Outer Range tells the story of the Abbott family, religious ranchers from Wyoming, who discover a mysterious hole on their property. One of the Abbott sons kills one of their rivals, and the entire family must cover up this murder. The series interlinks this suspenseful crime thriller with the more fantasy-based elements of the show to create something entirely unique and downright crazy. With so many characters and subplots, a story recap should help untangle this complex narrative. Here’s a breakdown of what happened in each episode of Outer Range:
Episode 1 – “The Void”
The Abbott family is locked in a dispute with their neighbors over land ownership. The Tillerson family believes the west pasture is theirs. Royal Abbott comes across a mystical hole on this specific portion of land, which allows him to see visions of the future.
Deputy Sheriff Joy informs the Abbotts that the FBI has stopped looking for Perry’s wife, who has been missing now for nine months. Perry and his brother Rhett (a bull rider) go drinking that night and get into a fight with one of the Tillersons. Perry kills Trevor Tillerson. The brothers take the corpse back to their ranch and Royal disposes of the body in the magic hole. A woman called Autumn, who is camping on the ranch, witnesses Royal throwing the dead body into the hole and in turn pushes Royal into the abyss.
Episode 2 – “The Land”
Royal wakes up on his land after falling through the hole and returns home. The Abbott family are all aware of the murder and agree to keep it a secret. The Deputy Sheriff starts to investigate the disappearance of Trevor, with the other Tillerson brothers (Luke and Billy) adamant that the Abbott boys murdered him.
They pass Sheriff Joy Trevor’s belt buckle, which is coated in someone’s blood. Autumn explores the Abbott land and discovers a strange symbol on a rock face. Royal loses the plot after his journey through the hole and reveals to Autumn exactly what happened. He traveled into the near future, where he saw the military, mining, and Autumn. Luke Tillerson shot at him and Royal’s wife Cecilia told him to run, so he dove back into the magical hole.
Episode 3 – “The Time”
In this episode, Rhett is competing at the local rodeo when Deputy Sheriff Joy decides to interrogate him about the disappearance of Trevor. The bull rider lies about the night in question. The Sheriff informs him that it is his blood on Trevor’s belt buckle.
Undeterred, Rhett makes it to the top of the leaderboard and finally plucks up the courage to ask Maria out on a date. The couple celebrates at a bar. Whilst intoxicated Rhett urinates on a police car and is arrested. A drunk Rhett admits to beating up Trevor. Royal bails his son out of jail and steals the belt buckle. This evidence is then thrown into the hole. Royal’s granddaughter Amy finds Trevor’s dead body in a forest and Royal begrudgingly phones up the police to inform them of this discovery.
Episode 4 – “The Loss”
It is revealed that Wayne Tillerson (Trevor’s father) has a connection with the hole and is haunted by a memory of seeing it as a child. Deputy Sheriff Joy retrieves the dead body and questions the Abbott family further. They cover for Rhett, who is out with Maria. The Tillerson family are informed of Trevor’s death. Deputy Sheriff Joy questions the Abbott brothers separately, pitting them against one another.
At the funeral, Patricia (Trevor’s mother) opens the casket and watches the Abbotts closely for a reaction. She instantly picks out Perry as the killer. Autumn and Royal play a game of poker with high stakes. Royal cheats and wins, collecting Autumn’s precious necklace as a reward. Wayne drives to the hole and gets into a fight with Royal.
Episode 5 – “The Soil”
Wayne is overjoyed to have rediscovered the hole and then suddenly collapses from a stroke. Autumn hunts for her necklace in the Abbotts’ house. Cecilia starts to fall apart, accidentally starting a fire and hiding a dead bear cub on the ranch.
Patricia and Luke try to understand why Wayne is so desperate to own the Abbotts’ land. Deputy Sheriff Joy speaks with a witness who points out Perry from a photograph. Royal opens up Autumn’s necklace rock in a vice and touches the black mineral inside. This causes him to have another vision, where he sees his own death. Autumn tries to communicate with him through the vision into her past.
Episode 6 – “The Family”
In this episode, Royal leaves Autumn for dead in the wilderness and then burns down her tent. She hobbles back to civilization but comes across a bear. The bear doesn’t attack her and she hears a voice tell her to “show him”. She shows Billy Tillerson the hole.
Autumn moves into a motel and starts to cut herself, carving the Abbott family emblem into her skin. Perry confesses to the police about killing Trevor and tells his family. Rhett is furious, having covered for Perry, and the two brothers fight. Broken glass from the fight cuts Amy’s forehead.
Episode 7 – “The Unknown”
Perry is bailed out of jail by his parents on a hefty bond. Billy shows his brother Luke the hole. Cecilia goes to visit her dead bear cub and the adult bear shows up. She shoots the bear dead and later buries both animals. Billy and Autumn fall madly in love and she cuts the Abbott family emblem into his skin as well. Billy takes Royal hostage and drives him to an abandoned roller disco to kill him.
Royal apologizes and is let go. Luke tries to kill his father with a pillow, but Billy arrives in time to stop the murder. Royal shows Perry the hole. He explains how he used the hole as a child to travel from 1886 into 1968 to start a new life after accidentally killing his own father. Perry jumps into the hole, which then seals up, disappearing completely.
Episode 8 – “The West”
Deputy Sheriff Joy follows a trail made of the black substance into the past and sees a stampede of bison. Luke starts to dig on their land for whatever hidden treasure Wayne was searching for. Cecilia and Amy prepare a meal for after the rodeo.
Whilst riding, Rhett falls off the bull and damages his shoulder. Determined to still finish the competition, Rhett rides the bull once more and finishes top of the leaderboard. Amy runs off and finds her missing mother, the two leaving together.
Cecilia hunts for Amy and has a breakdown. Royal meets with Autumn and Billy for a final showdown, a car chase ensues and Royal kills Billy. Luke continues to dig until he finds the black, alien liquid. This creates a new hole and the stampede of bison exit from it, trampling Luke in the process.
The bison cause Rhett to crash his car and Autumn is nearly killed by the stampede. Royal notices a scar on Autumn’s forehead and believes it is Amy from the future. He carries her back to the ranch where Cecilia waits. Royal confesses to Cecilia about his past and she kicks over the family dining table. Royal tells her Amy is not gone.
That’s the full story recap of what happened in Outer Range Season 1. What are your thoughts on the story? Comment below.
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