Joe Pickett routinely takes elements of classic CBS procedurals (your CSIs and FBIs) and improves upon them with prestige-ey flair. This week's Season 2, Episode 4, entitled "Buck Wild," is the best example of this practice. Essentially a side-quest grounded by the eccentric guest character Buck Lothar (played with scene-stealing aplomb by character actor Patrick Garrow), Joe Pickett Episode 4 is a lighthearted jaunt on the surface, with surprising ramifications for the central mystery running underneath.
A trek up Bermuda Mountain dispatches with new characters just as swiftly as they were introduced, narrowing down our list of suspects. What's more, the truth about Joe's tragic past, which has been a question since Season 1, is finally revealed. But what is Nate's connection to "Mark 5," and what does that name mean? (Hint: It could be biblical.) Let's run it back, going through the plot points you may have missed. Then, we'll get into what all this episode's big reveals mean, and what could come next this season on Joe Pickett.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Joe Pickett Season 2, Episodes 1-4.
The Truth About Joe's Younger Brother
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The episode opens with a dolly shot of Joe's (Michael Dorman) beat-up truck and black eye, courtesy of Klamath Moore's anti-hunting radicals in Episode 3. In case we needed reminding, our intrepid game warden is very much on the back foot. He asks school therapist Alisha (Cheryl De Luca) to talk to Sheridan about the attack, but she's more worried about Joe's mental state. He admits that his father was a violent alcoholic, and, clearing up a Season 1 mystery, he reveals that his younger brother Victor committed suicide. (Judging from Joe's visions last season, Victor likely died in his late teens or early adulthood.) Alisha warns that his trauma will eventually "escape in self-destructive ways," echoing Marybeth's belief that Joe has a death wish.
Governor Budd has enlisted Buck Lothar (RoboCop's Patrick Garrow), the eccentric Buck Talk radio DJ who refers to Joe as the "lame warden," in the search for the serial killer. Buck is a Desert Storm veteran and master tracker, having hunted murderers through the Amazon (allegedly).
At the Urman residence, Marybeth (Julianna Guill) learns that Frank had contributed to the mysterious Bull Grove Foundation for years, but Blaire (Julianne Christie) claims to know nothing about it. She's playing the grieving widow to a T, crying at the sight of Klamath Moore (Dead Ringers' Aaron Dean Eisenberg) on the news. "It's like I have to watch [Frank] die over and over again," she says. (Blaire, sweetie...did you watch him die?)
Mark 5
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Joe, Luke (Keean Johnson) and Buck arrive at the Saddlestring Hotel to find Frank's nephew Chris (The 100's Josh Collins) brawling with Klamath and his goons. "You give [Klamath] a shiner, it's just another prop that he can share online," Joe says, urging Chris to back down. Joe and company rendezvous with fellow warden Randy Pope (Chris Gauthier of Three Wise Men and a Baby) and his civilian recruit, Wally Conway (Bill the Kid's Joel Jackshaw), a hunter he calls "the best shot in Wyoming."
Everyone's favorite former special-ops agent/survivalist/fugitive, Nate Romanowski (the enchanting Mustafa Speaks), heads to his old friend Big Merle's (Titans' Noah Dalton Danby) house, only to find that Merle is being held hostage by three heavily-armed operatives. Nate shoots and kills the intruders and reveals that he, too, was attacked three weeks ago, likely by the same people: a group he and Merle call "Mark 5," which seems to be led by one "Nemecek." (A Russian arms dealer name if I've ever heard one!) "Why would Nemecek repopulate Mark 5?" Nate asks Merle. "Why would he be coming after us, after all of these years?" The men agree to disappear. (More on the potential biblical meaning behind Mark 5 at the bottom of this article. "My name is Legion" ring a bell?)
Marybeth tells a lovelorn Missy (the incomparable Sharon Lawrence) that she fears for Joe's life. Klamath has marked him, and the guy is actually dangerous: "He travels from town to town just terrorizing hunters — stalking them, destroying their property." Speak of the devil, Sheridan's teacher has invited Klamath to class to preach his anti-hunting gospel. Sheridan pokes holes in his arguments and calls him (and his man bun) an "a**hole." As Lainey Wilson would say, atta girl.
