killed and it’ll be renamed Marybeth Pickett. What is going on with the rest of the series such as Nate being hunted and the Grim brothers?

With this type of writing, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was the last season of Joe Pickett. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Joe Pickett can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.