Hunting Season – The episode begins with Bree Buckley (Melissa Benoist) waking up at Cane Buckley’s (Jake Weary) house. She asks him if they have found DEA Agent Marcus Sanchez (Gerardo Celasco) yet. He tells her to go back to sleep, and they will talk about that later.
Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany) arrives at the fish house to find Grady (Topher Grace) waiting for him in his office. Harlan asks what he’s doing there. Grady tells him he brought payroll. Harlan says they should let their men deal with that, but Grady tells him he needs to lighten now that he’s got the Sheriff in his pocket and the DEA isn’t an issue. Grady tells him he’s got an emergency shipment that needs to go out ASAP. Harlan tells him he isn’t going to do it, even after Grady tells him that it comes with a bonus. Grady tells him he needs to start trusting him, and they could start by going hunting together.
Bree wakes up at Cane’s house this time in much better condition and asks about Marcus. He tells her the hotel maid found him, and his death has been ruled an overdose. She tells him about taking photos of Marcus using. Cane tells her she was protecting her family, and if he didn’t shoot up now, he likely would have later. The conversation is briefly interrupted when Harlan calls.
Diller Hopkins (Brady Hepner) is walking along when Grady stops and asks why he isn’t in school. Diller tells him they are on break this week. Grady asks him what they are going to do and tells him to get in the car.
Harlan and Belle Buckley (Maria Bello) count the money Grady left them. Belle is convinced he is a psychopath, but Harlan insists he can be controlled. He asks if she’s talked to Freeman at the bank. She says they are okay now because they are being very lenient. Things are interrupted when Harlan receives a call from Grady, informing him that he’s taken Diller hunting at Tanner’s Trail.
Cane and Bree discuss destroying Marcus’s evidence. She says she doesn’t want to be nosy but asks where Peyton Buckley (Danielle Campbell) is. He tells her about Peyton going to her folks’ place. He offers for her to get some more sleep, but she says she can’t get the image out of her head because it was similar to the night granddad died. Cane says she was asleep when their granddad died. She tells him the truth about the whole night. He apologized that she had to see what happened.
Belle is at the restaurant looking for Bree when Annie Whitley (Chelsea Harris) from the bank shows up with some documents from Freeman. Belle sits down and looks at the papers. Shawn West (Rafael L Silva) sees her and stops to ask if she is okay. She tells him that she isn’t and gets up and walks off.
Harlan arrives at Tanner’s Trail and tries to get Diller to leave, but he is more interested in the hunting. He and Grady eventually talk him into joining them for a bit. At one point, Harlan and Grady end up alone. Harlan tells him the boat runs have to be done his way. Grady says he just wants him to show a little bit of flexibility and respect.
Belle meets with Wes Benson (Dave Annable) to show him the papers the bank sent. He tells her he knows what the papers are. She asks if that was his plan all along. He says that’s not fair, and he thought this was going to go another way. He then asks if Harlan even knows about the deal. She doesn’t answer but offers to wire him $800,000 as a promissory. He tells her that the ship has sailed and foreclosure papers have been filed. She spends a few minutes trying to convince him to do things another way, but he practically tells her this might be for the best and provide her with an opportunity at a new way of life.
Bree asks Cane when Peyton is coming back and if her being gone has anything to do with Jenna Tate (Humberly Gonzalez). Cane doesn’t answer. She asks if he is sleeping with Jenna. He says he is married to Peyton and would have married her even if she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
Harlan wants to quit hunting, but Grady says he hasn’t snagged one yet. Harlan offers him one of his to take back. Grady says that when he does something like that, it makes it impossible for him not to like him. Harlan tells him he still can’t come by the shop and spring an emergency shipment on him. Grady says he can understand that and goes for a bird, but instead, hits Diller. Minutes later, they are in the emergency room.
Bree and Belle learn about Diller at the same time and rush to the hospital. An agitated Bree arrives and demands to know everything. Not long after that, Diller’s father and stepmother arrive but can’t get in to see him because Bree is already with him. Cane calls Jenna. She says she thought they weren’t going to see each other anymore. He tells her he is calling her. She asks if everything is okay. He tells her a lot is wrong, but he doesn’t want to talk about it. She reminds him of how he used to calm her down when they were in school together.
Belle goes off on Harlan about Grady shooting Diller. Harlan says he will take care of it, but she doesn’t accept that. She says she wants Grady out of their lives. He says he can fix that. She tells him that if he thinks he can fix everything, he should fix what’s going on with the bank and gives him the foreclosure papers.
Bree breaks the news to Diller’s dad about him getting shot, and he doesn’t handle it so well. She tries explaining how he was with Harlan when the whole thing went down, but that only makes matters worse. Diller’s dad and stepmother go back to see him. Belle comes out and can tell that Bree has been using before she goes outside. Outside, she encounters Grady, who has shown up with balloons. Belle accuses him of shooting Diller and punches him. Grady’s man grabs her from behind but Shawn jumps in kicks his butt. Just as Shawn is about to go for Grady, security shows up, and Shawn ends up leaving with Belle.
Belle asks Shawn where he learned to fight like that. He says he’s gay in small-town Texas and started in martial arts when he was a kid. He asks her who Grady and the other man are. She tries telling him it was a misunderstanding, but he doesn’t buy it. He tells her about researching the Buckleys and reading about Harlan’s father. He pushes for more, but she tells him things are complicated and she wouldn’t know where to start.
Cane goes to see Jenna and says he came to break the rule he made. He then tells her that all day, all he can think about is what they are supposed to be. They end up kissing and making love. Elsewhere, Harlan is at the fish house looking at the foreclosure papers when he hears a noise downstairs. He goes to see what it is and finds himself surrounded by several of Grady’s men. Grady says he really tried with the hunting trip, but things got messed up and blamed on him. Grady proceeds to tell him the story about how he acquired his yacht and accidentally went swimming with jellyfish. Grady eventually has his men hold Harlan down while he puts several jellyfish on his chest. Grady threatens his whole family if Harlan doesn’t start falling in line. This is where the episode ends.
The Waterfront Review
This was another long-winded episode that could have been much, much better if they cut the run time and dialogue. The bit where Grady shot Diller was pretty embarrassing. This whole thing was bad writing and should have been scrapped. Better yet, Grady should have shot him on purpose. That would have even been more impactful than the jellyfish. It was pretty obvious that Cane was going to hook up with Jenna. I didn’t expect Shawn to be a fighter. I expected him to stand up for the family at some point, but I didn’t think he would have actual skills. I’d have to give this episode a 5.4 out of 10.
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