Amazon's hit sci-fi Western show has returned: Outer Range season 2 picks back up the growing list of mysteries that the first season created, and adds more of its own.
Here's how to watch Outer Range season 2, and all of the episodes arrived on Thursday, May 16. In this article we're looking at episode 1, entitled 'One Night in Wabang', which picks up in the aftermath of the dramatic finale of season 1.
If you need a reminder about what happened in that first season (no shame, it came out two years ago!), our Outer Range guide will remind you of the important characters and beats of the first season.
So with that out of the way, let's jump back into this mysterious drama show.
The aftermath of the stampede
We begin with two ranchers we've never met before: they come across a cow which has given birth. The mother isn't going to make it, which the male rancher interprets as a bad omen for the season. The female rancher urges him to kill it, so he does. As they depart with the calf, a strange black goo begins to seep through the ground.
Next we return to Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin) who's trying to console his wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor) about their missing grand-daughter Amy (if you'll remember, Royal thinks that the mystery woman Autumn is Amy). When Royal tells Cecilia this theory, she thinks he's crazy, and tells him to take the injured Autumn (Imogen Poots) to the hospital. She then storms out of the house.
On the drive to the hospital, we learn that Autumn doesn't remember anything from before the age of 9, and Amy was 8 when she disappeared. Autumn is a little skeptical that she's Amy, however when Royal touches her wrist, time suddenly pauses while all the stars spin in a strange time-loop effect. Royal takes this as evidence that Autumn is Amy.
Also, while passing the car wreck from the chase in the last season, we see that Billy Tillerson (Noah Reid) is still alive.
Cecilia goes to the police station to tell them about Amy, but Deputy Matt (Matthew Maher) already knows. However between the bison stampede, rodeo drama, gunfight and mysterious disappearance of Sheriff Joy, it's pandemonium at the Sherriff's office. However a woman at the rodeo tells Cecilia that she saw Amy leaving with Rebecca — as in, Cecilia's daughter Rebecca whose disappearance has hung over the family for years.
The hunt for Amy
Throughout the episode, we pick back up with Rhett Abbott (Lewis Pullman) and Maria Olivares (Isabel Arraiza) who crashed their car when fleeing town in the last season, and I'll condense all their scenes here. After the crash they decide to get a motel room to make a decision in the morning. They ignore some phone calls and when Rhett is getting snacks from a vending machine, he gets suspicious about a passing car.
After finding the black goo in season 1's finale, Luke Tillerson (Shaun Sipos) wakes up. He's disoriented, which gets worse when he has a vision of going to the hospital to see Billy and Autumn, but he gets in his car and drives home. There, a mysterious voice taunts him for being useless compared to his brother, and tells him to retrieve the black goo to be taken seriously.
Luke is pulled from this trance by his father Wayne (Will Patton) who's mysteriously awoken from his coma, and seems to have no memory of it. He tells his son that they need to go to the hospital, as Billy is having emergency surgery.
Cecilia goes to someone called Lewis, who was evidently a man Rebecca used to spend time with, however he hasn't seen her in years. He alludes to bad blood between Cecilia and Rebecca. We also see Amy Abbott (Olive Abercrombie) who's being driven somewhere by Rebecca (Kristen Connolly), and the mother tells the daughter that they're going "somewhere special".
In the hospital, the doctor tells Autumn that she has broken ribs and a concussion. He asks what happened and she lies to protect Royal. The latter then calls Cecilia, leaving a message to say that they'll still look for Amy and also that he wants to come clean about his secrets. Afterwards he bumps into Wayne and they exchange a few words... while Luke is noticing his glimpses into the future have come true.
Battles and time loops in the past
Finally, we find out what happened to Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski). She's in the past, taking pictures of a distant native American camp on her phone. When someone starts firing arrows at her she runs, and finally finds herself in a battle ground between two groups of riders. She continues to run, having to take out one man with her bare hands, and is finally cornered by another archer. She tries to cool down the situation by speaking their language, and eventually other riders approach to surround her.
Now we catch back up with Perry Abbott (Tom Pelphrey) who flung himself into the hole in episode 9 of the first season. He claws his way out of a lake of the black goo, though we don't know where... or when.
In the hospital, Billy's operation is a success. While sitting by his bed, Luke reveals to Wayne that he knows all about the secrets of the Abbott's West Pasture.
In the morning Abbott and Autumn return home, and soon afterwards Cecilia does too. Abbott comes clean about his past, showing her his birth certificate from over 100 years ago to prove his time travelling.
Finally, we return to those ranchers from the first scene... who, it emerges, are actually Abbott and Cecilia from decades ago. They're working the ranch when a familiar face approaches... it's Perry! He pretends he's looking for work and they point him in the direction of the Tillerson's ranch, where he begins to walk, and it's clear that he knows that he's travelled into the past.
