Warning, spoilers ahead for season 1 of Billy the Kid.
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We're officially halfway through the first season of the Epix series Billy the Kid and it has been one wild ride watching the origins of the legendary outlaw. Billy is now out on his own, trying to find his own path despite the tragedies he endured in episode 3. Episode 4, "Interlude," shows the outlaw isn't a child anymore. He's starting to become quite the ladies man while consistently managing to get himself into the trouble. He gets a harsh reality check learning about the cruelty in the world, crushing the narrative his immigrant parents built up in his head about the American dream.
Here are the 6 biggest takeaways from episode 4 of Billy the Kid. We also have an exclusive clip of what to expect in episode 5...judging by the way 4 ends, 5 is most likely going to be an exciting one.
Billy and a new friend head to Texas
After escaping jail in Silver City, Billy finds himself at the camp of a fellow outlaw named Alias. Though Alias initially draws his gun on Billy, he decides to invite him on his journey down to Texas. Once they've arrived in the Lone Star State, Alias introduces Billy to a man named Mr. Hooker in hopes that they can both secure work. To avoid recognition by using the name 'Billy Antrim,' Billy officially introduces himself as William H. Bonney. His famous pseudonym.
After discovering that Billy is from Ireland, Hooker demands he sings him an Irish song. Billy gives a stunning performance that brings the entire bar to silence, especially impressing a barmaid named Alice, whom Billy wakes up with the next morning.
Billy becomes a horse thief
Alias complains to Billy about working for Mr. Hooker and invites Billy to steal horses from the nearby Army camp, Camp Grant. He's decided he wants to make a profit instead of risking his life stealing horses for Hooker, and, reluctantly, Billy joins him. He steals himself a white horse in the process.
Billy kills a man for the first time
When Billy takes his new horse to the blacksmith, Francis P. Cahill, to get new shoes put on, Cahill notices that the horse is branded and accuses Billy of stealing it from the Army. Billy denies the allegations, but it is clear that Cahill doesn't believe him. Meanwhile, Alias tells him that Hooker found out about the horse theft, so he shot him. As a result, he needs to leave town.
Billy opts not to leave town and continues business as usual, going to the bar presumably to be around Alice. Unfortunately for Billy, the blacksmith doesn't keep quiet about his suspicions. Unable to hold his liquor, Cahill accuses him in front of numerous other bar patrons of being a horse thief. He attacks Billy, who accidentally shoots him in the scuffle.
Billy is arrested for the murder of the blacksmith
After the accidental murder of Cahill, Billy flees, unsure of what to do. After thinking about what his mother would want, he returns to town and turns himself in. Sadly, his 'Billy Antrim' record is discovered and held against him, regardless of how many people in the bar saw that the death was in self-defense. His friend Ash Upson visits him in custody and tells him that he knows he's a good person. But that from now on, he will be labeled a murderer, regardless of the truth. Billy has Upson pass along a message of "thank you" to Alice and knows what he has to do.
Since his guilt is pretty much guaranteed, he doesn't want to stick around for a trial. He uses a bobby pin to break out and flees from town with his stolen horse.
Native Americans rob his camp
In exchange for his new horse, Billy is granted his life by a group of Native Americans who rob his camp. He is left to wander alone in the wilderness with nothing but his gun, in a desert terrain that leaves him dehydrated and delirious.
The beginning of the episode opens with Billy collapsing in the middle of nowhere, and this brings us back to that moment, seeing exactly how he ended up in this position. Unable to see straight, he shoots at random tumbleweeds before collapsing unconscious.
Billy reunites with an old pal in New Mexico
Billy regains consciousness to find a woman named Barbara caring for him. She tells him that he was found and recognized in the plains of New Mexico. The group who found him, the Seven River Gang, brought him to her to recuperate and heal. She lets him know that he has wanted posters all over the state, "Billy the Kid" becoming an infamous outlaw, but she doesn't mind because she already runs with an outlaw crowd.
Over the next week or so, while they wait for the gang to return, Billy and Barbara form a relationship that eventually turns physical. The episode ends with the gang returning when Billy discovers that their leader is his old friend Jesse Evans. And Barbara is his girl.
An exclusive look at Episode 5, "The Little Bit of Paradise"
What's in store for Billy in episode 5? Will he find conflict with Jesse over his relationship with Barbara? Will he go somewhere new looking for a fresh start? Take a look at this exclusive clip below.
