Joe Pickett (2021) s01e08 Episode Script

1
- Where the hell is my chopper?
- It's on its way, sir.
- And we've had the highway
locked off
since just minutes
after Romanowski escaped.
So we know he is almost
certainly on foot or horseback,
which means our search zone
is this ten-mile radius.
So we should focus
in this direction.
Straight up and
over the mountain.
- Raise your hands
where I can see 'em, Nate.
- You first.
- North team, move out.
- There's a statewide manhunt
looking for me, Joe.
How'd you do it?
- I followed the falcons.
You owe me a favor.
I'm here to collect.
I need you to show me
where you found those vultures.
- I'm a wanted fugitive, Joe.
Do you really think
it's a good idea
to go deep into
the woods alone with me?
- I don't know
where else to go.
- I'll help you look
for the vultures,
but I will not let you
take me back to jail.
Copy that?
- Yeah, we'll see.
- Energy.
Fuel.
Life.
For over 58 years,
InterWest Resources have
been powering American dreams.
And now with
the PilotCrest pipeline,
we are powering
America's future.
Hi, I'm Rex Weathersly.
And I know that
the PilotCrest pipeline
will be a blessing for every
Western town it traverses.
A blessing to rural America
The real America.
That's because pipelines
are lifelines.
They don't just bring oil.
They bring opportunity.
- "They bring opportunity."
Now, all I need y'all to do
is follow my lead on this one
and we can make more money
than we can spend
in a dozen life times.
- You're also asking
for quite a bit of our money.
- I mean, we've seen
your get-rich-quick
horseshit before, Vern.
The dirt farm,
the drive-thru strip club.
- Now, hold on.
Why should we believe you
this time, Vern?
- Well, I got all my bases
covered on this one.
Look, InterWest is doing
whatever the hell I say.
They are convinced
that their route is a lock,
but what they have yet
to realize
is that their current route
runs right through
sacred Native ground.
Oh, it's going to be
a PR fiasco down the road
because by then, they're
gonna be too far down the path
with too much money
on the line.
And they will desperately look
for an alternative route.
An alternative route,
which I--
we will provide them,
With a healthy lease fee,
of course.
$100,000 per mile per year
in perpetuity.
That's Latin for rich as hell.
Now, all we gotta do
is buy up all the land.
- What about the law?
You don't think anyone's
gonna sniff this out?
- Well, what's illegal
about it?
- Fraud?
Insider trading?
Racketeering?
- Oh, applesauce.
And don't worry
about Bud Barnum.
Let's just say
I have some information
which could prove harmful
if he becomes a problem.
And that new game warden
who I chose,
personally, myself,
trust me when I tell you,
oh, he's manageable.
- You really are
a shady son of a bitch.
You know that, Vern?
- Oh, trust me.
I thought of everything.
- Mm.
-
Lives on Drury Lane ♪
Do you know the muffin man? ♪
Lives on Drury Lane ♪
Yes, I know the muffin man ♪
Comes from Drury Lane ♪
Do you know the-- ♪
Hey there, little buddy.
What are you?
I haven't seen
one of you before.
Oh.
-
Oh!
- You wanna buy this?
- Oh, yes.
- I mean, okay.
But why?
You can't ranch it.
Can't farm it.
It's not near any roads.
You don't even have access--
- What we say here,
it's covered by lawyer-client
confidentiality, right?
- Right.
- Then
just shut the hell up
and buy the goddamned land
for me.
- It's this way.
- Hey, Clyde, if you brought me
all the way up here
to show me a figment
of your imagination,
I'm gonna shoot you
in the back of the head.
Is that a chicken leg?
Mm-hmm.
Well, now.
That is something.
- How many people
know about this?
- Well, I thought
I'd bring it to you first.
- So you haven't
told anybody but me.
- Haven't told a soul.
I figured, you know a lot about
the inner workings of the town.
So I thought maybe,
before I report it
to headquarters,
I should ask you
if you think it's my best play.
'Cause what do they say?
"Knowledge is power," right?
- Oh, smart.
-
Yeah.
- Well, I do know
a lot of people.
People who would be hurt
by something like this.
- Mm.
You know,
I could handle this for you.
I could make it all
just go away.
- Handle how?
- Do you really want to know?
Maybe it's better to stay
at arm's length away.
- And what would
you want in return?
- I wanna be sheriff.
- All around
the mulberry bush ♪
The monkey
chased the weasel ♪
The monkey thought
it was all good in fun ♪
Pop goes the weasel ♪
How many we got?
- Huh.
There's only
three dead weasels.
- What?
With all them explosives?
- It doesn't seem like
a very cost-effective way
to kill three weasels to me.
- Is that right, Calvin?
Is that what you think?
Numbnut.
- Look.
-
How many of these things
are there?
Shit!
Those things get back
in their holes fast.
