Summary
As mad as a box of frogs, expect some eye-rolling insanity thrown into this serious crime drama. The show feels like two very separate stories and genres forced together. The most polarising episode yet.
It’s hard to understand what Outer Range is going for sometimes, the only possible conclusion is shock and awe. Episode six delivers the most insane sequences yet as the story snowballs in madness towards what can only be an equally crackpot finale. In Season 1, Episode 6, “The Family”, the series tries to outdo itself and the likes of other supernatural shows (Lost and Twin Peaks) for the most outlandish TV drama going.
Abruptly, we’re thrown straight back into the fray. Royal picks up Autumn in the pitch black of night. She almost begs him for her necklace and the ranch owner lures her onto his quad bike to retrieve it.
Then Royal proceeds to drive like an absolute lunatic, speeding until Autumn throws herself off of the moving vehicle. Royal leaves her for dead in the wilderness and goes to torch her tent in the meantime. This opener seems quite jarring, coming out of nowhere to jolt the viewer to life, signs of what’s to come.
Autumn hobbles back to civilization, with fresh wounds and a lack of direction. The hippy stranger, who felt an eerie connection to the ranch, is then faced with one of the ranches greatest foes, a bear. Yes the show has gotten that ridiculous.
This is no grim showdown like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant though, that was far too realistic. Autumn curls up in a ball, awaiting the cruelest of deaths, but the bear does not attack. She stares face to face with the CGI beast instead and hears a voice repeatedly say ‘Show him’. Are we to accept that this bear spoke to her? Or is some entity channeling through the bear? Whatever your theories, the bear leaves along with most of the show’s viewership.
If you stuck around, you would be rewarded with Autumn’s subsequent breakdown, as she discovers her destroyed campsite. The woman has no money, no home and no belongings now. The bear, which may or may not have spoken to her, (I mean, we didn’t see its mouth moving did we?) delivered the message: Show him.
So, the next male she comes across is given a grand tour of the magical portal. The lucky chap is Billy Tillerson, who is astounded by this hole and runs home to tell his father. Autumn manages to rent a motel room and decides to perform some cultish self-harm, carving the Abbott’s family emblem into her skin. Reader, are you still with me?
These odd tangents are both entertaining and ludicrous, but there is still a genuine, heartfelt story going on parallel to this pandemonium. The Abbott family are all crumbling under the strain of their joint lie. Even granddaughter Amy notices this and questions her father Perry.
Things are certainly out of control when she’s the only voice of reason in this entire circus. Cecilia has resorted to hiding away from the others (making friends with a dead bear cub, I’m not even going there), whilst Rhett’s relationship with Maria ends briskly due to his deceit. Perry can’t seem to cope with the secrets any longer either and goes to confess. The soap opera antics continue.
Like the previous episode, this too is an intriguing story overshadowed by the sheer lunacy on display. The show feels like it is battling itself, the drama versus the fantasy, unsure which genre to side with as the two styles seem very separate, begrudgingly forced together.
The emotional family dynamics make for gripping television and that finale is just another example of how good this show can be once it drops the mythical mayhem.
Did you enjoy Outer Range Season 1, Episode 6? We’d love to know – comment below.
Read More: Outer Range Season 1, Episode 7 Explained
