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This article, “what is the purpose of the mysterious hole?” contains spoilers regarding Amazon Prime Video’s Outer Range season 1. When a mysterious hole appears on Royal Abbott’s land, many strange occurrences take place. This alien portal becomes a catalyst within the series prompting sinful activity and supernatural events. Is the hole a prophecy of doom, the mark of a curse, or just a magical, time-traveling wormhole? Outer Range provides snippets of information throughout its eight-episode run, yet leaves the viewer with more questions than it answers. Outer Range season 1 – what is the purpose of the mysterious hole?Royal is the first person to discover the hole, in two separate timelines no less, and seems intrinsically linked with this alien entity. A young Royal happened across the mystical vortex in a tragic flashback, whilst adult Royal finds the hole in the show’s present, in the premiere. He appears to have the strongest connection with the hole out of all the ensemble cast and unearths most of the many secrets buried deep within this black abyss. The first interaction happened centuries ago in 1886. Royal, no older than a child, went hunting with his father out in the wilderness and accidentally shot him dead. Too ashamed to return home, young Royal ran away, never to see his family ever again. Desperate to disappear, he came across the hallowed hole and stepped into the unknown. This hole seems to magically form whenever misfortune takes place. Royal is teleported from the nineteenth century to 1968. The hole hurls him forwards nearly a hundred years into the swinging sixties. He exits covered in a black substance and startles a young boy at the edge of the pit. This boy happens to be no other than Wayne Tillerson, who scared half to death, flees. The Abbott family takes Royal in and the rest is history. Royal’s second encounter is in the present after two of his cattle go missing. Presumably, these cows have fallen prey to the hole, but that is never confirmed. Riding around his ranch, Royal comes across this mythical well and inspects it at closer range. He throws a rock in and then dips his hand into the darkness. The hole provides him with a vision of the near future. When he returns home this vision takes place exactly as predicted. Later in the series, Royal has further visions and is shockingly pushed into the hole by Autumn Rivers. His (second) journey through the portal takes him to a near future, just a few years later, where he happens to be dead and all sorts of unusual activities are taking shape. Cecilia warns him of the coming threat and Royal dives back in, conveniently returning to his present. This all seems pretty random, with the hole not especially playing by any rules. The time-traveling effect has no rhyme or reason, no discernible patterns. Equally frustrating, the black substance, which characters crush or snort, picks and chooses what it reveals. The first time, Royal only sees moments ahead, the next he witnesses his own death. Some visions are evidently more important than others. This black substance that the hole seems to secrete can be collected and stored in different ways. Autumn carries hers in an amber rock, which she sports around her neck. The Tillerson family are also involved with this delicacy, Wayne has a rock with fragments of the black stained into the material and in the finale Luke discovers a pool of the goo whilst digging numerous holes on his father’s land. Each character has similarly strange and abstract visions, yet we only really see Royal’s versions of events. Even the Deputy Sheriff comes across a black trail which shows her the herd of bison that go stampeding through Luke’s fresh portal. All in all the solid facts about the hole are kept to a minimum and the many questions surrounding this mysterious vortex remain. We know that going into the hole involves time travel and that the black substance, which is found within the hole, shows visions of the near future. The hole can open and close whenever it likes, although it does tend to appear at critical moments in the character’s lives. The genesis and purpose of the hole is still a mystery. I am sure a second season would answer many questions, yet it would more than likely pose a hell of a lot more. You can stream Outer Range Season 1 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Outer Range season 1 finale spoilers follow. It's pretty safe to assume that hardly anybody was expecting this unfolding of psychedelic weirdness from a western-esque series starring Josh Brolin. That said, Outer Range was billed as mystery drama – so more fool us? There were disappearances, murder cover-ups, and a mysterious time-portal hole that sprung to life on the Abbott ranch. Really, who could guess all that? And yet it doesn't even scratch the surface of what happened in the finale. If you thought things were tense on the ranch thus far, a meddling, untethered Autumn (Imogen Poots) stirred up more trouble for Royal (Brolin) and his family, as they tried to deal with the aftermath