It's gonna take forever
if we try and kill 'em
a few at a time.
- Don't shoot.
I brought supplies.
- If it isn't Wacey Hedeman.
Game warden extraordinaire.
- You boys almost done up here?
- Almost done?
You gotta be shitting me.
You didn't mention
there's a whole giant colony
of these buggers.
- Yeah?
So what?
- So?
Probably making babies
faster than we can kill 'em.
That's so what.
- Well, what do you
want from me?
You asked me to pay you
half up front,
which I did.
Now, it's a binary situation.
Either the job is done
or the job is not done,
but you don't get
the other half
until every one
of these weasels is dead.
- I might have an idea.
- Shut up, Clyde!
The adults are talking.
- So we good, Ote?
- Have you talked
to Pickett about
getting my hunting license
back yet?
- Not yet.
Don't worry about it.
We go way back.
It's as good as done.
You just make sure
that you do your job.
Otherwise,
I'm coming for the first half
and you don't get shit.
- I might know a way
to kill the weasels.
- April!
April!
Oh, there's
my little ballerina.
- Dad.
- I picked something up
for you.
Here you go.
Go on, open her up.
What do you think?
- I love it.
- Yeah?
- I love it so much.
- Well, come on,
let's put it on.
Ooh-wee!
Ha!
You look beautiful.
Daddy's making
a little money now.
So we can have nice things
again.
I got a little
science experiment to do.
You like science, right?
We gonna make a secret potion.
- Wait!
- A weasel?
A goddamned weasel?
- Now, this is not a problem.
I got it all worked out.
- You said you thought
of everything, Vern.
Everything.
- Well, I did,
I did think of everything,
but this is not something
that a person could foresee.
It's a goddamned act of God!
- An act of God, Vern?
- Maybe you should start
asking yourself
why God hates you so much.
- Could be a nice time
to take stock
of your decision-making tree,
Vern.
- Your goddamned
decision-making tree.
- This is nothing.
See, every plan has a hiccup,
and the weasel will be ours.
It's handled!
- It better be.
We got a lot of money
on the line here.
And Mom's patience
is wearing thin.
- And you do not
want to make Mama mad.
- Uh, I got it.
Point taken.
- Joe.
- Yeah.
- It's ridiculously
uncomfortable back here.
- About as uncomfortable
as my pregnant wife was
when you tied her to a chair?
- I was trying to protect her.
- Yeah, real protective.
All right.
You might want to
keep quiet for a minute.
Hi.
- You'll have to turn around.
We've got this
whole area closed off.
We believe there's a fugitive
up in these woods.
- Nate Romanowski?
Yeah, I know, I was there
when he was arrested.
Barnum already up there?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, the meet point's
about half a mile
up on the left.
And hey, consider Romanowski
armed and dangerous.
Deadly force
has been authorized.
- You know,
you're now officially
aiding and abetting a fugitive.
- Yeah.
The day's only just started.
You know, Marybeth was gonna
get you acquitted.
That was a shitty thing
you did to her.
- I escaped because
I didn't want to be turned over
to a federal agent
who the local police 'bout now
realize doesn't exist.
- Doesn't exist?
What's that supposed to mean?
- He was no U.S. Marshal,
Joe.
He was something much worse.
- What about the two
federal agents you murdered
before you started
calling yourself Nate?
Were they something
much worse, too?
- What'd you just say?
- Were they something
much worse, too?
- Nah.
They were federal agents
and something much worse.
- I should warn you,
Mr. Romanowski,
or Mr. Barnes, or
whatever you call yourself
these days
I'm not messing around today.
Get to the trees.
Into the trees.
- Hey, hun.
We're gonna be here a while,
if you wanna take your coat off
so you don't get too hot.
- That's okay.
I like it.
- Okay.
You know, April,
I was wondering,
do you have an aunt or an uncle
or somebody I should call?
What about a grandparent?
- No, it's just us.
- Okay.
Did your mom
say anything to you
when you last saw her?
Okay.
It's all right.
I'll figure it out, all right?
- Yeah, this is the place.
It's around here somewhere.
- Look.
Were you falconing that day?
- I was.
- And do you remember
which direction
the wind was coming from?
- Northwest.
- A vulture,
especially a sick one,
is gonna ride the updraft.
I'll bet it was poisoned
over that ridge.
- Y-you're not suggesting
we try to get over that,
are you?
- Yeah.
- How?
- We ride.
- South-face search team
headed out.
It's Barnum to helicopter.
Any sign of him?
- Negative.
- You keep looking.
- Copy.
- Vern.
- Hey, Bud.
Mind if I've bend your ear
for a minute?
- Nah, I don't think
this is a good idea.
- Yeah.
- W-what do you think
is gonna happen
if you find
one of these weasels?
That you're gonna get
your old job back?
Get a pat on the back?
Get the key to the damn city?
