Lizzie (Katherine La Nasa) makes tea for Walt (Robert Taylor) as he's lying on the couch and he stops her from doing so since the tea box actually contains his wife's ashes and not actually tea. He prefers coffee instead and it tastes better. So this was another scene cut from Channel Five's early evening showing, really, don't know why they bothered showing it at all at this time. It's just ridiculous. Not only that but all but one of the flashback scenes were also chopped out and a pretty amateurish attempt at putting together this ep. Just so glad it was shown late night on Five USA first time round and that it's available on DVD too!!
As Vic (Katee Sackhoff) drives up waiting for Ferg (Adam Bartley) to bring down Walt's Bronco, she sees that he 'spent' the night with Lizzie and he tried his best to get Vic to leave cos it's just not the sort of thing the boss would want to share with his staff! Even if it felt like being back at high school, without the sex. She admires the beautiful scenery and asks if he owns it all. But Walt doesn't reply. She then notices the SUV and asks who it belongs to, Walt replying he rented it. Which is a shock cos she can't picture him driving something like that. But that doesn't stop her from putting two and two together, especially as Lizzie asks them about coffee, as Ferg drives up. If looks could kill, hey Vic? Ha. Of course he can't help but stare too and the thoughts that the two of them were thinking at that time, would've been fun to have been in their heads, ha.
Walt suggests they think twice about talking. The phone rings, so cliched, saved by the bell comes to mind and Walt's wife's voice is on the answering machine. There's been a murder and Branch (Bailey Chase) can't find anyone to call. A DB is found in a chair with an arrow through him and a symbol marked on his head, which Vic says is written with a Sharpie so that isn't coming off. Walt doesn't want ID as he knows who the DB belongs to. Flashback to a trial and how four teens are found not guilty of raping a Cheyenne girl. Walt looks so horrified.
Vic is lost again as once again she's meant to be asking questions on our behalf so we also know what happened, but she doesn't get any response from him. Instead, Walt sends Branch to break the news to Greg's family. They wouldn't want to see Walt especially since he was the one who arrested the boys and wanted to see justice done. Which is his job, so I don't know why Branch was so dismissive about his not going there. Branch knows there's a connection since the murder weapon is a bow and arrow but Walt doesn't want any jumping to conclusions.
Walt heads to the Rez and to Ayasha's (Q'orianka Kilcher) home, the girl who was attacked. She's a little slow and Walt wants to speak to Viho's (Jeremy Ray Valdez) grandmother too. Viho thinks Walt suspects him of the murder as he doesn't feel sorry for what happened and comments on 'one down, three to go.' Walt doesn't consider him a suspect as he's investigating. Ferg explains what happened to Vic and she wonders if Walt could have messed up since Ferg tells her his wife was having chemo at the time. But he wouldn't have messed up cos he's far too professional to have let such a case slide out of court. The four boys were from rich families and so they had good a lawyer, yet that doesn't exactly the case, since later on, Rich's father is angry over how the other families just lived through it and strut around town, whilst his son is broken. Vic realizes Ayasha was an unreliable witness.
Vic uses the string to predict where the bow was fired and finds it was nearby a tree where a gum wrapper is also found. Well that was a silly thing to do. Not that the wrapper was followed up on. As Walt pulls up into town, a man asks him where all the black people are? But he's just joking, though sure a lot of people have asked that question. He's Det Fales (Charles S Dutton) from Denver PD and he needs to talk with Walt as he hasn't been answering his calls. He wants to talk with him tomorrow as he tells him they found the man who killed his wife. Now he was going for a reaction from Walt, but of course he didn't get one. He doesn't even ask for details there and then, which of course adds to more suspicion on the part of Fales.
Walt leaves a message for Henry (Lou Diamond Phillips) using Vic's phone warning him of Fales. He talks with Omar (Louis Herthum) who is also an archery expert (being a weapon's expert) and calls her Vicki, for the first and last time she adds. Saying the bow was a compound bow and even she can use it, which she does, again with a sexist comment that even girl could make the shot. Making sure that no one is ruled out as a suspect. Branch shows Walt photos of Greg's car being vandalized and the same symbol being painted onto his car. Branch is adamant they should bring in Viho but Walt isn't going along with it. Walt informs Jake's parents that Greg has been killed and he asks why Greg would have been there. Jake (David Lambert) replying that's where parties take place. Jake appeared to be the ring leader since no one did anything without him. Walt then talks with Rich (Aaron Christian Howles) and his father, Warren (Michael McGrady) but he doesn't have any leads. Paul's father is also angry that they might be attacked by the Indians and he didn't report his son's car being spray painted too, as he didn't think Walt would do anything.
