Putting other series up against Twin Peaks, the master of television, is an unfair comparison. But Outer Range, created by Brian Watkins, brazenly invites comparison, to the show’s benefit and detriment.
In this science fiction/Western hybrid, expansive panoramas of Wyoming bleed into reality rips that take place on other planets. Two of eight episodes are already available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, with the remaining six episodes arriving at a rate of two per week.
Outer Range places the cattle ranch owned by Royal Abbott (a steely Josh Brolin) at the centre of a weird case.
That loses speed in the middle but is reminiscent of the eerie Pacific Northwest depicted in Mark Frost and David Lynch’s surrealist detective series from the 1990s.
When a mysterious black hole, seemingly without bottom, appears on the ranch owned by Royal Abbott and his family.
Wife Cecilia (Lili Taylor), sons Perry (Tom Pelphrey) and Rhett (Lewis Pullman), and granddaughter Amy (Olive Abercrombie)—feel themselves being pushed and pulled by the vortex of unfamiliarity.
Concurrently, Wayne Tillerson, a nearby rancher (played by the fantastically bizarre Will Patton), tries to take possession of the Abbotts’ land by saying an assessment gave him 600 acres, which includes the pit.
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Prime Video’s Outer Range Will Fill That Twin Peaks And Dark-Shaped Hole In Your Life
A revival of experimental genre television began around the year 2022.
Showtime’s Yellowjackets, about a soccer squad of perhaps cannibalistic girls who become abandoned in a spooky Canadian wilderness.
Felt like a spiritual successor to the cultural phenomenon Lost. Taking cues from the subgenre of corporate horror.
(Represented by games like The Stanley Parable and science fiction series like Westworld), AppleTV+’s Severance is a taut and unsettling look at the tensions between work and personal life.
Prime Video has joined the fray with its original series Outer Range, which premiered in April with the first eight episodes of its inaugural season.
While Yellowjackets was like Lost and Severance was like a horror version of The Truman Show, Outer Range feels like it was ripped from the same cloth as other cult classic juggernauts. Such as David Lynch’s loved-and-hated Twin Peaks and Netflix’s German sleeper hit, Dark.
Outer Range is Doing for Dallas What Severance Has Done for Office Space
In spite of his lack of comprehension, Royal has made the emptiness a part of his life. A doorway to… who knows where?, a place to hide, and a dumping ground, all thanks to Autumn’s help.
However, this does not necessarily imply comprehension simply because it is in use.
Royal learns that the Earth beneath his feet is not what it seems, and that the emptiness may modify time or be a portal to another realm, one that may work in both directions.
Outer Range fits somewhere in the bizarre genre thanks to its characters’ attempts to maintain equilibrium and cling on to their planet despite this grinding cosmic displacement.
There’s more to Outer Range’s appeal than the fact that it’s intriguing, cleverly written, gorgeously photographed, and has excellent sound design.
It’s entertaining because, unlike the characters, you get to endure the anguish of insignificance and the terror of unexpected ignorance while still emerging victorious.
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Conclusion
After a shaky start, Outer Range manages to tie together its Annihilation-esque major event and its small-town, Yellowstone-esque subplots very nicely.
The secret Twin Peaks sauce, however, remains elusive despite the best efforts of innumerable imitators.
It’s a shame, because cutting down on the number of episodes or trying something new with the remaining time could have helped the show’s second half, which dragged.
