TV Review: Outsiders S1 E13, “Long Live The Bren’in”

By Laury Scarbro

This episode was directed by Peter Weller, and I truly hope to see him do more episodes next season. Episodes of other shows that he has directed (such as Sons of Anarchy, Salem, The Strain, and Tyrant) have been some of the best that those shows had to offer. The otherworldly aspects of Shay Mountain and it’s inhabitants have only been vaguely hinted at thus far, and I believe he did an excellent job in ratcheting up the spook factor.

Wade’s support from the other police departments falters. He releases Haylie from her cell, and an he gets served with a civil suit for wrongful arrest. A discussion between the two later at the playground results in Haylie getting Wade the manpower he needs to go after the Farrells. Wade then organizes an operation to take Asa into custody.

Hasil informs the conspirators Asa was killed, and now their only option in dealing with Big Foster is to fight. Unfortunately, there’s only one gun among them and no ammunition. Later, Big Foster’s interrogation of Krake is interrupted by Hasil, who says he can take Big Foster to where the others are. He leads the bren’in to a clearing where the conspirators were lying in wait. The ambush fails however, and they are brought to heel.

Big Foster forces the traitors to kneel, in their underwear, to make an example of them. As he’s talking, Shurn attempts to eat some herbs from a bag. Big Foster stops her, and recognizes the herb as foxglove, or Witch’s Glove. He realizes then that Gwin has been poisoning him, and stumbles off into the woods. Big Foster’s hallucinates his son Elon, whom he chases through the woods.

Gwin returns to where Asa’s body was dumped and finds only his rabbit’s foot. A quick taste of his “blood” tells her that she’s been duped. She confronts Little Foster about it and he admits the truth. Later, Little Foster finds Asa sitting by the creek, and has come to tell him goodbye. He warns Asa not to linger, saying there’s a storm coming and it’s best if Asa leaves.

Police head up the mountain, where Wade says they should stay off the trails. Of course, the very same creepy girl who seems to see everything is watching them. After they’ve been walking for awhile, they experience an unexplainable malfunction with their GPS locators.

Gwin returns home where Big Foster is waiting for her, holding the bren’in’s staff. He accuses her of poisoning him, and isn’t fooled by her excuses. When he accuses her of always wanting leadership, she declares he’s not fit to lead. Things get physical, including an attempted strangling, a broken window, and Gwin stabbing Big Foster with a gardening tool. He releases her and trashes her greenhouse while she makes her escape. The girl from the woods is waiting for her, pointing in the direction of the cops.

Gwin finds Little Foster, wanting to know where Asa is, telling him that his father tried to kill her. He finally gives in and tells her where to find him. Asa, wanting no part of helping her again and getting nothing but trouble for his effort, tells her he’s done helping her. She manages to sway his mind, emphasizing his role in the prophecy. She later returns to Little Foster, telling him she has nowhere else to go.

The police aren’t making much headway up the mountain, taking ten hours on what should have been a four-hour trip, and still not reaching their goal. Before Wade can justify it, they hear a woman shouting for help. They track her down, finding Sally Ann sitting at the base of a tree looking scared to death. She tells them where they can find the Farrells, and Wade decides they should camp for the night and continue in the morning. The next day, the cops arrive at a clearing with a house and large wooden yard decorations. They approach the house cautiously, and Wade enters to find it empty except for another wooden figure and some candles.

Asa returns to his place and retrieves a revolver. He walks up to Big Foster, who doesn’t believe Asa is real, and shoots the bren’in. Asa is stopped in the woods by Gwin, and tells her he’s leaving. They’re interrupted by Big Foster’s men with news of Big Foster’s murder. She turns Asa over to them, saying the circle will decide his fate. Before the men can put him in chains, he pulls his gun on them. Little Foster intervenes and forces Asa to surrender.

Gwin and the others return to Big Foster’s, and find that his body is not where it was. Gwin is declared the new bren’in, and she orders that Hasil and the others be brought to her, saying they are now free. The moment gets interrupted by a woman screaming that the cops have arrived, which sends Gwin into a panic. She recovers quickly, giving the command to call all the clans together to defend the mountain.

The creepy girl slips Asa a set of keys, then makes her way to the grave of Lady Rae. Big Foster has crawled there, and he’s losing quite a bit of blood. She kneels beside him and takes a necklace from his hand, laying her hand on his face before leaving. Somehow, she later finds Elon in the woods and gives him the necklace.

Wade comes back out of the house and sees some children playing up the hill. He orders the others to stay back with their weapons down as he approaches the kids. He asks if he can talk to their parents, but the kids take off running. Gwin, Little Foster, and a group of Farrells approach, and Wade holsters his weapon and introduces himself. He produces a warrant, saying he’s there for Asa. Gwin informs him Asa is gone, so Wade requests to speak to their bren’in. She states that the mountain is theirs and they’re going nowhere, taking the warrant and tossing it into the air. More Farrells arrive, coming in behind the cops so that they’re completely surrounded. Gwin and her group turn and go back up the hill to join with the others waiting there. As they begin to chant and stomp, clouds begin to gather and a lightning strike can be seen above Wade.

What’s the deal with the little girl? She’s been lurking around since the beginning, never given a name that I can find, and she can interact with the living as well as the dead apparently. Is she the spirit of the mountain itself? Is she a ghost, or is she some kind of medium? Speaking of ghosts, Elon’s obviously still around, which lends credence to the idea that Farrell spirits remain on the mountain even after death. Perhaps Big Farrell wasn’t simply hallucinating his son and his mother as a result of the poisoning. And is he even really dead?

This episode would have benefited from being stretched out to a 90-minute finale, if for no other reason than to expand on what exactly is taking place in the final moments between Wade and the Farrells. Does he get struck by lightning like his father? While I would have liked to see a little more buildup than what was there, it was the cliffhanger this finale deserved.