You can always count on Joe Pickett to deviate from the rule book, but this week's installment of the Paramount+ western mystery series is a complete curveball. In Episode 7, "Fair Chase," we finally learn the true identity of the killer who's been picking off Saddlestring's well-known hunters one by one. Directed by TV veteran Janice Cooke (Station 19), with a script from Alice Dennard (who wrote on Waco: The Aftermath), Joe Pickett Episode 7 makes fabulous use of a Season 1 heavy and kills off two major characters. Grounded by a blood-pumping sting operation, the episode is the best kind of elevated crime procedural the streaming era has to offer. But as the answers come pouring in, we still have some questions about how all these pieces fit together. Read on for a rundown of all the details you might have missed, plus some theories about what's to come in the final 3 episodes of the season.
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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Joe Pickett Season 2, Episodes 1-7.
Vern Dunnegan Has the Answers
(Paramount+)
We pick up right where Episode 6 left off: Joe (Michael Dorman) is visiting former Game Warden Vern Dunnegan (the fantastic David Alan Grier) in prison. He's serving a 5-year sentence for conspiring with Wacey Hedeman and the Scarletts last season. While he claims he wasn't in on Wacey's murderous ways back then, he did threaten Sheridan's life in the Season 1 finale. Vern knows why Randy's hunting party is being murdered, and he wants his freedom in exchange for helping Joe catch the killer.
Nate (Mustafa Speaks) and Cricket (Aadila Dosani) are back in Saddlestring and better than ever. They drop Marissa Left Hand's phone records outside her father Charlie's (Sean Wei Mah) house and resolve to root out the Mark 5 sleeper agent in town — whoever it may be. Meanwhile, Missy (Sharon Lawrence) has moved back in with Joe and Marybeth after losing her job at the bar. She's determined to break it off with her handsome plebeian, Derek Longbrake (John Ralston). "No amount of good looks can fill up an empty bank account," Missy tells the girls.
When Hank Scarlett (Roger LeBlanc), the only other surviving member of the doomed hunting party outside of Randy, refuses to talk, Joe's only lead is Vern. The governor would sign off on Vern's conditional release if it meant the case would be solved, thereby reopening hunting season and securing his re-election. Marybeth (Julianna Guill) graciously tells Joe that he doesn't need her permission to cut a deal with Vern in order to catch the killer: "You're gonna have to decide if your hatred for Vern is worth more people dying," she says. "But I won't blame you if it is."
The Hunting Party's Dark Past Is Unearthed
(Paramount+)
Next thing we know, Joe picks up a newly freed Vern from prison. He's wearing an ankle bracelet, but so long as he helps the wardens catch the killer, he's home free. Vern reveals that Randy and his mostly-dead hunting party are being murdered because they assaulted a Blue Sky high schooler named Shenandoah Yellow Calf 10 years ago. Shenandoah, who lived on the reservation, accused the hunters of drugging and assaulting her when she was hired as a cook for their hunting party. It was her word against that of the "upstanding" Saddlestring community members, who claimed they merely hunted and enjoyed a few games of poker (!!) together. Vern says Sheriff Barnum was on vacation at the time, and the incident faded away — until, of course, those hunters started turning up dead a few weeks ago.
Back at the Pickett house, Missy points out a pink backpack in the photo of the hunting party. Marybeth instantly clocks that Marissa Left Hand was last seen wearing one just like it. She heads to Charlie's and shows him the photo. He claims he, too, has some new information — likely gleaned from Marissa's phone records. He introduces Marybeth to a woman named Gloria (Lisa Cromarty); she's likely the mother of one of the reservation's many missing girls.
Joe visits school therapist Alisha Whiteplume (Cheryl De Luca), who worked at Blue Sky High when Shenandoah was a student and basketball star there. After graduation, Alisha says, Shenandoah went off the deep end. She had substance abuse issues and eventually moved out of Wyoming. Alisha shows Joe a photo of Shenandoah, and he realizes that she's now Klamath Moore's wife, "Shannon" Moore (Magnum P.I.'s Emily Alabi). Joe figures Klamath is the murderer, avenging his wife's assailants under the guise of Stop The Slaughter! We cut to Klamath's (Aaron Dean Eisenberg) hotel hideout, where the governor's plan to reopen hunting season has not gone over well. Klamath vows to stop the reopening and pulls a poker chip (!!) from a drawer.
