[Dispatcher] All units, please be advised of an active hostage situation.
A suspect believed to be Nate romanowski
is holding at least one hostage at the twelve sleep courthouse.
Backup has been requested
who's the hostage?
[Static crackling]
Hello? Who... who is the hostage?
[Dispatcher] The hostage is confirmed to be Romano wski's attorney.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
No. No, no, no.
- [Tires squeal] - [Helicopter whirring]
[Tires squeal]
[Sirens wailing]
No. No, Joe. You can't go up there, Joe! They're not gonna let you in!
Get ready with those flash-bangs,
'cause we're gonna go on the count of three, got it?
- I warned you about Nate romanowski! - Hey! Who's this? Stop, stop, stop!
My wife's pregnant. Stop it.
Nate, it's me. It's Joe.
- I'm taking my gun off! - Pickett, come on.
I'm unarmed! I'm coming in.
Pickett, don't.
Pickett, don't do it! Don't do it! Joe!
- I'm unarmed! - Joe!
Marybeth. Hey.
Mmm. [Grunts]
He went out the window.
- Oh, you gotta be kidding me. - [Barnum] Fugitive's on the run.
Secure the building. You two, stay here, understood?
- You okay? - Yes, I'm...
- Did he hurt you? - No. No, I'm fine.
Joe, why would he do this? I was gonna get him outta here.
He's not who he says he is.
He was wanted, under another name in Montana,
- for killing two federal agents. - What?
- Ms. Pickett? - I know.
- I need to ask you some questions. - [Marybeth] Of course.
Without your husband.
It's fine, Joe. I can hold my own.
[Cricket] All I'm saying is that if he k/lled federal agents,
maybe he had good reason for it.
Do you hear yourself when you speak? Hmm?
Now, maybe saying something stupid like that
plays to your conspiracy chat room loonies,
but not to people like kelmeckis and me.
Sounds like you and romanowski got pretty close.
- We talked a bit. - [Scoffs] Yeah.
More like cricket here got puppy dog eyes whenever he was around.
Shut up! I did not.
You know, we figured he must've died somewhere along the way
till we flagged his photo in your local paper.
Some guys just don't have the good sense to stay dead.
Kelmeckis.
You got anything you wanna ask her?
Yeah.
"The good sense to stay dead."
[Line rings]
[Taylor] Joel hey, I was just about to call you.
Look, that scat sample you gave me? It's the craziest thing.
It didn't match anything in the international database,
so, yeah, I don't know what to make of it.
Could it be an extinct species?
That would be rncredible.
That'd be a miracle, truly. Have you ever heard of anything like that happening?
- Uh, no. You? - Nope.
If you're right and this animal is thought to be extinct,
then it wouldn't be on the endangered species list, right?
So what land of protection would there be
for an extinct animal that's actually still alive?
Know how long they'll be?
Hard to say, but if I had to guess, I'd say about an hour?
Hmm.
You know, rumor has it the sheriff's having a lot of trouble at home,
so he spends a lot of time in the office
talking about coffee with anyone who'll listen.
You know what time the library closes?
Yeah, I do. In 15 minutes.
I'll just be a few. Will you let marybeth know if she finishes?
- [Helicopter whirring] - [Radio chatter]
[Siren wailing]
[Librarian] Sony, warden. We 're just about to close up.
[Joe] Ill be real quick, / promise.
Do you know what's going on over there at the courthouse?
Uh, escaped fugitive.
What?
- Is he dangerous? - Yeah, probably.
Do you have any books on extinct species in Wyoming?
You can look up anything you want over there, but please hurry.
[Typing]
Wyoming and Montana.
Big horn mountains.
Killed by pioneers.
Oh, my god.
Hey. Mrs. Pickett, we are not done yet.
Sheriff barnum, Nate romanowski was in police custody, not mine.
When I realized he was dangerous,
I decided it wasn't prudent to risk my life to do your job for you.
So I'm gonna be on my way before I have to report your department
for harassing defense counsel.
Where's Joe?
