Outsiders - S2E11 - The Run

Previously on Outsiders, “Stranger in a Strange Land”

This season we got to see a softer side of Haylie Grimes. She altered Breece’s hire date so that his widow, Ledda, would get health insurance for her battle against cancer. We learned that her son lives with her ex because Haylie has devoted her life to her career with One Planet. And last week she was genuinely outraged to learn that her company poisoned the water and crops on Shay Mountain. Armed with evidence, Haylie had a choice. She could back her company and destroy the evidence or she could confront and report them.

Haylie chose the latter and it was ultimately her undoing because she didn’t understand the bigger picture. Her very first stop off the mountain was Matt’s office where she loudly accused him of the contamination. She believed he acted on his own, and once she had the soil and water samples tested, she’d see him fired and imprisoned. This was her first mistake.

She didn’t tell Wade where she’d been or what she learned. Second mistake. After making calls to and getting stonewalled by several area laboratories, Haylie suspected Matt had already blocked her. When he came to her hotel room to beg her to take a vacation and drop it, she kicked him out and didn’t notice that he swiped her room key on the way out.

With the food and water shortage turning the clan against each other, G’Win decided they’d make a public plea for help in the streets of Blackburg. While this diversion was going on, Big Foster led a rampage through the grocery stores for provisions. Wade, fresh off a bit of afternoon delight, cornered Big Foster in the street, but couldn’t bring himself to kill the man who killed his brother-in-law. And though Lil Foster can’t stand his father, he has recently recommitted himself to the clan thanks to G’Win’s pregnancy, he took Big Foster home.

Meanwhile, Sally Ann took control of managing Hasil’s fights and their finances after learning Butch has been shorting Hasil’s money. A later problem resolved itself on the end of Hasil’s fist - he knocked out a Farrell impersonator brought in to make Hasil less of a draw.

While Hasil has committed himself to being with Sally Ann, he’s yet to ignore the draw of his mountain family when they’re in need. During the robbery in town, Hasil knocked out a good samaritan who’d cornered two of the clan, allowing them to get away.

Wade is called to Haylie’s hotel room where he found her dead in the shower; an apparent suicide. This is the jolt Outsiders has needed in this second season. G’Win’s connection to Big Foster never made much sense, nor was it believable. Nothing about their interactions this season has been compelling. The component that makes this halfway interesting is their respective relationships with Lil Foster, but he spent much of this season in jail.

Haylie’s death sets the show on a path that promises to feature its more complicated relationships. Wade heard G’Win’s claims that their soil and water was poisoned, and he saw Haylie with jars of soil and water. There’s a strong chance he won’t believe she killed herself and any investigating that taints One Planet is work that benefits Big Foster. This feud over the mountain has put blood on everyone’s hands, and it feels like we’re about to see some of it pay off.