All The World’s A Stage – The episode opens in the West Pasture where Deputy Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski) emerges from the black hole. Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) witnesses her return. En route to the county hospital, he prods her with questions about her gunshot wound. She asks why he was at the black hole. He reminds her that it is on Abbott land. She has a flashback of slicing Abel Grubs’ (Casey Adams) and shooting a settler in the head.

Cecilia Abbott (Lili Taylor) is awakened from a nightmare by Autumn Rivers (Imogen Poots). She becomes hysterical when Autumn mentions packing. In a convenience store, Royal is buying water when he sees Deputy Jess Chinlund (Sam Strike) pull up beside the gas pump. As he emerges from the store, Jess greets him. Royal asks about his father, Earl Chinlund. Jess says he is okay before apologizing about Amy Abbott (Olive Abercrombie) who is missing. When Royal gets in his truck, he tells Joy about Jess and passes her a bottle of water. He looks back to see the cruiser trailing behind them. She suggests going to Wind River to lose them because she doesn’t feel like being interrogated.

Officer Edgar (Tatanka Means) tells Officer Daniel (Tokala Black Elk) tells about a time traveler from 1982. Seeing Royal’s truck approaching, they emerge from the cruiser. During a routine stop, Daniel sees Joy in the passenger seat. She says Royal is transporting her to IHS. Edgar goes with Joy and Royal while Daniel leaves Jess waiting in his cruiser.

Autumn takes an unwilling Cecilia to church. She scolds Pastor Ken (Johnny Sneed) for refusing to give the Abbott family $500k to save their ranch. Ken claims the church doesn’t have that kind of money. Cecilia asks why Autumn would go the church when her family is rich. Autumn tries to call her mother and sister but both of their numbers have been disconnected. Ken calls her a “dime-store philosopher” with nothing of value. Cecilia says his actions are unchristian. Outside, she compares Autumn’s anger to that of Amy’s.

Edgar asks Royal if he harmed Joy. Royal has a flashback of shooting his father when he was young. Jess removes his gun holster belt and lays it on Daniel’s cruiser. He asks if Joy is all right and places his badge beside the rest of his gear. Nurse Ava IHS (Ava Ticotin) escorts Royal to Joy’s room. Joy thanks Royal before explaining how she time-traveled through the black hole on his property. She says while she was with the Shoshones, little Royal (Teaguen Arbogast) killed his father to save her. Royal claims to have believed it was a hunting accident. He points out that she only went missing several days ago but she claims to have spent four years with the Shoshone. Royal warns her against keeping it inside and admits to keeping it from Cecilia for 50 years. Upon leaving the hospital, Royal has a flashback about his first encounter with 8-year-old Cecilia (Daria Droteva) when he had a seizure.

Cecilia orders Autumn to stay in the truck before knocking on Lewis’ door. He emerges and threatens to shoot her. Armed with a tire iron, Autumn emerges from the truck and threatens Lewis. Cecilia apologizes for pulling a shotgun on him. He reluctantly lowers his gun and calls Rachel Abbott. When Amy gets on the phone, he hands his phone to Cecilia. Amy accuses Cecilia of running Rachel off and says she doesn’t want to talk to her.

Joy tells Jess that she was abducted at a liquor store by potential meth addicts. She says they took her to a cabin. He stresses the need to get a composite sketch of her assailants out there. She expresses her desire to move past it. Once alone, she calls Martha Hawk (Morningstar Angeline). They both break down crying.

Upon returning home, Autumn and Cecilia find Luke Tillerson’s (Shaun Sipos) truck in the driveway. Luke gives Autumn some of Billy Tillerson’s minerals from the black hole. Placing it in her hand, he tells her to consume it before driving away. Royal escorts Cecilia to the West Pasture where the black hole has reopened. Ingesting some of the minerals, Autumn’s eyes turn black and she collapses to the floor. Getting up on her knees, she looks in the mirror and sees Amy staring back at her. Royal tells Cecilia that he wants her with him. She promises nothing will change as the episode opens.

 

Outer Range Review

Joy meets young Royal in the 1880s. Royal’s father is an abusive brute. Royal intervenes to save Joy and kills his father. To avoid prosecution, he enters the black hole. Joy goes in after him but somewhere along the way, they get separated. Royal believed he accidentally shot his father while they were out hunting.

Royal finds Joy suffering from a gunshot wound when she returns to the present. She seeks treatment at IHS to delay the bombardment of questions. In the meantime, she concocts an abduction story but plans to tell Martha the truth.

Lewis puts Cecilia in touch with Amy. The short phone call doesn’t end well. Amy wants nothing to do with Cecilia because she made Rachel leave Wabang.

Cecilia gets her first sighting of the back hole. Autumn ingests some of the minerals from the West Pasture. She sees herself as Amy in the mirror.

 

Story progression is comparable to a snail’s pace. It is unfortunate that time travel was put on the backburner and precious screen time was absorbed by fluff. It misses the mark by a mile. The badly unbelievable acting only makes matters worse.

It’s hypocritical to make up a story about being abducted by meth addicts. It’s an insult to anyone struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

The episode deserves a 5 out of 10.

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