Denmark
Billy is on the brink of being released back into general population, but the inmates are lusting for blood. Billy is essentially lamb to the slaughter, and he doesn’t know it.
Henry and Lee have a heart to heart about her struggles and how she’s come home. Henry tells her how his mother had a hard time fitting in when she was living in Buell, so he decided to come home and take care of her. Lee is curious about why that is so wrong.
Del Harris waits for Jackson after work and takes him out for a drink. After quoting a line about being rotten (a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet) he shakes up Jackson, mentioning “ripping up the cancer and tearing the whole thing out.” This is, again, another reference that links to Jackson’s part to play in all this, given he’s been working with Bobby Jesus all this time.
The music in this series has regularly been the stand-out component and the next scene exemplifies why. Mysterious, tense and creepy, it works beautifully to set the scene as Del Harris crosses state lines and sneaks into Bobby’s house. The only trouble is, Bobby was prepared for his. Bobby chokes him out, only to receive a fatal gunshot from Del for his troubles. When Jackson turns up, Del shoots him too and stages the crime scene to make it look like the pair killed each other. Only, he didn’t bank on there being an old lady there too, who shoots Del with a shotgun. He hits back and kills her but it poses a real problem for him. Del now has three bodies and he’s forced to try and stage the whole scene to make himself invisible. ..
Del returns home to Grace, who helps remove all the fragments of bullets from his shoulder. Despite his questionable methods, Grace reassures Del and tells him he’s one of the guys who’s bringing good into the world.
Billy is released from solitary confinement and tells the guard to leave a message for Lee. “I kept my promise,” he says, referencing his cover-up of Isaac’s secret. ..
Billy steps into the main hall of the hospital, and is immediately met with resistance. He’s taken into the hospital by security, and is in a rough way. He has multiple cuts and bruises, along with an induced medical coma to try and reduce his brain swelling. Grace arrives to check on her son, despairing over what’s happening to him. Billy’s life hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, news of the triple homicide breaks. While the station is abuzz with news of this, Del shows up and finds Virgil Poe in his office. He apologizes, in a round about way, before mentioning Grace’s mess up with burning her house down. She’s left a gym bag in the tool shed holding pictures of Billy, which were originally hanging up on the wall in her trailer. Virgil figures out this was staged but hes going to keep hold of this for “rough times ahead.”
Henry realizes that Lee may be trapped in this town and forced to look after him, so he pops numerous pills and heads out into the garden. When Lee finds out, she races down after noticing the empty packets to find him slumped to the side in his chair. Now it’s unknown whether he actually survive or not. ..
When Chuck Castellanos shows up in town, detectives from Pittsburgh start questioning him about his old buddy, Del Harris. Chuck lies though, claiming the last time he saw the guy was just before he left Pittsburgh. However, their conversation is interrupted by Isaac who arrives in town.
He heads over to the station and shows Del Harris the wrench used in the killing. Del narrows his gaze and tells him to leave, never show the wrench to anyone.
The Episode Review
It seems like Del Harris has decided to lean in fully to the lies and deceit he’s concocted to Cover his own tracks. I’m sure he didn’t expect Isaac to rock back up in town, which has undoubtedly left him a lot to think about. Before we find a resolution to this though, the scene cuts to black. But is there enough here to warrant a second season? ..
On the other hand, the murder is still unsolved and there is still a lot of work to be done in order to figure out who did it and why. The case remains open and there is always the potential for new clues to surface that could lead to a resolution.
At the same time, we have a lot of questions about Del Castellanos. Will he be released from prison? What will happen to him with the Castellanos case unresolved? And will Billy actually make it through his injuries? His loyalty to Isaac and Lee is ultimately his own undoing here, and perhaps this could be interpreted as a warning tale that sometimes you need to take care of yourself first rather than taking the fall for someone else.
The story of Billy is a story of loyalty. Billy was loyal until the end and in that respect, he’s arguably the best friend you could have. In a roundabout way of course.
Henry realizes that Lee can’t move on and will be stuck looking after him, so he decides to kill himself with pills. Is he really dead though? We’re left with big question marks over whether he’s really kicked the bucket or just unconscious. However, his moving speech earlier in the season strongly implies that he is dead. ..
With Isaac back in town, does the significance of his return hold up?
There are certainly some tantalizing possibilities for season 2, and the only way this show could possibly go for a renewal is with another key character being killed. Speaking of killing, since Virgil has evidence that could be used to incriminate Grace, will Del hit out and kill him too? ..
The season 2 premiere was a lot of fun, despite some blips along the way. The questions and answers were plentiful, and there were plenty of scenarios to explore. American Rust is a slow burn but an enjoyable watch overall.
Do you think that the show should return for season 2? Let us know in the comments below!
