The Soil
Episode 5 of Outer Range picks up right where we left off. Wayne skips away from the hole, laughing maniacally. Royal is left knocked out on the ground. “I found it!” Wayne says as he bursts back into the house and sees the boys. However, he soon collapses n the ground, that same bloody rock rolling across the ground. There are brief flashes here of a strange charred black figure grabbing a young Wayne by the legs. It’s a brief flicker of a time gone by, but in the present day Wayne’s collapse prompts the boys to call an ambulance and take him to hospital. Meanwhile, Royal awakens to find himself a bloody, bruised mess. As he collects up his gear and walks away from the hole, he reflects back on his strange dream where he’s told “Time’s a motherf*cker.” He also sees Wayne being taken away in the ambulance too. In the morning, Autumn sneaks into Royal’s house, looking for the necklace Royal won in that poker game. She’s frazzled, desperate for it to be returned. Cecilia is not happy, pointing out it was won fair and square. She’s equally displeased about her break-in and points a gun at her. Autumn is desperate, believing it to be a ward against what’s coming. She has a sort of sixth sense, as we’ve seen across this season, and there’s a lot we don’t know about her. Royal heads off to see Dr Nia, enquiring about the necklace. She confirms that the outside is made of amber but she’s not sure what’s encased inside. The only way to be certain is to run some tests. Their laser would allow for complete compositional make-up. However, when Royal checks a photo up on the wall, he notices a tanker for BY9, which is the same one he saw in the future visions several episodes back. Off the back of this, he decides to leave, trying to do some research into what this BY9 is. While this is going on, a flustered Cecilia accidentally burns a tea towel that’s left by the side of the gas stove. Part of the reason for this stems from an earlier conversation with Patricia at the Tillerson ranch, which certainly left her rattled. Anyway, as she opens up the window to get some air in, Cecilia notices a dead baby bear outside. She drives out to the wilderness and, specifically, to a wooden shed. After digging a hole outside, she drags the carcass inside and shuts the door. Meanwhile Sherriff Joy starts to suspect Perry may actually be Trevor’s killer. The election is in three weeks’ time but Joy is more interested in solving this case. She talks to her colleague about the horrors of racism she experienced in the past, specifically over how “white folks don’t get charged for attacking Indian girls on a reservation.” Based on this, and her gut instinct, she believes Perry is the real culprit. Wayne survives his ordeal (and Billy’s latest musical rendition) and ends up recovering back home. While he’s incapacitated, the family contemplate how to move forward with the ranch. Specifically, Cecilia quizzes just why Wayne wants the Abbott’s land. The boys aren’t so sure. That night, Royal returns with the necklace and locks it up in a vice, smashing it open and seeing what’s inside. As he holds he dust in his hands, it inexplicably turns into strange black goo that merges into his skin. Royal notices himself lying dead on the floor. Autumn is wearing a yellow shirt and calls out to him.
The Episode Review
This chapter slows things down considerably as we don’t really get much movement on the plot beyond Royal cracking open the amber and finding the strange black dust inside. Sure, we get confirmation that Joy suspects Perry, and Wayne is now incapacitated, but beyond that there’s not a whole lot else to cling to. Thankfully there’s another episode released this week but the slow pacing that last week’s double-bill adopted is back here but given this is the shortest episode of the season, it perhaps shouldn’t feel like the longest. Thankfully the final 5 minutes are intriguing enough to stick with and the acting is compelling across the board. There’s still the subject of the questionable song choices here, which don’t always work as effectively as they perhaps should. However, this is still an enticing show and the ending definitely leaves the door open for more.