He, um... he went to the library.
Great. Yeah.
[Joe] Oh, you're already done.
[Crowd clamoring]
[Marybeth] Excuse me.
- Okay. - [Joe] Thank you.
Just so I'm clear,
as I was being interrogated by police after being held hostage,
you figured now's a good time to run errands?
Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad.
How would you say it, Joe?
Well, the library was about to close, and I...
Hell, I guess there's no good way to say it.
I'm sorry. I should've been there.
Hey. I figured out what ote was trying to tell me.
- Well, get in. - Yeah.
Okay, listen to this.
"Pioneers exterminated the Miller's weasel deliberately
because they believed the weasels stole and ate human babies." Not true.
"But it didn't keep the pioneers from killing the weasels
- in every possible way." - [Groans]
"Some set bonfires atop the animals' holes, shot them as they escaped,
while others poisoned the weasels."
You think that's what was in ote's cooler?
A Miller's weasel?
Back from the dead.
Guess who the last person to check this book out of the library was?
Who?
Clyde lidgard.
Oh, shit.
Yeah. Oh, shit.
- [Opal] What is it now, vern? - I have news.
Unfortunately, the planned route for the interwest pipeline
ran right through sacred, native-owned land.
They're gonna have to find a new location to build.
[All laughing]
Well, I have a good idea as to where they could build it.
Yes. Yes, you do.
I told you, I thought of everything.
- Everything? - [Vern] Well, not quite everything.
The rest worked itself out anyway.
Now, we all become very, very rich.
To failure.
- [Marybeth] Okay, night night. - [Joe] Night.
- [Lucy] Good night. - [Marybeth] Sleep tight.
- [Joe] Love you. - [Sheridan] Good night, mom, dad.
- Love you so much. - [Marybeth] I love you.
You know, Joe, if you're right,
if there really is an extinct species alive here in saddlestring,
that probably means the interwest pipeline is dead.
- Good night, mom. - [Missy] Good night.
I mean, everyone really wants that pipeline to happen.
They think it'll bring life back to the town.
- It'd make everyone's lives better. - I know.
You kill that, you could be the most hated man in twelve sleep.
[Joe sighs] Yeah, but what's the alternative?
Just look away and let this animal get wiped off the earth forever?
I mean, how good's this pipeline really gonna be for most people?
Let's look at what it's done so far:
Murders, evictions, animals slaughtered.
We don't know for sure those things are connected.
They must be.
This tiny, little animal, this extinct weasel,
it could keep a small handful of people from making a lot of money.
People with power, people willing to kill to keep this a secret.
That's why we gotta make it known.
Once the secret's out, it's no longer worth killing over.
Okay, say you're right.
What proof do you really have?
A scat sample and a children's book?
It's not enough, Joe.
Yeah.
Yeah, it doesn't really feel undeniable yet, does it?
No, it doesn't.
I do think you're right about one thing, though.
Us knowing the why of it, why people are being killed,
but not being able to prove it?
This is the most dangerous time for us.
[Door bangs]
[Banging continues]
{gasps}
[banging continues]
[Door creaking, slamming]
Get back in bed.
You don't belong here.
Who is that?
He doesn't belong here.
Well, somebody should've told me he doesn't belong here.
He's been here the whole time.
No! He doesn't belong here!
I'll tell you where I belong.
- Come here! - [Sheridan] No! Mommy!
- Hey! Hey! No! - Come here!
- Don't! Don't! - Come here!
[Both gasp]
[Sheridan] No! Don't kill me! No! No! No! No!
[Panting]
No! Don't kill me!
- [Joe] Hey. - Don't let him kill me!
- [Joe] Sheridan.
- [Marybeth] Hey. It's okay. - [Joe] Wake up. Wake up. Honey, wake up.
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
You're having a bad dream, hon. You're having a bad dream.
[Sheridan panting]
You're okay. You're okay. You're okay. It's okay.
I'm sorry, dad. I'm sorry.
You did nothing wrong. You were just having a bad dream.
You are okay.
