Season 2, Ep. 4: This Way Gone
1 — [Flashback] Kenny, Bing-Qian Liu, and Tain Chen Lieu arrive in the town. Kristi tours them through the Clinic rooms. Kenny and his father are carrying the chessboard and a bag of chess pieces. His father doesn’t like this room. Too sunny. Kenny insists this is a nice room. He sits by the table and asks his father if he wants to play chess. His father asks if Kenny will stay to live here with him. Kenny hesitates to answer. Kristi leaves to let them talk privately. Kenny says he and his mother will be across the street, but he will stay here in the clinic. It is important for them that he stays at a place where he can’t open the door at night. What happened last night — it’s safer this way.
Kenny walks outside the clinic and finds Boyd. Boyd says he heard they had a scare last night.
Kenny says the monsters were knocking at the door, and his father was convinced that his brothers were outside. My mom tried to stop him, but my father pushed her.
Boyd puts a hand over Kenny’s shoulder. It’s hard. First time seeing your parents struggle. There is not a lot holding this place together. Everyone is scared and confused, but a thing I learned in the army, it always helps to have people to look to. People who seem like they know what the hell they are doing. That’s really all I’m trying to do here.
Kenny says he is doing a pretty good job.
Boyd says he could use some help. I wouldn’t mind having a deputy watching my six. What do you say? Kenny nods yes.
2 — [Present] Kenny runs down the road past the Diner and the bus. He finds Boyd near the Motel sign. Boyd says he is busy doing– Kenny interrupts. No. I have to show you now.
3 — In Kenny’s house, Tabitha is looking out of the kitchen window lost in thought. Julie offers tea, but she’s fine. Julie asks if it happened again. Tabitha ignores the question and asks Julie to watch Ethan for a while. She needs to go to the clinic to talk to her father. Tabitha responds yes, I saw something. But don’t worry. I just need to talk to Daddy. I’ll be right back.
Ethan asks where their mom is going. Suddenly, Jade enters Kenny’s house. He is rude and asks if they have moved into Kenny’s home, too.
Ethan says their house collapsed. Jade is rude again and says at least you had one, it is not his fault they broke it. Julie scolds Jade. Jade says they finally got rid of those 3 hippie Colony House people and now he has to withstand the Matthews family under the same roof. Jade goes upstairs to his room.
Julie asks Ethan if he still wants to see Victor. He does. Both leave Kenny’s house and head uphill to the Colony House.
4 — Kenny and Boyd enter the Church and take the stairs to the basement. Kenny shows Boyd he found Sara in the Church basement. He cuffed her to make sure she stayed here until he could bring Boyd to see her.
Boyd asks Kenny to leave him and Sara alone to talk privately. Sara is glad Boyd is alright after she pushed him through the Farway Tree. Boyd says, yea, it is debatable. I’ve got a thousand questions for you. What happened to you after you pushed me in that tree?
Sara stepped into the Farway Tree right behind him and then she landed in the Church basement. Boyd asks if she has been here since that night. She didn’t know where to go. Everyone in the town thinks she is dead. Without Boyd in town, they would put her in the box.
Boyd asks how did Sara know what that tree was. A little boy told her. He was standing on the ridge wearing all white. He said that Nathan was right. That we made this place angry but that we would be safe in the tree.
Boyd asks if that little boy was one of the voices she hears. Sara said no. This was different. Sara thinks the Boy in White is trapped here just like they are. That the boy wants to help, but he’s not sure how.
Boyd says he is glad Sara is back. But Sara being in town, that’s a shitstorm waiting to happen. We need to figure out how to handle this. Sara says he knows what to do. She knew it was always going to end like this (She means the box). Boyd tells Sara to wait here. He will talk to Kenny.
Sara stops him briefly from going upstairs. She asks if he didn’t tell Kenny what she did that night at the clinic. Boyd says no.
[This is going to be bad for Boyd. He knew that Sara opened the Clinic door, causing the monsters to kill Kenny's father and Gina. This might lead to Kenny giving up his deputy status and not to talk to Boyd anymore -- among the least of things waiting to happen with the Townsfolk, Donna, and the Colony House.]Boyd goes upstairs, to the Church, and talks to Kenny. Sara is uniquely connected to this place and communicating with this place. Kenny asks how. She hears voices. I know how it sounds — says Boyd. When Father Khatri–
Kenny interrupts him. Father Khatri knew about Sara? Boyd says Father Khatri locked her up in the basement. Apparently, Nathan had come to him and he was worried. Khatri thought she might do something to hurt someone. So Father Khatri questioned her and what he found proof of is that something here is talking to her. Using her like–
Kenny interrupts again and completes the word Boyd was hesitating and searching for: “A pawn.”
