Outer Range Review: Broken Time

Not all is well in Wyoming, and Outer Range Season 2 Episode 6 kicks things off with the surety that Autumn is Amy, and Rhett is finally figuring more into the picture.

If there’s been an overarching issue with the Outer Range series so far, it’s been covering all of the various characters and subplots it has going on.

Rhett and Marie have been a part of the whole, yet it feels like they are almost entirely irrelevant to the plot.

We also get more of a glimpse into Rebecca and Amy’s doings, another two that feel almost irrelevant.

If not for their presence in terms of the aura they set over the entire Abbott family, they could easily be forgotten.

On the bright side, it looks like Joy took Royal’s advice, telling her wife Martha all about her four years in the 1880s.

It pays off, as Martha looks and sounds more than willing to be patient with Joy as the latter recovers from her ordeal.

Autumn/Amy’s experience with the mineral from the black hole seems to have made her lose her grip on reality.

While that’s probably not the case (the world is strange when there’s a gaping, perfectly circular black hole in the middle of a Wyoming pasture), it plays out that way on screen.

Things move pretty quickly, and we get a little added drama between Autumn/Amy and Rhett’s lover interest, Maria.

The problem is that Rhett and Maria are often afterthoughts on this show, so the series makes it difficult to conjure up any anticipation or worry over either of them.

Outer Range throws something new and spooky into the mix as well.

A strange zinging sound in the ears of those with experience with the black hole or minerals on the property, right before passing out.

It affects Joy and Perry simultaneously, though both are currently in different timelines.

We do get a semi-answer on the linear versus nonlinear timeline question, as Wayne Tillerson remembers an event in which the time-hopping Perry was involved in decades prior.

It’s not wholly definitive, but the Outer Range Season 2 Episodes 6 and 7 give the impression the showrunners will tidy up some loose ends and leave the rest hanging for season 3.

Joy is still struggling with her four-year hiatus, while Perry deals with the likelihood that his entire journey to find his lost wife Rebecca was a waste of time.

Perry and Joy are probably the most interesting characters of the bunch.

Their parts are well-acted, and you can see the struggle on their faces as they tackle things that should not be.

That’s not to say the overall cast is lessened in their presence.

Wayne Tillerson channels his dark side more in the last two episodes than he did in the entire first season.

At the very least, his role as one of the primary antagonists is assured.

His blind side is the growing rift between his two sons, which Luke ultimately puts an end to.

Wayne Tillerson’s quest for the west pasture has now cost him two sons, while turning the third into an adversary.

It’s hard to imagine reconciliation between Wayne and Luke at this point.

When Wayne discovers what Luke has done to Billy, he leaves Luke a voicemail that is anything but a cheerful hello.

If I’d known your true colors, I’d have called you Cain. What’s left of your soul will melt your poisonous heart.

Wayne Tillerson

The result of the Luke versus Billy affair drives Wayne over the edge.

Wayne goes from obsessing over the hole in the Abbott’s western pasture to actively speaking to it.

Wayne is a character that, to put things lightly, is a trifle unstable.

But, maybe there’s a method to his madness, as something in the darkness answers his call, leading him to experience the real thing for himself and jumping right in.

Perry’s storyline throws another wrench in the works as he arrives back in the future and finds himself fighting Trevor.

In his attempt to stop the fight, Trevor ends up killing the Perry in this timeline.

The Perry that shows up in time to witness his own death, carries himself to the edge of the dark hole and drops himself in. Now, a whole new can of worms just opened up.

Outer Range looks to take a different route from traditional time travel rules and mechanics, throwing them both out the window.

In one instance, Martha sees a picture of Joy in an 1880s photograph suggesting a linear time.

In another, Perry sees himself killed — a self that has yet to leap into the hole and travel back.

Since he is now dead before he can go back, how is he able to cart off his own body when he returns?

Should he not have ceased to exist?

While the easy answer is to point the finger and say that the show messed up, it’s simply too easy to take on its face.

While this doesn’t address the potential time paradox, it tells the audience that nothing happening on this show is a foregone conclusion.

On the one hand, this is a good thing, as it answers a question.

On the other hand, it may be a bad move for the writers.

If nothing is a certainty, even the death of a major character, it’s more difficult to invest in them and worry about the potential pitfalls in their paths.

Moving on to Rebecca, episode 7 reveals more of her than any previous episode. It’s a little disappointing.

While there is still plenty of room for Rebecca to grow, right now, she’s nothing more than an ex-wife who ran off with her daughter out of spite.

Autumn/Amy makes short and easy work of her.

To be fair, Outer Range is decent at subverting expectations, and there may be more to Rebecca than meets the eye (a potential, future antagonist, perhaps?).

Autumn/Amy, able to capitalize on Rebecca’s selfish desires, kidnaps the young Amy to throw her in the hole for reasons only known to her and possibly Luke.

It’s a fitting end to a season with a few ups and downs but an overall more intriguing storyline than Season 1.

There are a ton of questions demanding answers. Perry isn’t even in the current timeline, though he’s only a few days behind everyone else.

There’s also the simple fact that there should be no Perry at all.