Outer Range Season 1 Episode 5 Recap

The show begins with Wayne Tillerson (Will Patton) knocking Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) out from behind. Elated, he drives away, leaving Royal lying on the crown. When he arrives home, he informs Billy Tillerson (Noah Reid) and Luke Tillerson (Shaun Sipos) that he found it. Holding the rock in his hand, he has a flashback of being a young boy. Something crawls out of the dark hole toward young Wayne (Thaddeus Wojcik). Back to the present, he collapses to the floors. EMT arrive to transport Wayne to the hospital. Luke rides in the back of the ambulance with Wayne while Billy remains at home.

Royal appears to be floating when he encounters a beaten Trevor Tillerson (Matt Lauria). Trevor yells his name and says, “Time’s a motherfu**er.” Back on land, Royal walks toward the house when he sees the ambulance and fire truck driving down the road. He drives away in his pickup truck.

Cecilia Abbott (Lili Taylor) speaks to Kath on the phone about Wayne. She asks Kath if Patricia Tillerson (Deirdre O’Connell) has power of attorney. Kath is unsure. She rushes outside to share the news with Royal, Rhett Abbott (Lewis Pullman), and Perry Abbott (Tom Pelphrey) but doesn’t reach them. Perry apologizes for his conversation with Deputy Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski). Rhett calls himself “dumb” for helping him with Trevor. Perry promises to prevent the police from taking him down for Trevor’s murder.

When Cecilia returns to the house, she suspects something is out of place. She grabs her gun before walking through the house, where she finds Autumn (Imogen Poots). Autumn explains how no one answered the door when she knocked. She identifies herself. Cecilia orders her to remove everything from her pockets. She tells her that Royal has something that belongs to her. Cecilia reminds her that Royal won the necklace fairly in a poker game. She assures her that she will do whatever it takes to prevent her from doing what she came for. Autumn tells her that it has already happened.

Cecilia orders her to get out. She asks if Royal’s behavior is different. Cecilia asks what she is referring to. She suggests he is keeping things from her

Deputy Matt (Matthew Maher) informs Joy that he has collected a list of employees and their schedules for the past week. A bird sits on the peak of the roof. She asks if he was able to speak with anyone. He tells her about someone named Hector who appears to utilize different phone numbers.

Joy meets with Hector. Showing him a photo of the Abbott family, she asks if he saw any of the men in the parking lot. He picks out Perry.

Royal visits the University of Wyoming to speak with Dr. Nia Bintu (Yrsa Daley-Ward). She informs him of her conversation with Wayne several weeks ago about a land survey. He shows her Autumn’s necklace. She asks where it came from. He asks if she can identify it. She says the exterior is amber, which may be “stabilizing whatever is inside.” She offers to research it further if he would agree to leave it. He sees a photo of her, with several people standing in front of a BY9 tank. He refuses to leave it.

Royal visits the librarian (Ava Del Cielo) to research BY9. He gets a phone number, which is no longer in service.

Cecilia is at Bible study. Kathy (Beth Bailey) asks her how she feels about today’s reading. She admits to feeling lost. Kathy offers to pray for her. All the ladies pray for Cecilia. Kathy asks if she would like to join them in checking on Patricia, Billy, and Luke. They arrive at the Tillerson Farm, with food. Patricia asks Cecilia if her family is “alive and kicking.” Cecilia tries to talk to Patricia, but she isn’t interested. She asks Kath to tell all of them what the Bible says about murder.

Cecilia is stressed when she arrives home. A rag gets caught on fire when she starts the teakettle. The fire alarm catches her attention. She puts the fire out. While opening the window, she notices something lying on the ground outside. She rushes outside to find a dead bear. She drags the baby cub across the yard and puts it in her vehicle. She digs a grave. Instead of burying the cub, she puts it in a shed.

Laying beside Wayne, Billy sings “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” In a possible flashback, Billy asks Wayne his opinion on animal souls after death. Wayne says he believes they are swallowed up by the earth and occasionally get spit out. He says animals want to avenge the death of their families. Billy asks if he would desire vengeance for his own death. Billy stares at the rock Wayne had in his hand when he fell conscious. He places the rock in his hand.

Luck curses Wayne because there is no power of attorney. Patricia assures him that it is possible to get the bank to do whatever they want. She suggests he be more like Wayne. He reminds her that he isn’t his father. She questions why he wanted the west pasture of the Abbott Farm. Billy denies knowing anything. She tells him that he needs to get the west pasture.

Joy discusses her conversations with Perry about Rebecca. Matt reminds her that the sheriff’s election is only three weeks away. He assures her that the locals understand it takes time to solve a murder. She asks if he believes Perry, is the guilty party. Matt describes him as a “good man.” She tells him about a classmate’s uncle and his friend who offered her a lift home. She claims to have known something back would happen if she accepted their offer. She escaped but the local officials refused to charge the men because they were white, and she was an Indian girl. She says Perry did it.

Cecilia is cleaning when Perry asks about Royal. She tells him that he left early. He asks what is going on with Royal. When she says he has always been like this, he admits it is in him too.

Perry goes for a beer, where he encounters Autumn. She asks him about Royal. They ask each other what they are doing out so late. He invites her to a rock and roll bar.

Rhett goes out for a drink, where he sees Maria Olivares (Isabel Arraiza). They have sex.

Autumn says her family believes she is “defective.” He assures her that his family feels the same about him. She asks how he and his wife met. He says they met while attending UW. He tells her about their arguments about her returning home to Bakersville, California. Crying, he says their last argument was the last one. He suggests she just walked away or got tired of it. She suggests he could understand what become of her without actually knowing. He asks what she is talking about. She says it could be bigger than everyone.

Cecilia reads the Bible when Royal pulls up. He takes Autumn’s necklace to the barn and crushes it into pieces. When he rubs it across his palm, it begins to tremor violently. He pants as he sees Cecilia kneeling beside him on the ground. She nods to Autumn who says his name. He pants as he looks at his hands, which are covered in what looks like black soot when the episode comes to an end.

Outer Range Review

The worst episode yet. Joy’s rant about getting attacked by two white men who were never charged because of their race was unnecessary. Dialogue like this makes this entire show uncompelling. Instead of focusing on the investigation, they feel the need to rant about racism when it is inappropriate.

The episode added nothing to the story. The show should have never been eight episodes. Maybe six would have been better, but not eight. The pace is gruelingly slow.

The best part about the show is the acting. At least, there wasn’t as much singing as in the previous episodes.

The poor lighting in the night scenes alters the visibility of the characters and their surroundings.

The episode deserves a 5.5. Get more Outer Range recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link.