- You know who took that?
Clyde Lidgard.
Week before he died.
Somehow, I've been tied
to this thing all along.
I just
still can't fully
wrap my head around it.
How am I gonna
protect my family
if I can't even see
where the danger's coming from?
They're not gonna stop.
They're gonna keep coming
until they kill me
or someone that I love.
Unless I kill their secret
first, and I need proof.
So that's why
I'm going forward.
Gonna figure this thing out.
You know, if you were to
take off, Nate,
well, I guess I'd understand.
- I asked you
if I could trust you
to look for the truth.
Least I could do
is have your back
while you find it.
- Ready?
- No.
- Let's do it.
Easy, easy, easy.
- All right, what now, man?
- She's spooked.
Hey.
- Yeah, well,
they're not gonna do it.
Let's--let's just go back.
- It's a horse, Nate.
You can't just
throw it in reverse.
- What if we just dismount,
huh?
We can lead 'em out.
- Dismount?
You think that's a good idea?
- Well, do you have
any other ideas, Joe?
- Come on.
-
Come on. Easy, boy.
Mm-hmm.
Come on.
- That's it, that's it,
come on.
- Yah.
- Come on, come on.
Shh.
Easy, easy.
Shh. Easy, easy, easy.
- All right, now what?
- Dismount.
- Now you think it's a
good idea to dismount? Now?
- Easy.
- Easy, Joe.
Okay, okay.
Hey.
Good boy.
- The number you have reached
is not in service
at this time.
- Twelve Sleep
Sheriff's Department.
- Hi, this is Marybeth Pickett.
- How can I help you?
- I'm worried April Keeley
may have been abandoned or--
or that her mother,
Jeannie Keely,
could be missing.
- To you.
You had one hell of a good run.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- You're gonna have to drop out
of the Sheriff's race.
We need some new blood
in Saddlestring.
- Drop out?
For Wacey Hedeman?
Not a chance in hell
that's gonna happen, Vern.
I've been doing this job
for 24 years.
That's too long
to hand over the reins
to someone
who carries an umbrella.
- Well, here's the thing.
24 years is
an awfully long time
to keep a secret buried.
Some would say too long.
- And what exactly is it
you think you know, Vern?
- I know about your daughter
over on Wind River Reservation.
- That's it?
If you think I'm gonna be
ashamed of my daughter,
you got another thing coming.
I'm proud of her.
And, um,
it's a new world, Vern.
People understand
those things now.
- But I've done the math
on how old her mother was
when she had
that child of yours.
It's bad math.
It's ugly, man.
You really think the new world
is gonna understand
something like that?
It's time to hang it up, Bud.
- This job is all I have, Vern.
If not this,
what am I gonna do?
- I don't know.
Maybe take up salsa lessons.
- I heard what you said
back there about needing proof
and protecting your family
and all of that.
I also wonder how much of it,
deep down,
is really about you
wanting to be back in uniform.
I know when they took
my uniform,
I didn't know
who I was without it.
But I learned it's not
the uniform that makes the man.
It's the man
that makes the uniform.
You're a good guy, Joe,
'cause you are good.
Not because of the uniform.
- You used to wear a uniform?
- Yeah, I had it
pretty good there
for a while, too.
A uniform I believed in,
a beautiful wife
that loved me
more than I deserved,
and I did everything
by the book.
I was proud of my service.
So one day I get this order
that I really
couldn't live with.
And I didn't think it was
for the good of the country
as they claimed.
It was more for personal gain.
So I refused.
And that's when
everything turned.
They stripped me of my uniform,
my wife was found murdered.
Senseless, you know?
A threat?
Retaliation?
I had to learn the hard way
that sometimes power
is more powerful
than the truth.
I lost everything that I love.
I got nothing, bro.
I don't want the same thing
to happen to you.
- My guy on Highway Patrol said
Pickett passed by
early this morning
on his way up the mountain.
- Goddammit, Vern.
This thing is
spinning out of control.
- Well I just neutered Barnum,
so we're good on that front.
We just need to
get our eyes on Pickett.
Now.
- You smell that?
- Yeah, what is that?
- Death.
- Why would someone do this?
- Weasels eat carrion.
So they, uh
they poison the elk
and then the weasels
eat the poisoned meat.
- Just like the vultures.
- Agh.
Agh!
You know, 100 years ago,
superstitious settlers,
they forced the Miller's weasel
into extinction.
On purpose.
100 years later,
they rise from the dead.
That is--that is a miracle.
And what do we do?
We wipe 'em
right back out again.
100 years,
and we've learned nothing.
- Let's go find the proof.
I don't see any.
- They must have
cleaned them up.
Check every hole.
- Mom, what are you doing?
- I'm tasting
the Château d'Yquem.
This house has
an excellent wine cellar.
It's almost like
we're not even in Saddlestring.