Shenandoah Is the Killer
(David Brown/Paramount+)
While Joe was talking to Alisha, Vern escaped and managed to tear off his ankle bracelet. He's slick, gotta give him that. Sheriff Barnum (Patrick Gallagher) is sore that Joe went over his head to procure Vern's release only to lose him, but he believes Joe's Klamath Moore theory. Still, they need to catch Klamath in the act of killing in order to throw the book at him. So they decide to use Randy (Chris Gauthier of Three Wise Men and a Baby) as bait: They'll drag the disgraced warden to Bull Grove, where the hunting party originally camped with Shenandoah. And they'll announce Randy's whereabouts over police scanners — which Klamath has been listening in on. As a cherry on top, Joe enlists Nate as a sniper in the sting operation. Barnum is wary of known fugitive Nate, but there's no better guy to watch their backs. Besides, Nate was wrongfully accused and Barnum knows it.
Joe, Barnum, Deputy McLanahan (Virgin River's Chad Rook) and Nate bring Randy to Bull Grove as planned. He maintains his innocence. "I didn't do anything to that girl that she wasn't asking for," Randy tells Joe. "We had wives, families. It would've ruined us." Joe almost snaps his neck right there, but nabbing Klamath is the priority. They'll prosecute Randy later. Sure enough, Klamath shows up to Bull Grove in search of Randy. He spots Barnum tracking him and eventually raises his hands in surrender, but Barnum shoots and kills him. The Sheriff claims Klamath was reaching for his gun, but they find only a cell phone on Klamath's body. We didn't see the shooting, and Nate lost sight of Barnum and Klamath through his scope. So we'll just have to take Barnum's word for it.
Marybeth calls Joe with the revelation that these hunters have been assaulting teen girls for years, and that there are plenty more victims where Shenandoah came from. Just then, Shenandoah appears and slits Randy's throat, killing him. "I am Shenandoah, killer of rapists," she yells. Then, she drops the knife and surrenders for Joe, Barnum and McLanahan to detain her. Yeah, Klamath was a diversion. Shenandoah is the real killer, and her last target is Hank Scarlett.
Questions and Predictions
(Paramount+)
- Wait, how was Klamath involved? Klamath helped Shenandoah track the hunters, but they likely died by her hand alone. His Stop The Slaughter! rallies were just a distraction to keep law enforcement from figuring out his and Shenandoah's real M.O.: Killing the hunters who assaulted her 10 years ago, and leaving poker chips as a signature.
- Did Sheriff Barnum kill Klamath on purpose? It sure looked like Klamath had surrendered. If Barnum had been paid off by the hunters and Klamath and Shenandoah knew of his corruption, he might very well have pulled that trigger without provocation.
- What's the Bull Grove Foundation? Now that we know Bull Grove is the spot where the hunting party camped, it's safe to say the foundation was a hush fund of sorts to keep each man quiet — and pay off law enforcement. As Marybeth revealed at the end of the episode, this conspiracy is long-running and vast.
- Who's Wolverine? The anonymous commenter posting descriptions of the murders before they occur is either Klamath or Shenandoah. But why? And for whose eyes? If the reservation community knows that Randy and his hunting party is to blame for their daughters' disappearances, Wolverine could be informing them of the justice being done. But how much do people like Charlie Left Hand and Gloria know?
- How does Marissa Left Hand factor into all this? We assumed Marissa was kidnapped, but maybe she's helping Shenandoah track and kill the hunters who have been terrorizing the young women on the reservation. That would explain why Marissa is posted up in a cabin on Bermuda Mountain, where the hunters gather — that is, if Spooky Cabin Girl (who saved Joe's life in Episode 2) is indeed Marissa.
- Where did Vern escape to? Vern may have been paid off to keep quiet about the hunting party. Now that he's free and helping with the case, maybe he feared Hank Scarlett would come after him for snitching. The guy was loading up his truck with what looked to be heavy artillery.
- Blaire Urman knew about Frank's crime. The grieving widow was probably wise to what Frank and his hunting party did to Shenandoah, but I doubt she conspired with her and Klamath to murder the men. Odds are she's looking to nab that Bull Grove Foundation money for herself.
- Finally, how do the Grimm Brothers fit into all this? Your guess is as good as mine. The only real clue is the fact that they're staunchly anti-government. It's as if they've witnessed officers of the state covering up crimes against teen girls and decided to help in the effort to subdue hunters. Hmm. Heroes or villains?
New episodes of Joe Pickett premiere Sundays on Paramount+