of Perry's confession of murder. More death is on the horizon though – and the truth about Royal's mysterious past finally makes it to the surface. Maybe the talking bear has the answers we've been seeking? Intrigued? How the hell could you not be? We said "talking bear". Well, if you're none-the-wiser after the finale, there's always our ending explained... Outer Range ending explained Amazon Prime The last two episodes of Outer Range see the Abbott family "spread thin like butter over too much bread," (if you can't use a Middle-earth phrase at a time like this, when can you?). Royal and his wife Cece (Lili Taylor) have been forced to put the ranch up as collateral to ensure Perry's release on bail – but Autumn is about to scupper those plans. In fact, she seems to be the meddling hand steering a lot of these unfortunate events. She's pretty sore after being dumped, injured, in the wilderness by Royal – so understandably there's an axe to grind. During her banishment from the ranch, Autumn encounters a talking bear. Yep. Just go with it, it sits well with the whacky nature of the show. Amazon Prime Video The bear encourages Autumn to reveal the truth about the mysterious portal on the Abbott ranch to their neighbour Billy Tillerson (Noah Reid). After their trippy jaunt through the ranch which ends with him seeing the portal, Autumn finds an ally in him. Their unofficial pact is solidified with the most unattractive, slobbery kiss known to man, and sealed by her carving the Abbott family crest into his chest. Autumn gets the idea that she's going to do amazing, wondrous things that are intrinsically linked to this portal, and has tasked Billy with making sure Royal stays out of her way. He warns Royal of this in a fine, held-up at gunpoint, fashion – mentioning: "I think something bad's going to happen to your granddaughter," an important tidbit to remember. Royal almost takes heed of Billy's warning about Amy. Almost. That is until he witnesses his son Perry (Tom Pelphrey) dive into the portal and out of this time, hoping it can save him like it saved his father all those years before. What the hell does that mean? What happened to Royal? Amazon Prime Well it turns out that Autumn (master manipulator) is all of a sudden keen to spill the beans about this portal, and has indeed shown Perry too. What transpires during their conversation isn't fully shared, as it happens off screen. All that's relayed by Perry is that his missing wife Rebecca is not gone, because according to Autumn "nothing's ever really gone." Oookay... Whatever else is said is enough to encourage Perry to seek answers from Royal about his own link with the portal. Royal finally unburdens himself of his painful past by admitting to Perry that he accidentally shot his father dead during a hunting trip when he was just a boy. Grief and guilt made him want to disappear. This is when the portal first materialised in front of him. He jumped inside in 1886, and emerged years later in 1968. That's right, Royal is a man out of time! Amazon Studios/Richard Foreman A tragic tale of suffering and loss capped off with an explanation for how he came to live with the Abbotts – and what was Perry's takeaway? 'I'm going to jump in to save my own neck.' Anywho, this act seemed to trigger the portal to seal shut, and the loss of his son sends Royal on a murder hunt with Autumn as his target. Meanwhile, Billy has shared the knowledge of the portal with his brother Luke (Shaun Sipos), who then gets the idea to monetise the land once they acquire it from the Abbotts during a legal battle (or so they hope). However, learning that the hole has disappeared, a persistent Luke goes a-digging. What happened to Rebecca? Amazon Prime The unveiling of the mystery behind Rebecca's disappearance starts with Rhett (Lewis Pullman). He has his final bull riding match and despite the family turmoil, all attend (except Perry, who's in the hole). During the first of two rides, Royal gets a call from Autumn baiting him. It works and he leaves to resume his murder chase. All the while, Rhett takes to the bull and is injured. In all the commotion Amy slips away and is beckoned by none other than her mother Rebecca, who has been missing for nine months. When asked where she's been, Rebecca explains that she had to hide. That's it. Nine months and just a vague footnote about the reason behind her disappearance. Despite the lack of information, there is the impression of foreboding danger as she asks Amy to leave with her. Rhett doesn't get much air time towards the end, but he wins the ride and decides to leave town with his long-term crush turned love Maria (Isabel Arraiza). Who is Autumn? Amazon Prime What a conundrum this has posed. Speculation has been rife from the start and finally, finally, we have confirmation. The truth comes out when Royal eventually catches up with Autumn. What ensues is a complimentary Western showdown, capped off with a "yeehaw," from Autumn, followed by a car-chase-shootout. Autumn and Billy's car is overturned, and Billy is killed in the crash. A tenacious Autumn crawls to freedom and