- You shouldn't do that.
It's probably really expensive.
- Oh, it is.
And that's why I picked it.
You want a glass?
You look tense.
- I'll pass.
- You know, a couple of glasses
of wine when I was pregnant
did not hurt you.
- You know, I just--
Mom,
I'm just worried about April.
I can't find
Jeannie Keely anywhere.
I mean, I called
every hospital, every shelter.
- I think we both know that
that girl's mama is long gone.
- You know, April has no one.
She has no one
to take care of her.
And even if Jeannie
does come back,
what are they gonna do,
live in her car?
I mean, that poor girl
can barely read or write.
She's skittish,
she's underfed, she's--
- She's not your problem.
You can't save every stray,
Marybeth--
- I'm not trying
to save her, Mom.
- Yes, you are.
-
- It's what you've always done,
even when you
were a little girl.
You'd bring home
some injured animals,
some lost dogs.
'Cause you have a big heart.
You're always
trying to help people.
It's what-
well, one of the things
I love the most about you.
But you can't
save everyone, Marybeth.
- Joe.
There's nothing here.
- Keep lookin'.
- The sun's going down.
We have to go if we're gonna
get off this mountain
before dark.
- It's a fox.
- Must have been
eating the elk.
- No, foxes don't eat carrion.
Not unless they have to.
This is autumn.
Fresh meat everywhere.
- Fresh meat?
Like weasels.
-
- Holy sh--
- That's your proof.
You did it, man.
- Yeah, we did it.
- We did it.
- Here.
- Montana's that way.
- Really hope
this works out for you, Joe.
- Yeah.
I hope it works out for you,
too.
Nate.
Thanks.
- Yeah.
Oh, Joe.
Some friendly advice.
There's gonna come a time,
real soon,
where you're gonna have
to lean into that anger,
not away from it.
You go speaking truth to power,
power is gonna
try to bite your ass back.
- What you got there, Ote?
- That there?
That's what I like to call
an insurance policy.
- What you boys doing up here?
You weren't supposed to be
back up here until tomorrow.
- Could ask you
the same thing, Wacey.
- Yeah, well, I was just
checking up on your work.
Making sure it's all up to par.
- Up to par, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
-
Listen to this asshole.
Wacey.
Where's my hunting license?
- Oh, I'm working on it.
- Bullshit.
You've been saying that
for three weeks.
Hunting season
starts in six days
and you ain't done shit.
- I'm getting it.
- I want my license
by tomorrow.
Or else.
- Or else what, Ote?
- Or else I tell Joe Pickett
what we've been up to.
- You do know that you'd
go to jail too, right?
- Maybe.
Or maybe I turn state witness
or some shit.
- What you got
in the cooler, Ote?
- Ain't nothing
for you to worry about.
You do your part,
we ain't got any problems.
- I can't let you
leave with that.
- Yeah, well, I ain't so sure
I'm asking permission.
- Mm.
-
- What d'you think, Hank?
- Come on.
- I'm gonna shoot you, Ote.
- Come on!
Shit!
- I'm on--I'm on your side.
- Oh, yeah?
- Shit.
- Come on!
Christ!
- Hyah!
- That's it.
Come on!
Shit.
Shit!
Son of a bitch!
- Huh.
Hell of a rider.
Like a
rodeo rider.
- You know who I bet
could really use this house
right about now?
Joe's family.
- Hyah!
- What's wrong, hun?
- I forgot my other book
at home.
I have a report due and
I can't do it without my book.
I need to go back and get it.
- Okay, we can swing by
and get it tomorrow.
- My report is due tomorrow.
I need to go now.
- Hun, it--
it's a 30-minute drive
plus I told your dad we'd
stay here till he gets back.
- I didn't even wanna
come to this place.
And now I have to get
in trouble at school
for it too?
I know sometimes
April needs help,
or her mom,
or Nate Romanowski,
but I'm your daughter,
and sometimes I need help.
- Hey, okay.
All right.
We'll go get it, all right?
Okay.
Hey, Mom, Sheridan and I'll
be back in an hour, okay?
- Okay, have fun.
- Hyah!
- We haven't read together
in a while, hun.
Maybe we could do that tonight.
- Maybe.
- Sher, I can tell
something's been bothering you.
I want to help.
Hun, I want to help more than
anything in the world.
You got to tell me
what's going on.
-
I can't.
- You know, you can
tell me anything, right?
- Hi, it's Marybeth,
leave me a message.
- Marybeth,
listen to me closely.
It's Wacey.
Wacey's the killer.
You need to get out of the
Kensinger's house right now.
Don't tell anyone
where you're going.
Just go!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
- Hey, let's be quick, hun,
all right?
- Okay.
- Hey, hun, your dad's here.
- No, Mom, no!
Joe?
- No!
- Mom?
- Run.
- No.
- Run!