Nate and Cricket Are On the Run
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Joe and the rest of the ragtag task force go up Bermuda Mountain (where the Grimm Brothers attacked Joe in Episodes 1-2) in search of the serial killer. A fresh footprint indicates the murderer returned to the site that very day, and after a blowout fight between Buck and Conway, they agree to continue the search later, under the cover of night. In the meantime, Sheridan's teacher sends her home from school early for "bullying" Klamath. (Who is this woman?!) Joe rewards her with ice cream, and Marybeth vows to get the teacher fired for inviting a terrorist to class. Lovely town, that Saddlestring.
While doing some online sleuthing, Marybeth realizes that Klamath was in Saddlestring when Frank and the other two hunters were murdered. He has motive, but does he have an alibi? We'll see. Over in Romancelandia, Nate and Cricket's (Aadila Dosani) emotional goodbye is interrupted by an armed intruder and a car chase. The lovebirds flee in Nate's Jeep, determined to face his special-ops past together.
The Killer Strikes Again
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On Bermuda Mountain, Joe's late-night tracking session turns disastrous. Randy ditched in favor of a "hot bath." Conway and Buck are arguing like schoolchildren, so Joe handcuffs Conway to the steering wheel of his truck, leaving Luke to watch him. Joe and Buck find a second set of heavy footprints, indicating that the killer has a new partner — and they're both upwards of six feet tall. The Grimm Brothers officially fit the bill.
At a foggy clearing, Joe experiences hallucinations of the Grimms and "Rosie" from the cabin. Frank's nephew Chris, shrouded in darkness, steps out and calls for Buck to drop his weapon. Neither men recognize each other's voice. The DJ fires a few rounds, and Chris shoots him in the neck. When he hears Joe's voice, Chris realizes what he's done. He went up the mountain to catch the killer and avenge Frank, and he ended up accidentally killing Buck.
Back in the truck, Conway pulls a gun on Luke when the boy refuses to uncuff him. Just then, a masked shooter fires two shots through the windshield, hitting Conway and causing him to pull the trigger on Luke. Joe hears the shots and rushes back to the truck to find Luke alive, but badly bleeding from the neck. Conway, on the other hand, is dead. The killer left an all-too-familiar poker chip in his limp hand.
Questions and Predictions
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It's theory time. This episode included more than a few major reveals, so let's suss out what all this new information could mean.
- Why did the poker chip killer target Conway and let Luke live? Conway was a prodigious hunter, and Luke was not. That's why the poker chip killer targeted Conway, not the kid.
- Who is the poker chip killer? While Warden Randy Pope deserves suspicion for ditching the tracking party, Klamath Moore is this viewer's prime suspect. He has a motive: kill hunters. He mysteriously got his hands on a photo of Frank's mangled corpse last week. We now know he was in town for all previous killings. Still not convinced? Before Conway's death, Klamath told Shenandoah (Emily Alabi) that he would "be out late," adding, "I can't rest until our mission is complete." Sounds like he went up Bermuda Mountain with a dream and a song.
- What is Mark 5? Nate was a special-ops agent for the government, and Mark 5 sounds like a criminal network he and Big Merle had targeted. It could refer to Bible verses. In Mark 5, Jesus heals a possessed man by casting out his demons into a herd of swine. One demon says, "My name is Legion, for we are many." Sounds like this Nemecek has "repopulated" a vast legion of operatives, which he calls Mark 5.
- Prediction: Shenandoah will betray Klamath. At Klamath's hotel hideout, Shenandoah urged him to stop recruiting children. She couldn't abide the way he exploited Frank's death, either. I could see her going against her boss/boyfriend, especially if his Stop The Slaughter! campaign has anything to do with the missing Native teens...
- Prediction: Blaire and Chris Urman are in on it. Chris was on the hunting trip with Frank, but claimed the pair had separated before Frank was killed. If that's true, how did Chris locate the site where Frank was shot? Stranger still, Blaire knew Frank had been missing for roughly 12 hours before she asked Joe to search for him. Obviously, Chris told Blaire that Frank had gone missing. Why didn't they immediately call the cops, and why is Blaire nonchalant about Bull Grove? Their testimony is messy, and, as we learned from this episode, Chris is a remarkably good shot. He may not have killed Conway, but he could've been Frank's sniper.
New episodes of Joe Pickett Season 2 premiere Sundays exclusively on Paramount+.
READ MORE: 'Joe Pickett' Cast: Who's Coming Back to Wyoming in Season 2?