Walt throws darts at the Red Pony and asks Henry for his opinion on Fales. Henry wondersiof it was the right man they found, but Walt didn't ask and is reprimanded by Henry since that's what a 'normal' person would do, well Walt's not really normal in that sense. He has to stop worrying and also talk with Cady (Cassidy Freeman) too as she told him what's happening. Changing the subject, Walt says he may need to arrest Viho but he's only got circumstantial evidence, in which case, replies Henry, Fales can arrest Walt too.
Walt drives over to the Rez, but Branch appears to be high tailing it over there first. Walt tries to catch up to him and tells him to pull over, which he eventually does. If Walt had done his job properly then the boys would have been arrested and they wouldn't be dealing with this now. Says the expert! They're out it the middle of nowhere and so they can have it out, man to man, as Walt challenges Branch to knock him down first time and he can have his job. Walt ducks back and Branch misses, as Walt gets a punch in. As he reaches to give Branch a helping hand, adding experience can't be brought, he throws his arm up and goes for Walt. Playing dirty as usual. Vic arrives to break up this, erm, bar brawl, teen fight, telling them she should arrest them for "public stupidity."
Branch says he found out that a compound bow and arrows were stolen from a store and Vic says another boy's been killed. I liked how Walt was probably glad Branch went for him cos then he could take out his anger over Cady too since he was bottling that up. But one thing, didn't they think more of the boys would be targets if the motive behind the killings was the rape.
At the CS, Rich says it could have been him who was killed, since Paul (Bryan Head) texted him to meet him but he didn't go. Walt wants Branch to question Jake and find out why he wasn't there, as Branch says they can't be tried for rape again, Walt having to explain that a civil suit could be filed instead (groan, Branch you were dating Cady, a lawyer). He's still insistent on Viho being arrested. Thus Walt must do this as he and Vic walk through an angry crowd. Viho comments on there being an up-coming election and so he would be happy if he could arrest an Indian for murder. Walt wants him to convince him otherwise. He reveals Ayasha is pregnant as she has twisted ideas about sex since the attack. Branch finds out Jake's parents wouldn't let him out of the house and Henry tells Viho not to talk without a lawyer. Walt tells him about the owl symbol, the messenger of death for the Cheyenne.
At the high school, there's a fight as Faith (Jeni Reed) is attacked and she used to be Rich's girlfriend. She's new and didn't know about the rape. She was teaching Rich how to shoot the bow and he hasn't returned it to her. Rich denies using the bow and Vic shows him two phonebooks with arrow holes. Lizzie pays Walt a visit and has brought him a little something, which Vic resents. Of course she's jealous. She tells her he's with a murder suspect and she'll pass on the gift. Vic asking her what her intentions are. Lizzie asks if she should be worried and what Vic's intentions are; since Vic doesn't wear a ring when she tells her she's married and it would be dangerous to do so, as she could hit someone with it. Also Lizzie informs her that her ex didn't wear one either but he's not a policeman. After she leaves, Vic drops the gift into the drawer and slams it shut withe her boot.
Rich blames Walt for their treatment since he called them rapists in court and that's how everyone sees them. Well if the shoe fits. It's Viho who's killing them but Walt knows it's Rich. Just then Warren shoots an arrow through Jake's window and his father shoots him. Warren pretends to cover for Rich cos his son tried to kill himself and it was Jake who made him do it. He read Rich's e-mails and knew they were meeting at the basin. He killed Greg and then drew the symbol.
As Walt drives home, Cady waits for him, she's been crying and is still in tears, as Walt calls out to her, "hey Punk." She's not in the mood, telling him about Fales coming to her house and telling her that her mother was murdered. She loses it and demands to know why he didn't tell her. It's been a year of lies. He wanted to tell her but couldn't. She screams cos he can't talk about anything. Well he is a man of few words. Her mother made him promise not to tell her. She wanted to be remembered as a wife and mother and not as a murder Vic. "Death is hard but murder just doesn't create sadness. It destroys people." He sees it all the time. He wanted to protect her from the pain cos he's her father and it's his job. Cady retorts and throw back into his face what he said last ep about "relieving him of that burden." He stands in front of her truck and then says twice, "you'll never relieve me of that burden..."
Jake is kidnapped and Walt takes paper and pencil and gets Warren to draw the symbol but he can't cos he didn't draw it to begin with. It's Rich, as was obvious all along, I mean why else would he attempt suicide if he didn't fell guilt, even if he was made to do it. He can understand a father wanting to protect his child. Walt heads to the place where they hung out and Jake is tied to a tree. The flashback to Ayasha getting attacked was also cut, as she creams for them to stop. Walt gets Rich to put down the bow since if he was forced to do it, then he can arrest Jake for kidnapping and he'll go to jail. As he unties Jake, Rich pulls out a gun and holds it to his head. Walt shoots him in the shoulder and won't let him die cos then he can't testify against Jake.