Boyd says that Father Khatri figured if something here is using her, if she really is connected to this place, we can use that to understand what this place actually is.
Kenny analyzes what he’s hearing and asks what, Sara has been hiding here since Father Khatri died?
Boyd says no. He took Sara with him to the forest during his journey to explore the boundaries of this place.
Kenny gets angry and is unable to compose any words — walking back and forth, and tossing around his arms as if wanting to punch someone.
Boyd says that Sara was the reason he made it back alive. Sara saved his life and he knows she did bad things. Horrible things. But this place can make you think that you are doing things for good reasons.
Kenny says she killed her own brother. She tried to kill a 9-year-old kid (Ethan).
Boyd says he knows. Kenny accuses him of being a liar. He lied to everyone. Boyd apologizes. Kenny is saying the truth. Here Boyd messes up and concedes that Sara killed [those] people. Kenny interrupts him. Wait, Sara only killed her brother. Boyd caught himself in the lie and couldn’t fix what he meant.
Kenny still doesn’t know that Sarah opened the Clinic door and caused his father’s death. Kenny asks Boyd what he is going to do when Ethan’s family finds out that he harbored the person that tried to kill Ethan. Kenny says Sara is dangerous. She belongs to the box. Boyd says well, she is not dangerous anymore. She is not going in the box. Kenny keeps pushing Boyd and Boyd snaps and yells: NOBODY IS GOING TO THE BOX.
This lying, breaking his own rules, and covering up the death of Kenny’s Dad breaks Boyd. He looks like he is about to faint. Possibly his Parkinson’s Disease is kicking in in overdrive. A deafening sound is heard to represent Boyd’s state of mind. As if a grenade exploded near him and his ears were ringing. Boyd drags his steps out of the Church. Disoriented. He looks at his hands, and suddenly sees the worms crawling under his skin. Boyd falls to the ground, confused.
5 — Inside the Colony House, Julie delivers Ethan to the bottom of the stairs and sends him off to go visit Victor. Fatima sees them enter the Colony House and greets Julie.
Julie congratulates Fatima for the engagement. Fatima says in that case she might want to be one of her bridesmaids. Julie is confused. Fatima says Ellis doesn’t want to wait. They are going to get married. Julie accepts to be one of the bridesmaids, and Fatima thanks her kindly. They say this in a playful way and both giggle.
Julie says she saw the new guy outside, Elgin. Fatima says he’s having a rough time. Julie volunteers to talk to him. It was nice when people did it for her when she arrived.
6 — Victor is drawing a dark monster with razor-thin teeth. Ethan knows at Victor’s bedroom door. Victor says what do you want. Ethan says he was worried about him. He’s glad Victor is okay.
Victor says he is not very happy with Ethan. Ethan asks if he can come in. Victor snaps back: “I don’t know. Are you gonna steal anything else?”
Ethan says he told Jade not to. That you wouldn’t like it. Victor replies he should have said it to Jade louder.
Ethan says his mother, Tabitha, told him that Victor helped her in the forest. Victor responds she’s a nice lady. You are lucky to have a mom like that.
Ethan is curious about what Victor is drawing and asks what he is drawing. He can’t see from his viewpoint. Victor says new stuff. Stuff we saw. Ethan asks stuff you and my mom saw? Victor confirms. Ethan asks where both went. Victor replies Ethan should go now. He is pretty busy. Ethan tries to speak but Victor insists louder: “Please, just go!”
Before leaving, Ethan says he found these in the storage closet. He thought Victor would like them. A bunch of magic markers. Different colors. Victor doesn’t look or says anything. Ethan stands there a few more seconds and says in a soft voice that he is sorry to have made him mad. Victor replies Okay. Ethan says Bye and closes the door.
7 — Julie exits the Colony House and visits Elgin on the porch. Elgin sits on a barber chair. They introduce each other. Elgin asks how Julie’s Dad is. She replies pretty beat up. Kristi is tending to him at the clinic. Julie offers to talk if he feels he needs to talk to someone. He appreciates that.
The entrance door slams behind Ethan. She turns around and asks him what is going on. She thought he would be with Victor. Ethan doesn’t let her finish the thought. Ethan wants to go home. Julie tells Elgin she things that’s her cue. It was nice meeting him.
