Summary
I’m not sure who was requesting a second season of The Outpost, but here it is, virtually unchanged for better and for worse.
This recap of The Outpost Season 2, Episode 1, “We Only Kill to Survive”, contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the Season 1 finale by clicking these words.
Look, I’m as surprised as you are. Of all the shows from last year that I thought might get renewed, The Outpost wasn’t one of them. And yet, here we are. On The CW, the network where no show ever dies, no matter how terrible, the appalling hokey fantasy series beloved by obsessives on Twitter and seemingly nobody else has returned. And it’s much the same as it was before, really.
“We Only Kill to Survive” opens with Garret and a contingent of men on the hunt for Dred, whom they find in a creepy cave alongside his frizzy-haired deadly underling, who skewers Garret from behind. Right in the opening scene! But nevermind that. Talon is working with the Dragman — that’s the creepy dead-eyed demon-summoning girl Dred used to drag around with him — to conjure more demons from the Book of Names via the means of truly awful CGI. However, this new demon comes with a mysterious woman who has a mysterious face tattoo that relates to Talon’s childhood. Flashback! (“We Only Kill to Survive” is a line uttered by Talon as a child, in case you were wondering.)
Meanwhile in The Outpost Season 2, Episode 1, Janzo (ugh) is trying to find a cure for the plagueling epidemic at the behest of Queen Gwynn, while Withers tries to root out a traitor. Colipsum addiction is what makes one susceptible to becoming a plagueling, but like any forbidden pleasure, people are drawn to it more after being told they can’t have it. This is complicated by the fact that the Mistress is running a grim “colipsum farm” out of the Outpost and to god-knows-where, reveling in her general unpleasantness all the while. (She also has a couple of doting new errand boys whose only function at this point seems to be comic relief.)
Janzo finds Talon unconscious and discovers that the mysterious woman has made off with the Dragman. After a brief pursuit, she explains that many of her people are trapped on the other side of the swirly demon portals, and it’s all very ominous and enigmatic, but apparently, the next time she and Talon meet, they’ll be allies. This is supposed to be a very important development — Talon isn’t the only Blackblood anymore! — but it doesn’t really land with any impact. Talon and Gwynn have a bit of a frosty discussion about it all, but it’s clear their relationship isn’t quite the same anymore.
One of Garret’s compatriots returns to the Outpost to report that all the men are dead and gets socked in the mouth by Withers for his trouble. The news sends everyone a bit loopy in “We Only Kill to Survive”. Gwynn is devastated. Talon is in denial and is determined to rescue Garret, but Withers won’t let her; he instead sets out to retrieve his son’s body. Talon goes to get leathered instead but treats it as a bonding opportunity with Gwynn.
After The Outpost Season 2, Episode 1, then, we have our new status quo: Dred is racing to the capital to recruit more of the Prime Order; Garret is maybe dead but probably isn’t; Talon isn’t the only remaining Blackblood anymore, and the other is looking like she’s going to be one of the new primary threats. If you were expecting something particularly new or different from this season, then “We Only Kill to Survive” proved you probably aren’t going to get it. But if for some reason you enjoyed the show just as it was, then you’ll be thankful it’s back.
