Outer Range season 1 episodes 7 and 8 recaps & review

Prime Video’s Outer Range is a mystery thriller set in Wyoming, USA, where a rancher and his family face supernatural occurrences when they discover a mysterious portal on the western part of their land.

Episode 7 recap: “The Unknown”

The seventh episode of Outer Range, like many of its predecessors, kicks off with a flashback. This time it is a skating rink where a young Perry (Jackson Dean Vincent) gets into a physical altercation with young Trevor — the man he would later murder.

After this rage filled memory, we skip back to the present and see Deputy Sheriff Joy escorting Perry to Jail owing his confession in the last episode.

While in custody, Perry admits to killing Trevor and says he carried his body to the cliff where it was accidentally found by his daughter, Amy. Joy also inquires about his missing wife, Rebecca’s whereabouts from him but he says he really does not know.

Back at the Abbott ranch, the family goes on about their day without much interaction. We get a short glimpse of Autumn smoking outside her new motel room and then Royal driving to court with Cecilia.

The two are told that they need to pay $500,000 in order to bail out their son and not having that kind of money, Cecilia quickly mortgages the ranch. The condition is that Perry has to show for the next hearing or else the property will be seized by the county.

Once back, Perry has a heartfelt conversation with Amy and apologises to her for not being the better man and walking away from the fight with Trevor. This is followed by Amy too enquiring about her mom’s whereabouts and Perry still has no answer.

This question about Rebecca is then carried over to Royal by Perry and even though Royal says he has no idea, Perry makes it vocal that he doesn’t believe his father. Elsewhere, Joy brings Luke and Billy Tillerson up to speed about Perry’s involvement in the murder.

Luke still believes that it is the entire family who is responsible but his accusations are stopped midway by Billy who takes him to look at the mysterious pit. Meanwhile, Autumn has a heated exchange with her mother on the phone before she bursts into the bar where she usually meets Perry.

There she sees Rhett and asks him about his brother. He reveals that Perry was arrested for the murder and is out on bail. This news seems to calm Autumn down and she says that Perry is gonna be alright before walking out.

Joy, her daughter and her partner Martha are about to enjoy a family meal at a diner when they are interrupted by Frank — the member of commerce to whom Joy went for help with the elections.

After congratulating her for arresting Perry, he again mentions Mastodons and rowdy teenagers troubling his property. Initially confused, Joy agrees to investigate on Martha’s insistence.

At the Abbott’s, Cecilia goes back to the dead baby bear but is confronted by its angry mother. She kills the adult animal as well to protect herself.

Back at the motel, Billy shows up to see Autumn and confesses that he broke his father’s rock and ingested the mysterious dust. It showed him a vision of her ruling over Mother Earth, convincing him to follow her.

They kiss (quite disturbingly) and Autumn asks Billy to stop Royal before he finds her. She also brands his chest with the Abbott family crest like symbol. Incidentally, he runs into Royal who is trying to fix his broken-down car and offers him a lift.

Billy then makes a very weird conversation about God and the pit, taking Royal to the skating rink (the one shown in the beginning) at gunpoint. At the rink, he makes Royal apologise for trying to kill Autumn and threatens him to stay away from her.

Perry again has a sweet moment with Amy where he asks her to stay with her grandparents to look after them. Amy mentions that Rebecca didn’t want to stay at the ranch and asks that if she were to come back, will she be allowed to leave with her mom. Perry agrees.

As Amy leaves, we see a clearly unhinged Autumn reciting something about time in the restroom. She then confronts Perry and says he needs to know something about his dad.

In the Tillerson household, Luke tries to kill his father Wayne but is stopped by Billy. The two end up in a physical scuffle as the scene shifts to Joy. She visits Frank’s property but he is nowhere to be found. However, she sees a black line leading into the woods and decides to follow it.

Royal walks back home and Perry confronts him about the Pit (having learnt about it from Autumn). They ride to it and Royal comes clean about his past, mentioning that when he was a little boy, he once went hunting with his father.

He then accidentally shot and killed him while trying to slay a deer. Not having the guts to face his family, he ran and found the hole in the ground, jumping into it. Perry inquires about the timing of the incident and Royal reveals that when he jumped into the hole it was 1886 but on the other side it was 1968.

This confirms that it was Royal who Wayne saw as a child coming out of the void. It also reveals that Royal has been lying about not remembering his childhood and he indeed is a time-traveller.

Perry thinks that this just might be the means to get his life back on track and jumps into the hole. Much to Royal’s shock, just as Perry disappears, so does the void.

Royal breaks down as Autumn look on from afar.

Episode 8 recap: “The West”

The West starts with Joy still trailing the black line which leads her to an open field. There, she witnesses a massive herd of Bison galloping around. From there the narrative shows a quick succession of scenes — Perry falling in the void, Amy sleeping, Cecilia burying the dead bears and Royal sitting next to the closed pit in the rain.

He arms himself to the teeth to go after Autumn, knowing that it was her who convinced Perry to jump. We also see Autumn buying herself a gun for protection.