8 — At the clinic, Kristi is checking on Boyd. She exercises Boyd’s hands to treat his Parkinson’s Disease. Boyd protests and says he’s fine. He just needs to rest. Kristi is sarcastic: “Oh, given your vast medical training I guess there is nothing to be worried about, then.”
Boyd rolls his eyes, shrugs, and extends his hand in the air for her. Kristi places her hand on top of his and asks Boyd to push hard against her hand as far as he can.
Boyd asks Kristi to check on his spider bites. He said he got spiders on him when he was out in the forest. Kristi picks a little flashlight from her emergency kit backpack. Boyd opens up his shirt to show a bite in the lower left of his belly, and another in the top-right area of his clavicle. Kristi says they are not swollen or inflamed, which is a good thing. Kristi wants him to talk about the large gash on his right arm.
Boyd turns defensive and doesn’t want to talk about it and that he’s fine. He lies and says he scratched it on a tree branch. He says it is not infected but to keep it clean. Kristi asks if the tremors on his hand had worsened or noticed any symptoms other than the shaking such as visual impairment, muscle stiffness, and depression. Boyd looks at her seriously. Kristi. Everybody here is depressed. She chuckles.
Boyd says that his Dad, the Parkinson’s started to mess with his mind at the end. Kristi says he has nothing to worry about. Cognitive impairment with Parkinson’s doesn’t happen until way down the line, if at all. He needs to rest. In his current condition, he shouldn’t put more stress on his body right now. Boyd laughs at Kristi hysterically. He laughs a straight 10 seconds. The idea that anybody in this place can avoid any extra stress on anything is just comical. Boyd apologizes and she smiles.
Boyd tries to stand up and falls back to the clinic bed on his butt. Kristi helps him land softly. She asks him to remain on the bed a while longer. He makes a guttural complaint.
9 — At the Diner, Tian Chen Liu gives Kenny a large sealable container with food. She says in Cantonese that he should rest and eat this. He is working too hard. Kenny says the food is not for him. He says the food is for Boyd. He’s not feeling well. She says both work too hard. Boyd is too stubborn. She doesn’t like that. Kenny will make sure Boyd gets the message.
Tian holds Kenny. Asks if he has spoken with Kristi. Kenny replies he knew she was engaged. He just wants her to be happy.
10 — Bakta, the bus driver, is sitting in Tom’s Bar. Drinking some of the potato vodka piss water. Jade enters abruptly into the Bar and complains he can’t find a place where he can be at peace. He looks at her and says oh you are the bus driver. Sorry. It’s been a bad day. Stay as long as you want, I’m just going to be in the back.
Bakta is looking to be in a bad place. Serious face. Eyes lost. Bakta starts talking. That boy. He said to me turn around. He begged me. She didn’t listen.
Jade asks when did he ask you to turn the bus around? Was it before or after you saw the fallen tree on the road? She replies: “After.” Jade says: “Oh, well, you were already screwed. Apparently, it’s once you see the tree, that’s when everything — you know. (blows raspberry) Yea, I wouldn’t spend too much time kicking yourself for that part.”
Bakta says those people got on her bus. It was her job to get them where they were going. Jade asks Bakta if her pity party comes with music.
[Asshole]Jade says it is not her fault. if you want to feel like shit, fine but feel like shit cause your life is fucked. Don’t carry around a bunch of guilt thinking that you ruined anybody else’s.
Jade sits next to Bakta and takes some of the vodka. “Besides, no offense, they were riding a bus. Their lives couldn’t have been that great to begin with.”
Bakta gives Jade the evil sideways look. Jade: “
Jade: “It’s a bad joke. Sorry.”
Bakta starts laughing out of the blue. She wasn’t even supposed to be driving that day. She took that job to pay for her degree. Last month she finally paid her full tuition. She was all set to hand in her resignation notice and she thought why not stay a few extra weeks? Put aside something extra so she can treat herself. Take a little trip and celebrate. She deserved a little reward. Is this place what she deserves?
Jade says he sold his company right before he arrived to this place. Finally achieved the one thing he worked his whole life for. Jade offers his cup to toast. To getting what we deserve. Bakta clashes her cup with his. Both drink. Both make a disgusted face. Piss water. lol
11 — Tabitha enters the clinic to visit Jim. No one answers. Tabitha explores the clinic rooms searching for Kristi. She surprises Marielle who seems to be raiding the medicine cabinet in search of oxy or opioids. She is a junkie.
Tabitha asks who Marielle is. She introduces herself and says she was on the bus. Don’t worry, I’m a nurse. I was just helping Kristi inventory the supplies. Tabitha says she was here for her husband. Marielle replies he left a little while ago.
