One the best, most underrated and ambitious TV shows of that past few years is back and y’all need to saddle up for it.
Launched in 2022 on Prime Video, Season 1 of Outer Range at first looked like a moodier Yellowstone, with Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, a gruff Wyoming rancher trying to save his property from a land dispute with his oddball neighbors. Meanwhile, he and wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor) were also dealing with their two sons, Rhett and Perry (Lewis Pullman and Tom Pelphrey) and the granddaughter left behind by Perry’s missing wife. Average Western soapy stuff. That was until shortly into the series premiere, Outer Range went Outer Limits: Royal discovered a massive, bottomless and unexplained hole out in his west pasture. And when his neighbor’s son was accidentally killed by Perry in a bar fight, he then disposed of his body into said mysterious hole.
Cecilia Abbott (Lili Taylor) and Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin)
Over the next seven episodes, this show went to places — and time periods — we never imagined. Think David Lynch mashing up Dallas and Deadwood. Along the way, there were also incredible turns by the entire cast, which also includes Imogen Poots as a mysterious drifter named Autumn who has a bone to pick with Royal, Isabel Arraiza as Rhett’s high-school sweetheart, the incredible Tamara Podemski as Deputy Sherrif Joy, and Noah Reid, Shaun Sipos and Will Patton as the weird, volatile Tillerson family obsessed with claiming the Abbott’s ranch. There was time travel, sprawling vistas, bison stampedes, jaw-dropping twists and so many clues to the mystery of the hole…many of which were left just sitting there, waiting to be explained.
Deputy Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski)
Now, we are about to get some answers. Sort of. Season 2 drops Thursday, May 16, with another batch of eight episodes and fans of the first round will notice that things are a little different now. Most notably, Royal has shared his secret with his family… including Autumn, if she is who she claims to be. “The relationships with the sons have totally changed, the relationship with the wife has totally changed… with Tamara when she comes back. All of it, man,” agrees Brolin, who makes his directorial debut with the penultimate episode. “And I think again, it’s like you’re living in Season 2, if I know anything, in the consequence of Season 1. And I think that that makes for very colorful storylines.”
New showrunner Charles Murray seems to have ramped up the pacing a bit and really leaned into the unconventional concept of the series. And it remains one of those programs that begs you to put down your phone and pay attention. Joy finds herself in a situation that is as startling as Podemski’s performance, a lot more about Royal’s way distant past is revealed (FYI, Young Royal is a smokeshow!), the Tillerson boys violently prove why they should not be left alone unattended, and an unexpected alliance is forged between the two women in Royal’s life — one, Poots admits, extends beyond the show.
“Lili [Taylor] was a hero of mine… she was a hero of mine growing up and every single movie she did, I mean she’s worked with everybody, all these incredible actors. And what she’s represented as an artist and an actress has been massive for me and the world. So to get through these scenes with her was so cool,” says Poots, who had to wait for Season 2 to work with her idol. “The problem is you can end up in a cast with someone and then never actually interact. So I loved working with her. We’ve become very close.”
Which is a good thing, because their characters, as well as a few others, are gonna need some solid backup if they plan to survive this season’s wild ride.
Outer Range, Season 2 Premieres Thursday, May 16, Prime Video