Review for Amazon Prime Video's "Outer Range" - Episode 1 - "The Void"

The show's first episode, "The Void," opens with Royal running shirtless in the night, with a body on his shoulders which he dumps into a strange dark hole before being caught off guard by a bright blinding light. It's a frantic and slightly spooky opener that made me wonder at first if Royal had killed someone and then immediately ask -- what the hell is up with that giant hole?

The episode then cuts to earlier that day. Royal wakes before sun-up, listens to his wife Cecilia tell him about a dream she had, kisses her goodbye then starts his day. His wife is played by Lili Taylor who I haven't seen in a while but recognize from 2013's horror movie, "The Conjuring." On Prime Video's "Outer Range," Lili Taylor plays a kind gruff woman -- Cecilia Abbot -- a mother and grandmother, and undeniably a salt-of-the-earth American country woman.

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Josh Brolin's Royal goes out on his horse and surveys his land with binoculars. He sees through its lens, cows in the distance who suddenly turn their heads in attention to some unknown spectacle or threat. Royal looks at the sky. There is a strange noise that to me was very representative of the hollow ringing from tinnitus, a condition of painful ringing in the air due to infection or sudden pressure changes in the ear or in a person's vicinity, like the take-off or landing of an airplane. Anyway, where was I? Something disturbed Royal's cows, he looks to the sky, there is a strange sound akin to tinnitus ringing and then he returns home to find his wife Cecilia making breakfast for their two grown sons, Perry and Rhett, and their grandchild, Rhett's daughter Amy.

(Royal's eldest son is far left, Rhett, and the younger center, Perry. They are played by Tom Pelphrey and Lewis Pullman both of whom I don't recognize but thought their performances this episode were more than decent.) Source

(Here is Royal's granddaughter, Perry's daughter, Amy, played by Olive Ambercrombie. Don't know her either but her small parts in the opening episode weren't bad.) Source

Back to the episode's action -- Royal heard a strange sound out on his ranch property and returned home. His wife Cecilia is cooking up breakfast for their two grown boys, Perry and Rhett, and their grandkid, Amy who is being teasingly reprimanded by her father Rhett about feeding bacon to the family dog. It's a cute, all-American breakfast scene until Cecilia tells Royal he has ten minutes to get dressed for church. He smiles confused and says that's ridiculous, it's only eight o' clock and the family doesn't lose a beat, joking about him being old man whose age is catching up to him: they point to the kitchen clock that reads 10 o' clock. Royal watches his wife, kids, and grandkid leave the kitchen to get ready and stands there perplexed for a moment. The scene is rather subtle but dramatically it's huge -- something unknown disturbed his cows, he looked to the sky, heard a strange tinnitus-like sound, and now can't recount for two whole hours of his day.

Spooky.

My immediate thought?

A few scenes later, Royal and his sons, Perry and Rhett, meet with Billy, Luke, and Trevor Tillerson, sons of Royal's fellow-rancher neighbor, Wayne Tillerson. Two of the Tillerson sons are obviously rowdy or "bad guys" but the third Tillerson son is much more kind. After his brothers serve Royal legal papers requiring him to push back his property fence by a ridiculous three feet, the third Tillerson son apologizes and says it's what their father wants. This is the real-world conflict of the show so far, a literal encroachment onto the protagonist's Royal's literal world and property. As most can guess, his sons and Wayne's sons are destined to clash, like their father's but most likely less politely.

I absolutely love how the above exchange is framed and executed, two sides literally meeting at the very thin line between their worlds. Another tasteful choice is the juxtaposition of two of the Tillerson boys' ATVs versus the Abbots and their horses -- tradition meets modernity.

Another interesting scene is this episode is of the Tillerson patriarch, Wayne, playing with a weird rock shortly after Royal discovers the hole. Later he mumbles strange things to a mounted Bison head -- which is odd since Royal sees a Bison near the hole at one point -- and calls the Abbott house to warn them that "Something is coming." My reaction to his character is that he's been left psychologically broken by some kind of alien abduction but the alien element is still just a guess.

Another important character we meet is Imogen Poots' Autuman, a hiker who tries to bribe the Abbot's into letting her camp on their land with a large amount of cash but Royal lets her have a temporary stay free of charge, and just warns her that the property is large and can be dangerous. He visits her shortly after discovering the strange giant hole and warns her to stay away from that region of the land. I recognize Imogen Poots from 2007's "28 Weeks Later." Poots' Autumn at one point even asks Royal how much he'd sell the land for, expressing a strong interest in it that goes beyond just being a campter/hiker. Without giving away too much, she plays a key part in episode 1 The Void's ending.

Things start to take a turn after the local sheriff arrives to give the Abbot's some news: Rhett's wife, who's been missing for some time, the FBI's decided to stop looking for her. It is sensitive spot for the family but also a mystery as to what really happened to Royal's daughter-in-law.

Tensions rise between the Abbot's sons and the Tillerson sons, which leads to something of a tragedy that ties back to where we find Royal at the beginning of this episode's opener.

If you want to learn more about what happens ... I'd recommend watching this show. Amazon Prime Video's "Outer Ranger" may have the makings for stellar TV due to this promising first episode.