12 — Tabitha finds Jim. She scolds him. He should be in the clinic, resting. Jim says they need to talk. He shows her the collapsed house. He laid down there in the basement with the debris pinning him down to the ground and he was thinking he was going to die, and he just kept asking why. Why did that road lead them here? What the fuck is the point of all of this?
Jim asks Tabitha if she knew that Kristi’s fiancé was on that bus. She is surprised. Jim: “And what you said about the wires not being connected? That’s not possible. When we design a rollercoaster, we design it to do things that seem impossible, because the more impossible it seems, the stronger the reaction you get from the people riding it. I know how this sounds, but what if… what if all this was designed just to see how we react? I mean, what if this is all some kind of fucked-up experiment? The radio worked. We made contact with someone.”
Tabitha asks then why is everyone else just standing–
Jim interrupts: “Because they don’t know. Right as the storm was coming in, I heard a man. That’s why I came running back here. He warned me, Tabitha. Or threatened me. I don’t know which, but he knew my name, and he said you shouldn’t be digging, and then just like that, our house collapsed.”
Tabitha asks if he thinks someone is watching them. Jim says all he knows is that somebody got on the end of that radio and talked to him. Tabitha asks if anyone else heard the voice on the radio. Jim thinks about it.
[Unless he was the only one hearing the voice, Donna was right there with him holding the umbrella above the CB Radio. When the voice on the radio threatened Jim, he asked Donna to take care of his kids, before he stormed out running toward the Matthews's house.]13 — Boyd is at the Sheriff’s Station washing his face in the bathroom. He walks to the desk and finds Father Khatri on the chair in front of a chessboard. Father Khatri says it is his move, but his options don’t look great. Boyd is confused. Father Khatri died in his arms days ago. This isn’t real. You aren’t here.
Father Khatri taunts him. He wants to talk about what can and can’t be real? That’s the part you wanna focus on?
Boyd says he doesn’t know. He’s got a little mystery boy sending people through magic trees in the forest, my hand’s not shaking anymore, but now I’ve got fucking worms underneath my skin. So yeah, maybe that’s the part we should talk about!
Father Khatri: Or how about we talk about what’s really on your mind? How exactly are you gonna tell Kenny that Sara killed his dad?
Boyd: Sara didn’t kill him.
Father Khatri: She opened the door. Potato, pot-ah-to.
They have an interesting conversation about the consequences of telling the truth to Kenny about Sara and his Dad, or continuing with the lie.
Boyd decides he will tell Kenny the truth. Father Khatri counters him with a blow to the face in the shape of what he told Ellis about Fatima. Boyd told Ellis to become the thing she holds on to. With Kenny’s Dad dead, Boyd is now the Dad Kenny needs to hold on to. Once Boyd tells Kenny the truth about Sara and his Dad, that hold will be gone. This will break Kenny. Broken people don’t survive here.
14 — Jim arrives to the Colony House and confronts Donna. She knows why he is there for. Donna asks to thank her for looking after his kids when you ran off like an asshole?
Jim confronts her about the voice on the radio. He knows she heard it. Donna turns blue and looks to both sides of the hallway. Donna asks Jim to follow her to talk privately.
Donna says she is gonna put this as delicately as possible. How fucking stupid are you? You wanna know if I heard something? Yea, I heard it. I heard some spooky motherfucker warn you about your wife 20 minutes before your house collapsed.
Jim says that means there are people out there who can see us.
Donna rebounds with what part of you thinks that’s a good sign? Do you realize what happened here after you ran off? The fucking lights exploded. One of my people almost went blind. If there really are people watching us, they sure as shit aren’t helping us. What do you think they will do when they know we know about them? And that is assuming that was a person on the other end of the line. There are things here around us that walk and talk like us, until they walk up to you and rip your fucking guts out. How do you know it wasn’t one of them? I am not saying ignore it. But you already got people’s hopes up with your tower. Keep your fucking mouth shut until we know more.
Jim asks where is the radio.
Donna breathes heavily in anger, as if he just ignored her long speech, but she replies it is in the back of the house, a bit busted after the storm. Don’t do anything until I tell you.
Donna hears Randall cuss out one of the residents. Randall pushes a guy hard and he crashes through a decoration that shatters on impact and kicks him in the ribs while down. He warns the guy not to touch his shit. Donna starts with if this is gonna work–
Randall cuts her off. If this is gonna work he needs to stay the fuck out of my shit. Period. He went through my bag.
Donna says they have a way of doing things here.