The local paper carries a photo of Walt with the headlines of him solving the murders. Which Branch throws into the bin, as he sits outside Jacob Nighthorse's office. So was he asking him for a donation or maybe to help him win Walt. Vic plays with the ring and finally places it on her finger. Walt meets with Fales and he's ordered Walt a Rainier cos he drinks that. Henry watches them both from the bar. He tells Walt about harassing the detective to find his wife's killer everyday for a month and suddenly stopped. Then he didn't tell Cady about the stabbing. Walt asks about the killer. He was in his '30's, a methhead and he was found with a knife which had his wife's DNA on it. But he's dead, in a shallow grave, with a broken neck. Fales question is whether Walt drove down to Denver, track him down and kill the man who stabbed his wife. Walt stares at him, then we get to see his mouth as he flatly replies, "no."
Of course it's okay for everyone who's seen season 2 which I'll be doing on DVD, so you know what's happened; but everything, all the flashbacks have led down to this season finale and the final moments that we'd all been thinking anyway, did he kill his wife's killer? If he did, it was justified and I say that loosely in the sense that he wouldn't have out and out just stabbed him seeking retribution and letting him have it in the same way the killer killed his wife. However, there is still a lot to explore in this plot an clearly neither Walt nor Henry were going to reveal anything it the season finale.
It was fun watching Walt turn to Henry as more of a layman and not a sheriff in asking for his input, with Henry telling him why he'd look so suspicious to Fales, but of course that amounts to nothing since the subject is conveniently changed with Ruby's phonecall. Also later Henry says he didn't tell Fales anything, the question being, did Fales even question Henry since he doesn't know he was also in Denver.
Branch is a bit of a dark horse too in terms of goading Walt to arrest Viho, course it's nothing to do with his being Indian, no, it's just he was a murder suspect. No Mathias this ep, to at least try and stop Viho from being taken, think someone may have thought that old hat. Even if Walt has to do what he didn't want to and satisfy Branch in terms of having to arrest Viho just cos a bow and arrows were stolen, more out of necessity. He said it was all circumstantial and I for one wouldn't want to live in a town with a sheriff who based his arrests on circumstantial evidence and 'jumping to conclusions' as Walt put it, unless I had a law degree of course! Ha.
But the best scene or three scenes in this had to be the big showdown between Walt and Branch, they could've sold tickets for that and funded their campaigns, respectively, ha. That was brewing on the horizon for a long time, since the start of the season no doubt. Naturally Branch wouldn't be able to resist Walt's challenge of taking him down a peg or two and getting his job, but did he really think he'd get the better of Walt so easily. The second scene was Walt and Cady. There he was thinking she's down on him cos of Branch when it's actually much more closer to home. He's lied to her about her mother but he was following her wishes. That's little comfort though when faced with such news and it came from a stranger, instead of her own father. Loved her taking his line of relieving him of the burden as it was just so appropriate and since not two minutes ago he's told her she's got his blood. So she'll act like him.
The third scene was Vic and her conversation with Lizzie, she's so peeved at her, putting it mildly and cos of her 'G rated' comment, but looks like Vic is just downright jealous. Anyway I really don't want to see them go down that route of getting her and Walt together cos I love the dynamic between then as is.
Charles S Dutton has been in many shows and films, but the one I recall him in particularly is Without A Trace. He was looking for his missing son who was abducted from a camping trip and how hounded Jack like a parent wound. I just thought it funny he would play a Denver detective who seems to be on Walt's trail now and hounding him about his wife's murder. Also wondering why Walt has his wife's ashes in a tea tin? Yeah that's just me thinking aloud, ha.
Now what to do, read the books, watch Season 2 DVDs or...Oh one thing I have to say is reading through some reviews of the show, after I write my reviews, I sometimes have a read though, in most of them I came across nothing but negativity, wondering why the reviewer even bothered, it just read like it being a constant chore in having to review the show and probably wouldn't have bothered with it unless they were being paid to write. At any rate, why can't people just watch and accept it for what it is, okay there were parts in there, certain characters etc that I didn't like but I didn't go off on them like they're just there to be hated or vented at. Cos at the end of the day, all you have to do is not watch, though that's still a little too much to ask from some people, it's like they don't like it, have to watch it or can't resist and still be critical!
1 comment:
Nice detailed recap and commentary. Really appreciate it! Thanks! 👏💯
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