Go back to sleep, Lucy.
- Okay. Okay. - It's okay.
Nobody's trying to kill you.
- But what if the dream was real? - It's not. It's not.
Look, we're all here. We're safe.
You're safe.
[Sheridan panting]
- [Marybeth] You're okay. - [Joe] Yeah, it's okay.
It's okay. Here.
Oh, my god.
[Sighs]
Do I look this tired in real life?
[Joe] Well, at least they didn't say you crapped your pants.
- How do you know? You haven't read it. - [Laughs]
-Did they?
[Phone buzzing]
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
- Wacey. - [Wacey] Hey, Joe.
I heard about that romanowski business.
Marybeth okay?
Ah, a bit shaken, but she's okay.
Well, lsure am relieved to hear about that.
Say, I was just having my morning coffee here at the kensingers' house...
I'm house-sitting...
And a thought occurred to me.
You know who /'d bet could really use this house right about now?
Joe's family.
Ah, lsure do appreciate the ofi'er.
I just don't think it's a good time to be house-sitting right now.
- Where? - Kensingers.
Say yes.
I just mean with Romano wski
- being on the loose and all... - [Whispers] Say yes.
Might be smart to get your family some where
where he can't find you, don't you think?
At least until he turns up.
Well, marybeth says we'll take it.
And who am I to disagree?
Uh, thank you. We... we really appreciate it.
I'll... I'll call you from the road.
- Joe, look at this. - What am I looking at?
"Pipeline plan in peril."
Apparently, the original planned route runs straight through sacred native land.
Mm-hmm.
Wouldn't interwest have clocked that before they spent all this money?
Well, you know those things.
Some of those land contracts can go back pretty far.
You know who does know a lot about it?
Who?
Vern.
What if he knew this pipeline had to be rerouted?
That information sure could make a lot of money
for whoever owns land in the new pipeline location.
How much you wanna bet the new pipeline route they find
runs straight through elk bend?
I'm sorry.
Where you going?
I'm gonna go see vern about that job offer.
Okay.
Hey, vern.
How are you doing, man?
I have decided I'd like to take you up on that job offer.
Well, I'll be!
But before I do, there's just...
There's one remaining game warden issue I'll need to resolve.
I think there might be Miller's weasels in the elk bend river valley.
So, soon as I file my report with Wyoming game & fish and the epa,
well, then I would love to come and work for you at interwest.
Joe, you stupid, self-sabotaging son of a bitch.
When would you like me to start?
You know, your problem is you have no loyalty.
I cannot, in good conscience, recommend hiring a man with no loyalty.
Hmm.
You really need to cut the shit, vern.
You knew that interwest route was gonna fail before it even happened.
You went out there, you bought all that land with the scarletts, didn't you?
You think you know anything?
I did your job for 27 years.
You know how many times I got shot? Zero.
Beaten up? Zero.
You've had this job for three months, and look at you.
The whole town wants you dead.
Ah, it's not the whole town. Just the crooks.
If it's so crooked, why don't you pack up that little family of yours and go?
You're the endangered species, Joe.
You're just too stupid to see it.
I tried to help you, over and over and over.
But sometimes horses just won't drink the water.
- [Line rings] - [Sighs]
Yeah.
I was wrong.
Pickett is gonna be a problem.
[Sighs]
Where are we going?
We're gonna go stay somewhere else for a couple nights. A nice, big house.
Do we have to?
I thought you'd be thrilled.
I like having my things here.
Okay, bring whatever you want. We have plenty of room.
Come on, it'll be fun. Like a little vacation.
[TV playing indistinctly]
[Electricity powers down]
[Pipes groan]
I've still got three days till I gotta move out!
You turn on my goddamn power!
You turn on my water right now!
They think they can walk all over me, just like they walked all over your daddy.
Not anymore. I'm gonna go get what's ours.
[Car door opens, closes]
[Sheridan] How big is it?
[Chuckles] Big.
- [Wacey] Knock, knock. - Hey, wacey!
Come on in. We're almost ready.