Randall is a force of nature just like Donna: “That’s good for you. I got a way of doing things, too. You touch my stuff, I will smack the fucking shit outta you. We clear?”
Donna breathes deep. The stare contest begins.
15 — In the Church basement, Sara is eating from the container Kenny brought her. Kenny says Boyd told him Sara saved his life in the forest.
Sara said she didn’t save him, it was… it’s hard to explain. (She refers to the Boy in White but doesn’t know how to explain that without sounding crazy).
Kenny says he was told that she hears voices. He said that that’s why you tried to kill Ethan, and how you ended up killing Nathan. How does a voice inside you convince you to do something like that? Explain it to me, because I want to understand why Boyd believes you. I want to be able to back him up. People are going to freak out when they find out about you. That doesn’t just hurts you, that hurts Boyd’s reputation. I can’t let that happen. So help me understand. Please. I always thought of you as a friend, and my mom adores you as the daughter that she never had. Convince me that you don’t deserve to be in the box.
Sara can’t. Boyd gave her a chance that she doesn’t deserve. Kenny tries to defend her. That if she explains the voices, they can make the townsfolk understand and to forgive her. Sara doesn’t want his help. She has something to confess.
16 — In the Colony House, Donna leans on the sink looking to the ground at the large hole she made with the axe when Jim and Jade were looking for wood supplies for the CB Radio tower. Fatima enters the kitchen. She heard about the fight with Randall. Fatima says it will be ok. They always come around. Donna says, not this one. She knows his type. Everything is a personal attack, a battle.
Fatima says maybe they can change the rules a bit. Just ease up on the communal sharing. Donna cuts her off: Maybe we give him an entire wing of the house. Fatima resumes her thoughts, but Donna won’t have it. Donna goes to the closet and grabs the axe. She heads straight to Randall. Fatima is confused but walks after Donna.
Donna asks Randall to get up from the sofa. Axe on hand. Get your shit. You don’t like the rules here, you can live somewhere else.
Randall says to get the fuck out of here.
Donna raises the axe in anger and slams the wall next to the sofa. Debris was about to hit the pillow he was seconds before. He moves the fuck out of the way.
17 — Donna walks toward the bus in the town downhill. Randall follows her with his bags on both shoulders, and his backpack. Bakta moved the bus to the side of the road. Donna shows Randall his new living quarters: the bus. Welcome to your new home. Randall is confused. Hop on up!
Randall enters the bus and sees the blood stains on the floor, and hesistates. He chooses the front seats to unload his bags.
Randall now has his own domain and can make his own rules. Donna only provides one rule, handing him a talisman from the Matthews house. They won’t be needing it anymore. What you would want to do is hang the talisman on the window and make sure it stays there because if it falls down during the night and those things get inside, it doesn’t matter if you have a dozen rifles.
Randall asks if she is done swinging her dick around. You made your point.
Donna says she hasn’t. He might not like people looking through his shit, but she won’t stand by and let him hurt her people. She says he doesn’t get what this place is even after all he has seen. Now he has his own domain with no shades to cover the windows. He has a front-row view of what the monsters do at night and wishes him luck.
18 — Outside the Sheriff’s Station, Tillie introduces herself to Boyd. He tries to brush her off. He needs to talk to his deputy Kenny. She says he won’t find him there. She just saw him walk toward the clinic.
19 — Inside the clinic, Kenny is staring at the boiler room’s wall where he found his father’s corpse. It seems Sara confessed off-screen that she opened the door the night the monsters killed his father and Gina.
Boyd approaches behind Kenny, and begins to talk. Kenny interrupts him. Before his family arrived to this place, he never saw her mother cry. He’d see her angry, stubborn, or frustrated. And now every single night he can hear his mother sobbing in the other room, because she’s convinced that it was her fault. That if she had been here with my Dad, that he wouldn’t have gotten out of the basement to open the door to let those monsters in. But my father didn’t open the door, did he?
Boyd answers no.
Kenny said Boyd knew. Boyd responds he knew the night before he left to explore the forest boundaries. Boyd said he was going to tell him. Kenny doesn’t want Boyd to touch him and asks when exactly he was planning to tell him. Kenny whispers that she is going in the box. Boyd replies no. Kenny insists. His father was torn to pieces and he fucking knew it was Sara.
Kenny removes his deputy badge and throws it to the ground: “You watch your own fucking six.” Kenny leaves the clinic basement. Boyd kneels down to pick up the badge. Stands there in silence.
| FROM TV SERIES RECAP NAVIGATION | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEASON 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| SEASON 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| SEASON 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