As Rhett prepares for his rodeo contest later that night, Amy gives him some encouragement and two talk about if they wish to stay at ranch forever. We then see Billy sing to the comatose Wayne as he feeds him the black dust from the rock.

Wayne appears to have a vision as well but we don’t get to see it. Luke discusses the monetary possibilities of the hole but Billy reveals to him that the void has disappeared. He also asks him to not try and kill their father as he’ll get the property eventually.

At the motel, Autumn is seen on the phone talking to a mysterious man about withdrawing money from a trust fund as Royal pulls up in the parking lot. He walks up to her room to confront her but she escapes.

Cecilia is on the verge of a breakdown as Perry is nowhere to be found. According to the court”s orders if he does not show up for the hearing, the Abbott’s loose the ranch and the bail will be rejected.

Meanwhile Autumn heads to the bank and waits for her money to be transferred. However, Maria, who works there, has a verbal spat with her for having a gun on her inside the building and orders her to wait outside.

Elsewhere on the pastures, Luke is seen digging to find the black stuff and calls his mom. He tells her about the potential of the discovery and how he tried to murder Wayne. We then see Royal driving around, hunting for Autumn but then he decides to pay Rhett a visit before his contest.

Amid the rush, Royal tries to expresses that he probably won’t return from this altercation and wants Rhett to find and take care of something. To his shock, Rhett reveals that he’s leaving town after the competition for good. Royal can’t digest this fact and leaves his son alone.

He goes back into the stands and prepares to watch Rhett but gets a call from Autumn. She tells him that she’s aware of his intentions and he cannot cheat fate. Royal disagrees and demands to know where she is. She lets him know and Royal leaves the competition to go after her.

A distracted Rhett faces trouble during his second attempt and dislocates his shoulder. Meanwhile, Amy slips past Cecilia and goes underneath the sitting area where she runs into Rebecca. Shocked to see her mom, she embraces her and asks here where she’s been all these months.

Rebecca apologises and simply says that she had to hide. Promising she’ll answer all of her questions later, Rebecca takes her daughter away. Cecilia desperately searches for her granddaughter and breaks down thinking she’s lost Amy.

As the chaos of this unfolds, Rhett manages to win despite a broken shoulder as Maria’s presence gives him the boost that he needs. The narrative shifts back to Joy who is still on the trail comes across another open ground. This time she sees a Native American camp and a few people chasing the bison herd.

Rhett convinces Maria to leave town with him and Luke’s digging finally gets him to discover the black substance but in liquid form. As he celebrates, the hole he’s dug begins to rumble and a new herd of bison rushes out of it.

Royal finally finds Autumn and the two have a stand-off before she signals Billy to start shooting from behind. Realising they missed, the two try to escape in their vehicle and Royal gives chase.

Autumn shoots at Royal but he in turn uses a sniper to pierce Billy’s neck causing their truck to crash. Royal goes to check on them and finds Billy dead. Autumn however, is still alive. Before Royal can finish her off, the herd released by Billy comes rushing towards them.

Royal hides behind one of the vehicles but Autumn is directly in their path. Consequently, the same herd causes Rhett and Maria to crash as they leave town but they’re not mortally wounded. Royal comes out from behind the car and sees a single bison standing in front of him.

It is the same one who had two arrows in its body and Autumn pulled out one of them few episodes ago. Royal pulls out the second one and observes the now unconscious Autumn. To his surprise, even though an entire herd of bison trampled her, Autumn is not hurt.

As he inspects her face closely, he discovers a scar on her forehead — at the same place where Amy recently got hurt. A montage then confirms that Autumn is Amy from the future. Distraught, Royal takes her home and tells Cecilia the story of his childhood.

He says that he wants her family back but Cecilia just throws down the dinner table with her foot. She expresses her grief at the fact that their family has been torn apart as both Perry and Amy are gone. Royal denies her statement and says Amy isn’t gone (referring to Autumn).

Review

  • Outer Range ends on a high despite some plot points being made pretty obvious before their reveal.
  • Brian Watkins returns to direct the final two episodes alongside Zev Borow (for episode 7) and delivers a thumping conclusion.
  • The character arcs aren’t wrapped up but rather thrown even more open for the season to come. A decision that is both gripping and frustrating.
  • Despite eight episodes of the show, we’re still not sure how the mysterious void works or why it disappears after Perry falls in.
  • The plot twists are mildly amusing. Royal’s true history was hinted via Wayne’s perspective and Autumn being Amy was decipherable by their conversation when the two interacted earlier in the season.
  • Some of the VFX surrounding the bison herd and the camp discovered by Joy is questionable but one can overlook it since it’s a very small part of the episode.
  • Overall, the show blends complex human relationships with a time-travelling mystery pretty well. Despite its obvious pacing issues and over use of secrecy, Outer Range is an enjoyable thriller that presents something familiar yet different.

Rating: 3.5/5


Also Read: Outer Range season 1 episodes 5 and 6 recaps & review

More from The Envoy Web