We're going with him?
Yeah, and wacey's the one who offered us the house.
Marybeth.
Heard about your exciting day yesterday. Glad you're okay.
Thanks, wacey. I'm fine.
It's Sheridan, right?
Wait till you see the new house I got you set up with. You're gonna love it.
- [Chuckles] - Marybeth, let me get that.
Oh, thank you. All right!
[Whispers] You're doing great.
[Marybeth] Come on, Lucy! Let's go!
[Whistles] Here, Maxine!
[Humming]
[Missy] Oh!
Well, now, this is more like it.
[Marybeth] Hmm, yeah. Oh.
[Wacey] And no one but me knows you're here.
So you'll be totally safe.
- Thank you so much, wacey. - Mm-hmm.
You are a lifesaver.
I know.
You ladies need anything, just reach out.
Will do.
And don't worry, I'm always around.
[Marybeth] Thank you!
All right, chickadees.
Come on, girl!
- [Whistles] We're staying. Come on, girl. - [Truck engine starts]
[Truck departs]
- Come on! - [Maxine barks]
[Marybeth] We're staying, huh? We're gonna stay.
All right.
This is living.
[Marybeth and missy laugh]
She gets it.
I love this.
Of course you do, because it's civilized.
Wow, beautiful.
[Lucy] Missy, feel this.
[Missy] Oh, what a beautiful blanket. Feel that.
I wish I'd had that at your house when I was sleeping on the couch.
This is real leather.
What if she says no?
What if she won't do it?
We'll get her to go 'cause we have to get her to go.
We've thought of everything.
It'll work. Don't worry.
[Phone buzzing]
Hello.
- [Secretary] Hi. Joe pickett? - Yeah.
Les etbauer wanted me to call to set a meeting up for you and him.
Okay. When would he...
Tomorrow morning, first thing, in the office.
The Cheyenne office?
Do we have another one?
I guess not.
Any sense what this is about?
He didn't say. Probably just wants to meet you face-to-face.
Okay.
Well, I'll be there.
[Door unlocks, creaks open]
[Keys clatter]
{gasps}
-[Knocking on door] {Gasps}
Marshal kelmeckis? Uh, how did you, um...
Yeah, I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I had a couple more questions.
Uh, sure. Okay.
Come in, I guess.
So you and romanowski got pretty chummy.
I don't know, maybe.
Is there anything else he told you?
Anything you noticed you think might help us in apprehending him?
Places he mentioned? Relatives? Anything like that?
No, nothing like that.
Has he contacted you?
No. I mean, I don't know why he would.
Although there... there was one thing that I noticed.
I found his missing fingerprints really weird,
so I did a little digging and I found some talk online.
Admittedly, my source is only semi-credible,
but apparently, there's a group of special op operators
called "the five" who may or may not exist.
And if my source is right,
this group, they burn off their fingerprints.
That's some interesting police work you've been doing.
You happen to mention any of that to barnum or mclanahan?
No, they don't care for my theories.
Do you know where Nate is presently?
No, I already told you that.
'Cause if you did and you didn't tell us, that'd be a felony.
You realize that, right?
I'm a cop. I know what aiding and abetting is.
Good.
Would you mind taking a polygraph to that effect?
I'd like to rule you out as a suspect immediately.
Why, just because I talked to him? I...
Well, that and, no offense, but you seem like an easy Mark.
Plain, live alone, maybe not much of a social life.
The type that's easy for someone like romanowski
-to take advantage of. {Gasping}
wait! No, no! Please stop!
[Choking]
- [Bones crack] - [Cricket gasps]
[Panting] You're here.
Yeah, I am.
- Are you okay? - He... he tried to kill me.
- How did you know he was gonna do that? - Experience, unfortunately.
That man, the guys he works for, they killed my wife.
You were married?
A long time ago, or so it seems.
There's a lot of people looking for you.
- It's like a manhunt. - Mm-hmm.
- I'm a cop, so I should be arresting you. - I would appreciate if you didn't.
- Okay. - Okay?
