Today’s the day the truth comes out in the weirdest corner of Wyoming, and the final two episodes of Outer Range arrive on Prime Video. But first, io9’s got a peek at a very important scene from the finale. It answers some of the biggest questions the show has put forth so far, including “what’s the deal with Royal Abbott’s past”?
Allow Outer Range star Josh Brolin, speaking to his character’s son Perry (Tom Pelphrey), to explain Royal’s freaky little secret. And also, finally, some important backstory on that giant hole that’s been bedeviling everyone all season!
OK. So not only did Royal—who’d claimed in earlier episodes to not remember his early past at all, something that had become part of Abbott family lore over the years (he didn’t even taste ice cream before he was 10 years old!)—accidentally shoot his father on a hunting trip, his “panic and run away” tactic was to jump into the giant hole that appeared before him. And though Royal’s dad died in 1886, Royal emerged from the hole, and went on to meet his future wife’s family at their ranch, in 1969. Well, that explains the lack of childhood ice cream!
We already knew the hole was some kind of time tunnel—how else to explain Royal’s brief jaunt into the future after Autumn (Imogen Poots) shoved him into the hole back in episode one? And also, all those wayward buffalo that are suddenly all over the place? But we didn’t know that Royal’s been carrying major guilt around for decades over causing his father’s death, and also abandoning the rest of his family back in the 19th century. That explains a lot about his character, as well as his shock and panic when the hole reappeared in his life.
The rest of Outer Range’s finale, however, definitely left quite a few things enigmatic and/or underexplained. If you’ve been keeping up with the show, what did you think of all the reveals—especially the biggest “gotcha” regarding Autumn’s true identity? Let all your spoiler-laden reactions fly in the comments!
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