Joe Pickett soars to new heights in Season 2, Episode 8, "A Call for Help." Directed by last week's helmer Janice Cooke (Station 19) — from a script by series co-producer Stacy Chbosky — this week's installment is a brutal, unnerving portrait of unforgivable crimes and their far-reaching consequences. The episode shifts between two timelines, revealing what actually happened to Marissa Left Hand six weeks ago, and dramatizing Joe and Marybeth's present-day investigation into the truth. It's an expertly woven saga of evil that culminates in a major character reveal.
But there's a lot more than that plot twist to reckon with, such as the fact that we have solid proof that Marissa is indeed the girl from the cabin in the two-episode season premiere. And here we thought Episode 7 was the big truth-telling session. Read on for a rundown of both timelines presented in Joe Pickett Episode 8, plus a deep dive into how this season's disparate elements fit together. Hint: We have some thoughts about the Grimm Brothers' true identities.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Joe Pickett Season 2, Episode 8.
Flashback to Marissa's Assault
The episode opens with a deeply disturbing flashback to six weeks ago, when Marissa Left Hand (Tanchay Redvers, who appeared in an episode of Alaska Daily this year, and previously wrote on the series Sullivan's Crossing) was working as a cook for the Bull Grove hunters. We see Randy, Frank Urman, Wally Conway, Dan Garrett, Warren Tucker and Hank Scarlett playing poker (!!) and drinking whiskey. Marissa takes a few sips to be polite and instantly begins to black out. We cut to her waking up in the shed with her clothes on wrong; she vomits from having been drugged and returns to her tent.
In the morning, she has no memory of that night but suspects something is off. Back at home, she Googles signs of assault and drugging, and realizes what happened to her. It's a brutal sequence reminiscent of Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan's 2017 film Wind River in its searing naturalism. Marissa calls the hunting party's previous cooks asking if they had similar experiences. We see Gloria (whom we met at Charlie Left Hand's house last episode) and Shenandoah (aka Shannon Moore) answer her calls.
Marissa Disappeared While Investigating the Hunters
We cut back to the present, in the immediate aftermath of last week's showdown at Bull Grove. Klamath and Randy are dead, and Shenandoah (Emily Alabi) is being hauled off to the Saddlestring Sheriff's Department. Nate Romanowski (Mustafa Speaks), for one, doesn't like it; Shenandoah was only exacting justice. Joe (Michael Dorman) heads to Charlie Left Hand's (Sean Wei Mah) house, where Gloria (Lisa Cromarty) tells her story. Hank Scarlett paid her $1,000 to cook for the Bull Grove hunters last year, and she was similarly drugged and assaulted.
A few weeks ago, Marissa called Gloria saying she was collecting evidence from the men's 12 victims. Marissa disappeared shortly afterward. Marybeth (Julianna Guill) realizes that Hank isn't the only member of the group still alive. Someone must have taken that photo of the hunting party, which means there's a seventh hunter out there.
Joe, Marybeth and Charlie burst into the office of Sheriff Barnum (Big Sky's Patrick Gallagher) with the news (and the damning photo of the Bull Grove hunters), and he orders Deputy McLanahan (Virgin River's Chad Rook) to file a missing persons report for Marissa. He claims Shenandoah's lawyers are preventing her from speaking and warns Joe not to go after Hank without a warrant.
Sheriff Barnum Is the Seventh Hunter
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A dejected Joe and Marybeth storm out, and we cut to a flashback of Barnum snapping the photo of the group at Bull Grove six weeks ago. In a shocking twist, he's the seventh hunter who assaulted those women. Back in the present, Barnum burns the photo and threatens Shenandoah: If she keeps quiet about his involvement, he'll let her escape during her prisoner transport. He escorts her from the station personally, and Shenandoah gives a meaningful glance at Cricket (Aadila Dosani) on her way out.
At the Pickett residence, Joe chucks a can of soup at the wall when Marybeth talks him down from arresting Hank without a warrant or solid proof. He speeds off to Alisha's (Cheryl De Luca) house for an impromptu therapy session, where he admits his quest for justice is destroying him: "Guys like [Hank] feel entitled to do whatever they want to women and kids, and it makes me sick. And if I don't stop him, who will?"
He heads back home, where an unbothered Marybeth has already cleaned the soup off the wall and is poring over Marissa's phone records. She left a voicemail to an unlisted number in Durango, Colorado. Klamath Moore owns a ranch there, so they figure Marissa's last call was to Shenandoah. Joe and Marybeth head to the Moores' Saddlestring Hotel room and distract McLanahan while stealing Shenandoah's phone from the evidence boxes.
