In American Rust: Broken Justice, in Pittsburgh, Del investigates a group of out-of-line cops and gets embroiled in a case that connects back home. The second season is now streaming on Prime Video.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Del is posted in the Pittsburgh Police Department now. He is working undercover for the FBI. They want him to join the brotherhood, a group of violent cops who have often crossed the limits, and help them apprehend them.
In Buell, Billy is released from prison and takes the compensation offered by DA Sue Herlitz, with no further questions.
However, Grace is not at all happy with the compensation offered. She protests, and Sue records while Grace confronts her.
While Billy gets back to his life, Grace finds herself constantly dealing with Chief of Police Steve Park, who has replaced Del since Del left for Pittsburgh.
Park is still obsessed with what happened in West Virginia. He knows Del is responsible for the murders of Jackson, Bobby Jesus, and the old lady there and has manipulated the crime scene.
Park is also aware that Grace Poe was involved in this too. They both were trying to protect Grace’s son, Billy.
When the bodies of a bartender and DA Sue Herlitz turn up, Park starts suspecting that Grace has something to do with these deaths. After all, before their deaths, both of them had a spat with Grace.
Grace is not entertaining Park’s suspicions, and his police department isn’t either. They keep asking Park to move on, but he won’t.
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Del slowly starts getting close to Vic Walker, one of the members of the brotherhood, hoping he will slip.
Vic Walker is an abuser who hurts his partner, Cynthia. Del’s partner in Pittsburgh, Angela, grows concerned about Cynthia, especially when she sees Cynthia and Vic’s texts.
Vic has sent Cynthia a selfie with a dead body and threatened that this is what he will do to her. All of this leads Angela to report Vic to Internal Affairs.
Fisher, the person leading the brotherhood who is in Internal Affairs, won’t tolerate loose ends. This dead body seems to be their work. Hence, Fisher gets rid of Vic Walker, ultimately killing the lead Del has.
Angela finds Del with Vic’s body and suspects him. However, Del is able to make his case, and the two team up with the FBI.
Ending explained:
The cases that connect
Angela and Del are also investigating the death of a man named Liam. This case connects to that of Sue Herlitz.
In this case, Liam’s wife, Nell, is the prime suspect. However, she denies any involvement until someone calls and threatens her.
Nell burns down documents from the Allegheny testing center and surrenders, confessing that she killed her own husband, which comes as a surprise.
Nell later kills herself when Lee, who has been secretly investigating Landwill Energy, a company that has been drilling and poisoning water, visits her.
Nell fears that the people of Landwill are still after her. The truth is, they were bribing Nell to fabricate the reports of their water tests.
Sue had approached Nell to fight a case against Landwill Energy, but the people at Landwill got Nell’s husband killed and scared Nell off.
The person threatening Nell is undoubtedly the one who killed Sue. In an attempt to track down this person, Del contacts the prison and looks into who visited Nell before her death. Lee’s name is there, and Del fears that her life is in danger.
The identity of Sue’s killer and multiple deaths
Isaac has been meeting and hooking up with a man named Russell, who also works at Landwill. The truth is, Russell, whose real name is possibly Cleveland, is Landwill’s fixer, responsible for Sue’s death.
Before Russell can kill Lee too, Del contacts Steve and makes a deal with him. In exchange for stopping Russell and saving Lee, Del is ready to confess his crimes in West Virginia.
Unfortunately, Russell is able to kill Lee. Steve manages to shoot Russell to death. When Del arrives, he is forced to confess his crimes. Following that, Grace arrives there and shoots Steve in the head, ensuring Del’s safety.
The aftermath
Ten weeks after these events, Del Harris becomes the sheriff of Fayette County. Del’s family mourns the death of Lee, especially Billy, who has joined the army.
Billy was going to ask Lee for marriage before leaving to join the army. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it in time to say goodbye to him. Still, she had sent him a message saying yes for a life with him.
Del, Grace, Billy, and Isaac come together. However, danger continues to hover over their heads. Hannah, Steve’s partner, who witnessed Steve’s death and Del’s confession, seems to have survived.
Meanwhile, Steve submitted his investigation against Del to Angela, who may turn on her own partner.
During the last moments of the second season, Fisher, the leader of the brotherhood, watches Del, Billy, Grace, and Isaac celebrate with a sniper rifle, intending to kill one of them.
Billy notices him and comes out of the house to look for him. A gunshot is heard, but the show doesn’t reveal what really happens.
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