The girls at Red Lantern are asked by Eve to halt their celebratory mood after gaining favorable prices for water from Barnaby and Eve’s special day.
Bill wakes up in the farmer’s house, chained to the wall. The farmer keeps playing mind games with him, hinting that Bill is going to join “the big family” of the people he has hunted. Michelle, Steve’s wife, makes a glaring confession to him. She is fed up with being at the rain’s mercy every year, breaking her spirit and body for no good reason. She wishes to leave the place but Steve assuages her despair and reinforces her confidence in God. Bill wakes up chained to a wall in a farmer’s house. The farmer has been playing mind games with Bill, hinting that he will join “the big family” of people he has hunted. Michelle, Steve’s wife, makes a glaring confession to Bill: she is fed up with being at the rain’s mercy every year, breaking her spirit and body for no good reason. She wishes to leave the place but Steve reassures her that God will protect them. ..
Symone, one of Eve’s girls, discusses Nathan, one of McCoy’s men, with her. Eve tells her he isn’t good enough for her and the carriages get prepared for the girl’s day out on Treson Lake. Kurt and McCoy continue their hunt deeper into the valley. Butler, the farmer who has captured Bill, performs a religious ritual of some sort drinking the blood of Bill’s horse he killed. ..
Michelle visits Thompson in secret to discuss the land and Steve’s stubbornness. She agrees to let him persuade Steve to give up the land. Meanwhile, a moment’s flashback reveals how prosperous the Lake was just a few years ago. The girls have a picnic on the now arid, unyielding land. Steve tries to recruit laborers from the settlers’ convoy for his land. He promises them that rain is set to befall the lands any day now and that anything the settlers grow will be theirs.
Steve is interrupted by Thompson, who says the soil lacks phosphorous, and hence, even rain wouldn’t be able to help crops grow. The crowd disburses, leaving Steve without any support. A man walks up to him after to take his offer. Steve and his families have dinner together. At Butler’s house, Bill is tied upside down. He is exposed to one of his own tribal medicines and experiences a hallucinatory episode.
The Sheriff and Kurt investigate Butler’s house. They almost consume his potion, but are saved by the foul smell from his basement. McCoy suspects something fishy and his concerns come true as he sees the collection of things from Butler’s victims in the backhouse. The scene briefly shifts to the other characters. First, to the Red Lantern where Eve convinces Symone that her decision to marry Nathan isn’t good for her. Then, at Steve’s house, where his persistent belief in religious signs concerns Michelle. ..
The episode concludes with Butler’s suicide, which is made to look like a murder. Kurt and McCoy find Bill and take him back to the town, where he is tied up and has his eyes made from animal bones. ..
The Episode Review
The second episode of ‘That Dirty Black Bag’ is more complex than the first. It has hints of religious undertones, but the more straightforward we think the plot and story are, the more complex it becomes. Episode two had numerous instances where the meaning of a character’s action could not be understood. For instance, Michelle’s visit to Thompson and her concern over Steve’s religious preaching.
Episode one had no correlation to what happens in this one in terms of plot. Michelle actually seemed like a simpleton woman of faith devoted to her family’s cause. Her actions in this episode completely change the outlook of her character. And what about Butler! Aiden Gillian plays him so well that every word he speaks, every strain on his face tells a story. ..
Just as McCoy and Kurt reach him, McCoy sees a sly smile on his face. It’s not clear what it is, but it seems like he knows what he’s doing. His long tirades with Bill about sin, religion, and our destined fate will more or less convert into something too unpredictable in the end.
The Eye shape from the bones that we see is a completely different path that the show takes on. It remains to be seen what it actually means. Episode 2 provides an amazing setup for the journey ahead!
