Note: This article contains a number of spoilers from season 1.
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Filled with ever-building tension, cliffhangers and shocking twists, Prime Video's alluring science-fiction neo-Western series Outer Range captivated fans when it premiered last summer. And with outrageous questions left unanswered by the first season's wild finale, fans let out a sigh of relief when it was renewed for a second season.
The psychedelic and gripping show follows the Abbott family, led by Royal (Josh Brolin), as he tries to cope with the unexplained disappearance of his daughter-in-law, Rebecca (Kristen Connolly), and fight off a rivaling family's play for his massive Wyoming ranch. There's a property line between the two families, and where it ends and begins is always a subject up for debate. In both families' minds, they believe they both own Royal's pasture to the west. And if that isn't enough, there's always tension so thick you could cut it with a knife when it comes to the family's sons. It certainly isn't your typical, everyday story. There's Western drama and forbidden love, but Outer Range also takes a sharp turn and forces its characters to face the supernatural.
Royal finds a mysterious, bottomless dark hole on his ranch at the same time a drifter named Autumn (Imogen Poots) asks to camp on his ranch, setting off a chain of inexplicable events. With that in mind, it can be a bit hard to follow if you aren't keeping close attention. IThe end of the first season brought so many questions that it might make your head spin, but the first episode was pretty confusing, too. Royal's speeches about the Greek god Cronus and hearing them echoed through Autumn mark a strange relationship with time itself, and a weird bit of causation within the narrative.
We won't get into the whole kit and kaboodle right here, but this is a super unique show. It's a small-town Western that collides with abnormal, otherworldly forces, unraveling the Abbott family's secrets and threatening to break them apart. Murders, bison stampedes, rodeos and gunfights fill the first season, immediately hooking fans from the first episode.
But the suspenseful season finale may have left more questions than answers. As you mull over what may or may not have happened in the eight-episode first season, here's everything we know about Outer Range season 2:
Production
Prime Video confirmed that the sci-fi/thriller/Western will return for a second season. And while we're still a long way off from its release, filming began in the spring of 2023.
The headed to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in mid-March to kick off filming. And Brolin has been posting on his Instagram from New Mexico. Next, production filmed outside Las Vegas, just like the first season.
Season 2 was set to take around three months to film, wrapping near the end of June. It hasn't been confirmed that filming has officially wrapped, but let's hope so since the Hollywood strike halted filming in mid-July.
When Can We Watch?
Unfortunately, a release date for season 2 has not been officially announced. It will likely be a few months before a release date is announced.
It's probably safe to say season 2 won't hit Prime Video until late this year or in the first half of 2024.
Cast and Crew
Richard Foreman/Prime Video
While much is still up in the air, fans can be certain that Brolin will return to reprise his role as the show's lead, the brooding and intense Abbott family patriarch. Brolin is fairly active on Instagram, and before Outer Range was confirmed for a second season, he pleaded with his followers with a giant hole-themed poem to watch the first season.
We're also assuming that Poots will return as Autumn, though she may go by Amy in the second season. And since nothing devastating happened to Cecilia, the Abbott matriarch, or her son Rhett in the first season, we also believe Lili Taylor and Lewis Pullman will be back in those roles as well.
Plus, Rhett's relationship with Maria Olivares (Isabel Arraiza) is just beginning to heat up, so it's likely she'll return to continue pursuing her love.
As for the rest of the cast, the mysterious, time-travel hole seems to make anything possible.
Perry Abbott, played by Tom Pelphrey, is likely to return. But since we last saw him diving into the hole — which promptly closed up — we don't know when, how or where Perry may come back.
Season 1 also left viewers in the dark if Luke Tillerson (Shaun Sipos) survived the buffalo stampede he accidentally summoned from the past. And though Billy Tillerson (Noah Reid) was shot in the throat by Royal and died instantly, nothing is certain about the second season.
And the last time we saw Deputy Sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski), she seemed to have accidentally wandered into the past. If she's able to find her way back to the present, we're sure she'll want to continue her investigation into the recent town murders.
As for the crew, the television show is switching up its showrunner. Charles Murray, best known for his work with Sons of Anarchy and Luke Cage, will take on the role. The former showrunner, Zev Borow, will stay on as an executive producer.
What Will Season 2 Entail?
Richard Foreman/Prime Video
One of the biggest changes with Season 2 is the addition of new cast members. Joining the cast this time around are Christian James (All American), Megan West (How To Get Away With Murder), Daniel Abeles (Women of the Movement), Kimberly Guerrero (The English) and Monette Moio (The Real Bros Of Simi Valley).
While we don't know everything about what they'll be doing in the show just yet, the new faces will take on recurring roles alongside Josh Brolin. There have yet to be additional character details revealed. That leaves us with what's going on in the actual storyline, however.
While we may have even more questions after the first season's finale, it certainly revealed one of the biggest bombshells of the season: Autumn is actually an older version of Amy, Perry's daughter and Royal's granddaughter.
But this twist requires more explanation. How did Amy grow up into the psychotic and manic aspiring cult leader that we know as Autumn?
Though it's confirmed that Autumn is definitely a time traveler, we still don't know how or why she traveled back in time to meddle in the Abbotts' lives. Plus, after she was trampled by the bison, we aren't sure if Autumn will even survive her injuries.
In a twist, the season 1 finale also uncovered long-missing Rebecca as she returns to take young Amy away. Rebecca's reappearance sparked a ton of questions for fans. We still don't know why Rebecca disappeared, where she went and why she may be manipulating Autumn/Amy to upend the Abbotts' family. Plus, why did she reappear now, and where is she taking Amy? We hope to see a lot more of Rebecca in the second season.
Plus, Perry — Amy's father and Royal's son — was indicted for murder but left prison on a bail from his family, which also put the Abbott ranch up as collateral. At the end of season 1, Perry decides to jump into the hole. Will he travel in time? Will he reappear? Or will the Abbotts be forced to give up their ranch?
And we still don't completely understand the giant, gaping hole in the middle of the Abbott ranch and how it operates. Why did it suddenly appear for Royal back in the 1880s when he first time traveled? Why did it disappear after Perry jumped in? And how does this hole link to the fabric of space and time?
Season 1 explored how the physical substance of time — found in strange rocks, in Autumn's necklace and below the ranch's soil — can bring about visions that we assume are from the future or even mess with time itself. But how do people, animals and things keep traveling through time without the hole? Why are entire mountains flickering in and out of the present?
Lastly, season 1 posed the question of whether our destinies are set in stone and predetermined. Will Royal really die in his wife's arms in two years? Or can he somehow change his fate?
Hopefully, all our questions will be answered in season 2.
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