- Okay. - All right.
Who... who was that guy?
Not a us marshal.
Take this. You get to a hotel.
When you come back, you report anything that you see, okay?
Okay.
You're a weird dude, Nate romanowski.
You're pretty weird yourself.
Thank you.
Um, yeah, I, uh...
I'll just go and let you get on with your special ops stuff.
I never said I was special ops.
Yeah, you didn't have to.
Joe pickett.
Have a seat. Mr. Etbauer will be with you in a minute.
[Clears throat]
Pickett? Come on in.
Sit, sit, sit.
So, you're Joe pickett.
My problem child.
You know, I've gotten more complaints about you
than any game warden I've ever worked with.
And this is only what, your first season as head warden?
Complaints?
"Sidearm taken by suspect."
"Trailer full of evidence blown up."
"Flashlight melted"?
I mean, how can that happen?
Which part?
How could you let a suspect take your gun from you?
How can something like that happen?
Well, I was writing up a citation.
I had my pad in one hand. I had my pen in the other.
Uh-huh.
I admit, I wasn't prepared for what happened.
It might have been my fault that I let it happen.
But he took your weapon,
while you just stood there.
You see what I mean?
- When you don't expect it? - Give that back to me.
You know I'm your boss, right?
In a sense.
In a literal sense. I am your boss.
And we have decided to suspend you without pay, effective immediately.
You'll have three days to journal your area.
Your duties will then be reassigned to an interim warden
who'll be assigned on Monday.
If I were you, I'd start looking for alternative accommodations right away.
If, after our seven-day review, we decide to officially fire you,
we're gonna need the house for the new game warden.
Did someone tell you to do this?
Of course not.
Well, then I'd like to file a report before I go.
I found evidence of an extinct species...
- Nope! Stop! Absolutely not! - Come back to life.
I cannot accept a report from a suspended warden,
especially while he's being suspended.
- It could look like the two are related. - They are related, aren't they?
Have you even seen one of these animals you're talking about, hmm?
Hmm. No. Of course not.
You know, you can't just file a report
based on some hunch without any proof.
You'd think they would have taught you as much in the academy.
This conversation's over.
[Door slams]
[Phone buzzing]
[Phone clicks]
["Till the light comes shining" playing]
[Sighs]
J” it's too late to get it right j”
J” it's too early to give in j”
[whistling]
J” make it through the n/ght j”
j” till the light come shining in j”
What do you want?
I know you owed ote some money. I'm here to collect it.
Sit down. Let's talk.
I didn't tell anyone about it.
Not the sheriff, not no one.
- Not the game warden? - Nope.
Mm-mmm, didn't tell him shit.
Well, that's good.
But I know ote was working for you,
doing something stupid.
- Mm-hmm. - And then he died.
So the way I figure is, you kinda owe me something now.
Mm-hmm.
At least if you don't want me to tell nobody nothing.
Well, you're right on one count.
Me and ote did have a deal.
- Hmm. - And he was doing some work for me.
But he didn't finish.
And unfortunately, he forfeited what I owed him
when I had to put an arrow through him.
[Cocks gun]
Run.
[Gasping, coughing]
[Engine starts]
Goddamn it.
[Sighs]
[Chuckles]
[Nate humming]
[Falcon screeches]
You know what really takes the jelly out of my doughnut, cricket?
What?
Kelmeckis asked me to meet with him
to go over any possible escape routes that romanowski could have taken.
- Then that asshole flaked. - Mmm.
- On his own meeting! - [Scoffs]
Some people just have no manners nowadays, huh?
No manners, yeah.
[Sighs]
Yeah, well...
Yeah, give me the local us marshals' office.
Yeah, hi there.
This is deputy mclanahan from the twelve sleep sheriff's department.
I had a meeting this morning with kelmeckis,
and, uh, well, he didn't show up.
So I'm just calling to make sure he didn't return to you.
Yeah, it's kelmeckis. Kel-meck-is.
Are you sure about that?
What is it?
Oh, my god.
