The mysteries lurking beneath Abbot Ranch have once again stirred up the proverbial hourglass, as Amazon Studio’s Outer Range has returned with its second season. After the much-underrated first season of the complex sci-fi western managed to captivate the attention of a small number of viewers, the odds of continuation didn’t seem good due to the strong possibility of cancellation. However, fortunately, the creators got another chance to expand the scope of their vision with a second season of Outer Range, which they have utilized in the best way possible. While the confusion regarding the central plotline isn’t really resolved in this season either, a number of smaller story arcs have been set in motion in the aftermath of the tense, eventful finale of the second season. We would like to briefly discuss those, along with the ending itself, to help viewers assess what to expect when the series is renewed for a third season.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Autumn restore the dark future she came from?
Throughout both seasons of Outer Range, Autumn’s motives and intentions remain a mystery for the most part, and the one thing the second season confirms is that she indeed is a grown-up, messed-up version of Amy Abbot. In the previous season, Autumn went through a manic, unhinged phase in order to restore a predestined future where she is supposed to be taking the leading role of a cult and becoming ‘Mother Time’ herself. With the sinkhole being intricately connected with this desired future of hers, Autumn clashes with Abbot a number of times. However, in the final episode of the first season, Abbot came to know about her true identity and brought her home. In the second season, while staying with the Abbots, an amnesiac Autumn gains the elderly couple’s trust and almost fits in with the family members, until Billy provides her with some sinkhole minerals to consume. The mystical traits of the mineral restore Autumn’s sense of identity and remind her of her original motive.
This time, in order to fulfill her cosmic destiny, Autumn considers it imperative to abduct Amy, her past self—which she manages to do rather easily with Luke’s help—and heads towards the sinkhole to send Amy right through it. Despite facing opposition from Sheriff Joy and getting fatally shot, Autumn manages to send Amy through the hole. The fact that she has succeeded in her mission of restoring the dark future she came from is shown by the fact that, despite being declared dead, Autumn survives just as Amy wakes up at an unspecified point in time. Autumn’s fate is also connected with Royal’s own, as he experiences a severe seizure while Autumn gets shot and Amy falls through the hole, and ultimately, upon Autumn’s survival, he sees a terrible vision where Autumn threatens him about all of this merely being the beginning of something much, much more sinister. Needless to say, the focal point of the third season will be Royal, Cecilia, and Joy’s efforts to thwart the course of such a dark future and Autumn’s machinations to bring about its existence.
Did Perry create an alternate timeline?
On the other hand, Royal’s elder son Perry, who had gone to the distant past by falling through the sinkhole to escape his tragic reality, returns to his timeline once again as a younger Royal decides to send him back. The interesting part is that he arrives on the exact day when he killed Trevor, just some time before the fateful incident occurred, and realizing this, he rushes to stop his past self from doing something rash, for which his family ended up breaking apart. Even though Perry manages to stop the incident, his past self gets accidentally killed by Trevor, who rushes off after getting spooked by the presence of another Perry Abbot.
To avoid further troubles, Perry takes the corpse of his past self, throws it in the sinkhole, and assumes his position as he returns to his family at Abbot Ranch. With Trevor being alive, there are no murder charges to run and hide from. Perry has reshaped this timeline through his actions and has essentially created an alternate timeline. Whether this is connected with Autumn’s dark future remains unknown, but it will definitely be explored later if the series gets continued.
What Happens To Wayne Tillerson?
Despite having a much bigger impact in the second season by acting as a nemesis to the Abbots, Wayne Tillerson loses everything dear to him. Wayne had an estranged relationship with his wife, had lost his son during the events of the previous season, and this time lost his dear Billy as well, while putting the last nail in the coffin of his relationship with his other son, Luke. A distraught Wayne loses any remaining sense of purpose and sets his home aflame, with Billy’s lifeless body still inside it. Thereafter, like every other character in the series who tried to escape their reality and start their life anew, Wayne comes to his coveted sinkhole at Abbot’s ranch and jumps through it. The finale doesn’t reveal his fate, but it’s safe to speculate that, just like Perry Abbot, he might get another chance to reshape his future—probably by saving his sons in due time.
Will Rhett Abbot Keep His End of Bargain?
In the season finale, Rhett negotiates a lucrative monetary deal with geologist Nia Bintu in exchange for agreeing to convince his father, Royal, to sell the ranch for experimentation purposes. With the Abbot couple—Royal and Cecilia—fighting tooth and nail to preserve the Abbot legacy by holding on to the ranch despite great odds, the secret deal their son has made might act as a troublesome predicament. Additionally, Rhett’s decision might act as a catalyst to ensure the dark future Autumn wants to create comes to pass at the end, which makes this deal more significant than initially considered.
