‘Outsiders’ Season 2 Episode 8 Recap – “Healing”

Warning!  SPOILERS AHEAD!  Ged GedYah-self away from this recap if you are not caught up with season 2 of WGN’s Outsiders!

Hey Cousins!  I don’t know about you but this week’s episodes was one of my favorites of the season so far.  I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again, and again, and again.  Outsiders is one of the best shows on television right now and this episode was beyond proof of that.  Action-packed with just a little tugging on the heart strings and moments to make you smile.  That pretty much sums up this week.  Let’s get right into the recap:

Li’l Foster is officially home (YAY!!!) and he is reintroduced to the mountain through a cleansing ritual which involved a baptism and burning his clothes.  But, before they can burn his yellow prison suit, Li’l retrieves his drawing from the pocket which was given back to him by the prison doctor.  The Farrells gift him a fancy new, 18-lbs. jacket and salute his return with a hearty Ged GedYAH! And you know I totally Ged GedYahed right along with them!

After Li’l Fosters reintroduction, the Farrells began to join in a group to chant/prayer for G’Win to recover.  She is in grave condition and tells Big Foster that there is no medicine on the mountain that can fix her injury.  She is going to die and, when she does, Big Foster will take over as Bren’In once again.  G’Win tells him she sees that he has changed but, there is still darkness inside him.  That worries her because, if he took the oak again, she fears more blood will be spilled.  She makes him promise to keep his darkness at bay when/if he retakes the oak.

Big Foster doesn’t believe the chanting so, he decides that he wants to go into town with Hasil in order to get medicine.  After some convincing, he gains the support of his boys though, Hasil looks quite concerned.

Hasil, Big Foster, Phil’up, Trevor, Enoch and Barnabis start making their way towards the town when they come across perimeter guards.  While Hasil’s plan is to lay low and wait out the guards, Big Foster is more impatient.  He approaches them and the guards pull and fire their guns.  The Farrells run, literally for their lives but, before they can make it to safety, Enoch gets shot.  Hasil takes off running in a completely different direction. Once the guards are gone, they bring Enoch out into the light to see the extent of his injuries.  He jokes about needing to go to town to get medicine for his wound before taking his last breath.  RIP Enoch!

Sheriff Houghton walks into the police station to a round of applause from the workers.  Earlier in the episode, he successfully apprehended one of the escaped prisoners.  Even Matt Meyers compliments him on a job well done before their conversation behind closed doors turns into accusations.  Meyers finds it interesting that Li’l Foster is the only inmate still at large and he’s the only inmate that Houghton didn’t want locked up.  Meyers questions how the Farrells would have gotten a copy of the prisoner transfer schedule and all but flat out accuses Houghton of providing insider information to Hasil when he responded to the noise complaint call at the fight club that night.  Hilariously, Houghton turns the blame back on to Meyers calling him stupid in the way he’s handled the whole situation.  I mean, come on.  Who didn’t laugh out loud when Houghton’s response was simply, “You’re stupid.”  Still, Meyers is suspicious of all the coincidences and says things are going to be handled much differently around there from now on.

Much like Houghton, Ledda has become a town hero as well.  She walks into her Save Shay group to applause, cheers and a standing ovation.  When she goes home, Houghton stops her saying they need to talk.  She begins to cut him off, assuming he’s going to rip into her for the disturbance she caused at the Coal Days Parade but, instead, he’s asking her for an alibi.  Houghton asks Ledda to say he was at home, with her, two days ago to anyone whom asks about his whereabouts.  She agrees but, on one condition.  She wants him to lay off her group.  When Houghton says he can’t do that, Ledda storms off.

Li’l Foster finally goes to visit G’Win.  He is visibly shaken upon seeing her condition.  He gently takes her hand and, it’s almost like he begins to make peace with her.  He apologizes for not being there to stop this from happening and he says he knows now why she agreed to marry Big Foster.  He softly kisses her hand before joining the other Farrells outside in the chanting/prayer circle.  I swear, this man has a direct line straight to my heart.  This was such a beautiful scene between Li’l Foster and G’Win.

Hasil has finally made it home to Sally Ann and, she is not happy that he has been missing for the past few days.  She tries to ask about where he has been but, after all that he has just been through, Hasil isn’t quite up for talking.  Sally Ann can’t take it anymore.  She packs an overnight bag and tells him that she’s going to stay with Frida and Butch for the night and, when she comes back in the morning if he’s still there, then he is promising to be there for good.  No more running back and forth between her and the mountain.  If he’s not there, she’s leaving him.  This scene broke my heart, not just because our favorite couple is going through some tough times but because of the look on Hasil’s face while this is all going down.  You can tell, he’s trying SO hard not to cry and, well, that whole scene was just a true display of amazing acting by both Christina Jackson and Kyle Gallner.  Kuddos, Cousins!  Amazing scene!

Sally Ann is looking for affirmation in Frida but, it seems like Frida is a Sasil fan too!  She tells Sally Ann that Hasil is just trying to provide for her and a love like theirs is so difficult to find.  She urges Sally Ann to think twice before throwing that all away.

Back up the mountain, Big Foster is, once again, washing the blood off of his hands when it seems he has a revelation.  He takes a long, piercing look into his reflection in the water bucket and, you can see the wheels in his head turning.  It appears that he is questioning what he has become.  Has he really changed and can he keep the darkness within him at bay like G’Win has asked of him?  Perhaps he is feeling guilt for what’s happened to G’Win.