is almost shot dead by Royal when a stampede of buffalo intervene, causing them both to duck for cover. (Don't worry, we'll explain the buffalo – one thing at a time, people.) When the stampede subsides, Royal goes to assess Autumn's life status (Dead? Not dead? He needs to know). It's then that he notices the scar on her head. This scar mirrors the deep gash Amy recently got from a stray piece of glass that nicked her during his fight with his sons. The pieces all align, and he realises Autumn is Amy. Much like himself, she is a woman out of her own time. This calls back to what Billy mentioned about a terrible fate awaiting Amy. It seems wherever Rebecca has taken her does not bring her good fortune, and could be what has started this chain of events. This becomes even more suspiciously plausible if we hark back to the scene when Autumn is on the phone while loading up her guns in preparation for her slinging match with Royal. Prime Video During the conversation she asks "how long until a skip bail goes to auction", presumably referring to Perry. She then goes on to say that [in absence of that quick cash] she needs to have money drawn from "the trust". This implies two things, one: that the land is in some ways tied to her (how else would it default to her if Perry were to skip bail?) and two: she's been orchestrating, if not all, some things from the get go. Perhaps this could be with Rebecca, as we've heard her refer to someone as "mum" on the phone, but that's just pure speculation. Overwhelmed with remorse and dismay, Royal carries a limp Autumn back to the house and places her in little Amy's bed. He then confesses the truth of it all to his wife and this is where we leave the Abbott family, wounded, scattered and with more questions than they started off with. Much like us after watching Outer Range – but what a ride, huh? What's with the all the buffalo?
Amazon Studios/Richard Foreman We did promise an explanation for the buffalo, and here it is. Remember deputy sheriff Joy (Tamara Podemski), who was set on finding out the truth behind Trevor Tillerson's murder? Well, the investigation also forked off into her having to look into some mysterious goings-on at Frank Harlan's ranch. It's not revealed just yet why Joy finds the Abbotts' symbol on the rocks but she does, along with a trail of the same peculiar dust that resides within the rocks on the Abbott land. These rocks and this dust also happened to be linked to the portal (at this point, everything seems interconnected). Joy follows the trail, which takes her to a thundering herd of buffalo. This is the same herd that emerges from the hole Luke was digging in his (successful) attempt to find the portal and the same herd that almost trampled Royal and Autumn. What do buffalo have to do with any of it? History tells us that the buffalo used to occupy grassland and prairie ecosystems across western America, at an estimated 30 to 60 million. They were good for biodiversity, having a positive ecological effect on lands like the ranch. Throughout the whole series, Royal repeatedly sees a stray buffalo with two cherokee arrows shot through it. Their link is even more poignant to deputy sheriff Joy through her heritage. The buffalo played a pivotal role in the spiritual and cultural lives of some Native American tribes, before the animals were brutally slaughtered during the colonisation of the Native Americans in an attempt to cripple tribes. This explains why Joy is awestruck to see them in their masses. During an interview with The Wrap, Outer Rangeshowrunner Brian Watkins revealed that the theme of loss on the series extends past what the Abbotts experience to the loss of the indigenous peoples. This could be what the buffalo is here to represent – but honestly we're waiting on you to explain that one further, Mr Watkins. Outer Range is available to watch on Prime Video . Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
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What is purpose of hole in Outer Range?The hole is at the center of everything that happens in Outer Range: It's handy when Royal's oldest son, Perry, accidentally kills rival rancher Wade Tillerson's son Trevor, and it causes a lot of problems when it attracts the attention of a stranger staying on the Abbott ranch named Autumn, who definitely knows more ...
What happens to Amy in Outer Range?Amy finds Rebecca, then goes missing
Her long-lost mother makes a miraculous return, calling Amy over for an epic hug. Amy asks where Rebecca has been all this time, and Rebecca says cryptically, "I had to hide." Before giving a proper explanation, she whisks Amy away, to the horror of Grandmother Cecilia.
Is Outer Range worth watching?Outer Range is one of the boldest, weirdest, and most affecting sci-fi shows of the 21st century. Despite the inevitable comparison to Stranger Things, the series forges its own path and succeeds because its so aggressively grounded in reality.
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What the heck is the Outer Range about?
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