We cut back to Marissa's timeline and see her pleading with Shenandoah to submit a statement. Problem is, Shenandoah did go to the police 10 years ago — and they threatened to prosecute her for false reporting. She refuses to add her name to the list of victims. At the Saddlestring station, Marissa asks to speak with the sheriff. When Barnum approaches, she recognizes him as one of her assailants. He attempts to snatch the victim statements from her, and she leaves the station.
Marybeth Is a Certified Gunslinger
Meanwhile, in the present timeline, Joe and Marybeth have hacked into Shenandoah's phone using her mugshot to activate its face ID. Very crafty. They click on the voicemail Marissa left, and we see it play out in flashback: Marissa speeds away from the station while leaving the message. "Shannon, you were right," she says over the phone. "I went to the police, and it was the sheriff. He was one of them. He saw me, and he saw all the statements." Barnum pulls her over on a rural road and shoots her through each collarbone. She collapses in the brush beside the road. He pushes her car into the ditch and takes her backpack, victim statements and phone — and discovers that her voicemail is still running.
We cut back to a shocked Joe and Marybeth, who have just heard how Marissa's "death" played out. (More on why we're almost positive she's alive, below.) Now, they have the smoking gun: The voicemail on Shenandoah's phone captured Marissa's panic, Barnum's voice and the sound of the gunshots. Shenandoah came to Saddlestring to avenge Marissa, and now she's in Barnum's grip. There's no way he lets her live. Joe goes after Barnum and tells Marybeth to take the incriminating voicemail to the DCI (probably the state's Division of Criminal Investigation).
While "transporting" Shenandoah, Barnum takes a sharp turn down a side road. He intends to kill her, just like he killed Marissa, he says. But if it isn't Marybeth's two-toned 1998 Suburban blocking the road! She steps out and pulls a shotgun on Barnum (Marybeth would be packing in her mom car), telling him she's there to "take custody" of Shenandoah. The episode ends with Marybeth and Barnum in a standoff.
Questions and Predictions
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Whew. That was a lot of blood-curdling, white-knuckle TV. But two episodes are still left in the season, so the chase is far from over. Let's dig in:
- Prediction: Marissa Left Hand is the girl from the cabin, and she's still alive. We predicted this way back in Episode 2, and it's almost certainly on the money. Rewatch that episode, and you'll see that the girl in the cabin who saved Joe's life is wearing the same outfit as Marissa. She even has the same finger tattoos. Barnum's gunshots weren't fatal; Marissa escaped into the forest and stayed hidden. Now it's up to Joe to make the connection and find that cabin again.
- Will Marybeth kill Barnum? I don't think so. The official logline for this season reads: "When [Joe and Marybeth] dig too deep, they are forced to go on the run and fight for their very lives." My guess is Barnum gets away, and he and Hank Scarlett team up to hunt down the Picketts — and anyone else who knows about their crimes. Here's to hoping Marybeth submitted that voicemail to the DCI before she went all Raylan Givens on Barnum.
- What will happen to Shenandoah? My guess is Nate and Cricket will help her disappear.
- Why didn't Shenandoah warn Marissa that Sheriff Barnum is one of the hunters? Yeah, this is a major oversight. It's hard enough to believe that Marissa didn't recognize Barnum as the town sheriff when she saw him at Bull Grove. But then she wasn't a Saddlestring resident, so maybe she wouldn't have known. Maybe Shenandoah figured Barnum had given up on assaulting teens? Plus, we know that Barnum was on vacation 10 years ago, when Shenandoah initially went to the police. Perhaps even she didn't put two and two together. Whatever. Careful not to step in the glaring plot hole.
- Prediction: Vern will come to the rescue. I'm sensing some personal reform from Vern this season. But did he know about Barnum's involvement? Either way, Vern is safer with Barnum and Hank cold in the ground. I could see the ex-warden helping to catch the last two craven hunters, if only to save his own skin.
- How do the Grimm Brothers fit into all this? In Episode 2, the ghoulish twins referred to Marissa/Cabin Girl as "Rosie." Do they know her story? They're staunchly anti-government, so maybe they helped her stay hidden from the corrupt Saddlestring authorities. They may have even tried to kill Joe thinking he was part of the cover-up. Or perhaps the Grimms are more closely tied to Nate's Mark 5 subplot. Remember the hit list in Episode 6? Two names stood out because we didn't recognize them: Reid and Malcolm Turner. Maybe the Grimm Brothers are actually the Turner twosome, running from Nemecek just like Nate.
- Finally, when is Luke going to come out of that coma? Get our boy back in action!
New episodes of Joe Pickett premiere Sundays on Paramount+.