Well, in the next scene, we see Big Foster lying next to G’Win while bearing his soul to her.  He says everything he touches turns to blood and, if he were to become Bren’In again, he’s certain that the darkness would take over him.  Big Foster goes to Li’l Foster who is still in the chanting/prayer circle.  He asks to speak with him and, though resistant at first, Li’l Foster agrees.

They walk over to a private area to talk and Big Foster tells Li’l Foster that G’Win is right.  The mountain is tainted and it’s Big Foster’s fault because of the way he chose to rule as Bren’In and because of the demon he has become.  Though he’s tried to change, everything he touches ends up dead.  The mountain is taking G’Win and, the only way to stop that is to offer a sacrifice in her place.  He pulls out a gun and asks Li’l Foster to kill him.  Li’l Foster takes hold of the gun, stands up and says he knows just the place.

Big Foster and Li’l Foster walk to a new location but, Li’l Foster is not going to kill him.  Instead, he says Big Foster will have to live and suffer through everything as punishment.  He turns to walk away and Big Foster jumps on him, knocking him down.  Big Foster punches and kicks Li’l Foster, clearly trying to antagonize him enough so he will snap and kill him.  Big Foster says that G’Win never loved Li’l Foster and, well, that done did it!  Li’l Foster rises to his feet and ferociously fights back, tossing Big Foster against a tree as if he weighed nothing.  He lands several solid punches and head-butts before holding the gun to Big Foster’s head.  He pauses for a brief moment but then disassembles the gun because, “Farrells don’t kill Farrells.”

Li’l Foster walks away and Big Foster desperately searches for the gun parts.  He reassembles the gun, holds it to his own head and looks up to see Elon.  Big Foster can not believe his eyes!  Elon leans over and whispers something into Big Foster’s ear causing his facial expression to show pain, anguish but, at the same time relief.  Big Foster responds by saying, “Thank you.” And Elon walks off into the night leaving behind a gathering of flowers.

After all of this, Big Foster returns to the chanting prayer circle with a small bouquet of the flowers in his hand.  He lays them with the other offerings, kneels down to join in the chanting.

Down in town, Haylie Grimes is sitting in a bar after work when who should walk in but, Gordon!  Earlier in the episode, Gordon visited Grimes in her office and tried to get her to hike up the mountain to see what she’s messing with.  She refused but, we can tell Gordon doesn’t give up that easily.  He sits next to her and makes another attempt to get her to go on a hike with him.  Again she declines so, Gordon tries a different approach.  He says the town and the mountain are full of culture and pulls out a pack of CDs from his bag.  He calls them Outsider Art and he invites Haylie to come back to his room to listen to it.  Hmmm…  Haylie calls him out for having the worst pick up line ever but, in a surprising twist, she tells him to try again.  Haylie and Gordon do go back to his room, she does listen to the music but does so while the two of them have sex.

When she wakes up the next morning, Gordon is already gone.  He’s left her his number but has taken with him access to her laptop files, emails and everything.  This dude is sneaky and definitely up to something but, what?

Poor Hasil just can’t get a break.  He’s at home wallowing in all that has just happened to him when there’s a knock at the door.  It’s Houghton.  He suggests that Hasil leave town for good.  If anything were to happen, Houghton wouldn’t be able to protect him and it’s better for him to just disappear.  Hasil responds with a simple, clear, “OK.”  Boy, Hasil has had A DAY!  How is he going to disappear but be with Sally Ann at the same time?

Shortly after, Sally Ann comes home to find Hasil still there, waiting for her.  He finally tells her what happened with Enoch and that he doesn’t know if he’s a live or dead.  He tells her there’s something he has to do for his family.

Frida comes over to help out.  She and Sally Ann are both calling to Hasil to come out and show them something.  Hasil doesn’t want to but they finally coerce him.  When Hasil emerges from the hallway, he’s in baggy jeans, an oversized shirt and his hair is tucked under a flat rimmed trucker hat.  He’s wearing Butch’s cothes in an effort to go undercover within the town.  Hasil feels like he’s lost himself in those clothes but Sally Ann reassures him that she sees him and that it’s only temporary.  Sasil may just be saved!! Side note, I literally LOLed when he came out in those clothes.  Why, OH WHY couldn’t Butch have better fashion sense!

Ledda was called to the school because her daughter got into a fight while defending her mom.  During the school visit, Ledda has a coughing attack and ends up in the hospital.  It appears she may be taking a turn for the worst.  Houghton is there and he takes her hand.  Ledda begins to cry and, reassuringly, Houghton says he’ll take care of her kids and that it’s time to tell her kids about her diagnosis.  She agrees and he calls them in.

We end the episode back up the mountain.  The Farrells are chanting in the prayer circle when Annalivia appears.  There’s a brief look of terror on the Farrell’s faces, fearing that G’Win has died but, coming out of the house slowly, is their Bren’In.  She is wheeled to the door and, leaning on the oak, G’Win stands before the Farrells who all immediately bow down to pay their respects to their leader.

What an emotional episode!  Seriously, I laughed, got teary-eyed, gasped, grimaced, and cheered multiple times.  What did you think of the episode?  Let us know your thoughts on Healing in the comments section below.

Next week, it looks like things are about to get vicious between the Farrells, the coal company and the town!  Check out the preview clip of next week’s episode titled Loyal to the Bone.

Outsiders airs Tuesdays at 9pm EST on WGN America.  Ged GedYah!!

 

Photos and Media: WGN America