[Mclanahan sighs]
- Sheriff. - [Barnum] Yep?
Kelmeckis is not a us marshal.
[Barnum] What the hell do you mean he's not a us marshal?
- Look, he had papennork and a badge. - [Barnum] Did you check this paperwork?
[Mclanahan] He took it with him to the courthouse
before I could have a chance.
[Barnum] This is stupid, even for you! How the hell could you let this happen?
- What kind of stores even make badges? - Do you know how much this chaps my rear?
[Children laughing, exclaiming]
[Sighs]
[Sobbing]
God, forgive me.
[Engine starts]
- Hi, mom! - [Marybeth] Hi, girls!
- How was music class? - [Sheridan] Fine.
[Marybeth] Thank you.
[Lucy] Why is April there?
Be right back, okay?
Hey, April.
- Hi. - Is somebody coming to get ya?
My mom's supposed to.
Okay, I'll just give her a call.
[Line ringing]
[Disconnect tone plays]
[Automated voice] The number you have reached is not rn service at this t/me.
Maybe she left me.
Oh, no.
I'm sure she wouldn't leave you, sweetheart.
She's done it before.
Okay.
Well, come hop in. You're gonna stay with us till we find her, all right?
Okay.
Okay. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.
[Vehicle approaching]
Shit.
[Truck door opens, slams]
Let's go. Come on, boys. Let's go. Let's go. Come on.
[Chuckles]
[Laughs]
[Running footsteps]
[Victor] I got you something.
Joey, I know it's not your birthday yet, but I got you something.
I can give it to you early, if you want.
Nah, I'll wait.
Just kidding. Let me see it.
You like it?
It even says "game warden" on it.
I love it.
I got myself one, too.
Uh-oh, looks like we have a known poacher on state lands here.
Squirrel season doesn't start for another two months.
I'd think you'd know that by now, merle.
Well...
I blew it, Vic.
I'm sorry.
[Truck door opens]
[Marybeth] Where have you been?
What's wrong?
Joe, what's wrong?
I lost my job.
Okay.
How? What?
We're gonna have to find a new place to live,
so a new game warden can live there.
[Sighs]
[Sniffles]
I went by my childhood home today.
You did?
When I was a kid in that house,
sometimes I could hear the violence coming.
It was like a ringing in my ears.
It just got louder and louder until it exploded.
Sometimes it was so loud, I...
I couldn't stand it.
The anticipation was almost worse than the pain itself.
And the violence became...
A relief, somehow.
Like a reset.
It's quiet.
[Sniffles]
I can hear that ringing sound now,
anditsloud.
I hear it.
All around me, everywhere I go.
The violence is coming, and I don't know how to stop it.
And it seems every time I try to make things better,
I just make 'em worse.
That's bullshit.
Hey, that's bullshit.
And you know it.
No one can control what happens, not really.
But you try.
You go out there every single day and you fight the good fight,
and I see the toll it takes 'cause I'm here.
But in all the years I've known you,
I've never seen you turn away from a problem,
back down to power.
Don't you dare start now.
[Door opens]
Excuse me, Mrs. Pickett?
Yeah, honey.
Can I have some water?
Of course, hon. You don't need to ask. You can just help yourself.
Then I'll come tuck you in.
- Okay. - [Marybeth] Hey, April?
Call me marybeth, okay?
[Sighs]
Well, it seems you don't turn away, either.
Well...
I guess we're the same like that.
I have to go.
Where?
I gotta finish this thing.
[Grunts]
["Blood" playing]
J” for all your lo ve of soma j”
j” all my blood's in vain j”
j” you say your history's overj”
j” all of m y blood is in vain j”
j” flash across your screen j”
j” got you in their hand j”
j” fifteen minutes of freedom j”
j” still three-fifths a man j”
j” sterilize your conscience j”
j” and disgrace your name j”
j” all my blood's in vain j”
j” you say your history's overj”
j” all of m y blood is in vain j”
j” your television coma j”
j” all my blood's in vain j”
j” it's gone too far to change j”