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The biggest problem with the finale of The Outsider is that its opening few minutes are some of the show’s most anxiety-inducing work, which means the rest of the episode struggles to keep...
Mar 9, 2020 · Most of “Must/Can’t” is about the cleanup. After all of this, Ralph Anderson and Holly Gibney basically hide away what they know to be true, aware that the world would never understand it.
- Brian Tallerico
- Contributor
- Constant Caving.
- The Shootout
- El Cuco
- The Ending Explained/Season 2?
- Verdict
By Matt Fowler
Updated: Mar 9, 2020 9:56 pm
Posted: Mar 9, 2020 2:27 pm
Warning: Full spoilers for The Outsider series finale follow...
HBO's The Outsider, which stands solidly as nice slow-burn blending of genres (and a way better-than-average Stephen King adaptation), should have been six (or eight) episodes instead of ten. As much as the languid pace added to the unsettling, out-of-sorts tone, it also made the series a bit chewy in the back half. Especially when you consider that Jack wound up finally killing himself after having not been able to do the deed during a previous attempt a few episodes earlier.
The endgame payoff here, for the story, was Terry's name being cleared. We were never going to get concrete answers about what the monster was. Hell, from the sound of it, El Cuco didn't even know who he was or where he came from (just that he sensed, sometimes, there were others like him in the world). So this finale, "Must/Can't," was really all about the body count and the cover up - with everyone getting their stories straight enough to undo the mess that had been done to Terry.
And WHAT A BODY COUNT. Hooooo.
Look, everyone knew poor Andy was dying. We were worried about him before he even left Ohio. It's sad, but he was the tragic cost Holly was going to have to endure. Everyone else though? Alec (who died instantly), Howie, and Seale? This was shocking and maniacal massacre. As much as the series stretched things out a bit too much, an argument can be made that if we hadn't spent so much time with these fellows, their deaths would have resonated as hollow at the end. And we certainly would never have believed a moment like Howie racing into danger to save Andy, who couldn't be saved really, from a truck under fire.
The showdown with El Cuco also felt a little flat. It wasn't bad, it just felt like it was missing something. Like a few more lines of dialogue before Claude came in and took the creature down with a shotgun. At first, because we briefly left that room with Holly and Ralph, it seemed like the show might be pulling a switcheroo. As in, when they both came back in and found Claude injured, it might have secretly been El Cuco swapping places with him in order to escape. It would certainly explain the scratch on Holly (more on that in a sec) since she's the one who helped him walk out of the cave.
But Ralph "killed" El Cuco. The creature he confronted, which was still alive, was most definitely the monster. And since Ralph was one of the most hesitant people to believe in its existence, he actually got to see its face morph and change into the people it had transformed into before, including Terry. Ralph didn't even need that type of confirmation, by that point, but he got it anyhow.
As Holly left to head back home, Ralph asked her what else she thought might be out there in the world? Meaning, what other wonders and/or horrors? Were there any more "outsiders?" It was almost like he was asking "Hey, do you think we'll come back for a Season 2?"
Given that there wasn't quite enough story here to last ten episodes, a second season might not be the best idea Still, Holly and Ralph are both compelling characters so they could probably carry us into a new case where they chase after a new monster. They'd have to get a whole new entourage though, for sure. Everyone else got smoked.
Anyhow, The Outsider took a long time tucking the story in for bedtime at the end so, aside from the mid-credit stinger, there's not much here to feed into further adventures.
So then...about the very last scene.
Holly seeing a vision of Jack could either mean El Cuco was still alive and messing with her mind or she was just having some type of traumatic flashback. It's very possible the creature is still around since the series spent a lot of time questioning whether or not it could be killed. It was the topic of more than a few conversations.
Then there's the scratch on Holly's arm. Not on her back or shoulder, or somewhere where, over the course of days, she might miss seeing it, but right there on her forearm. We see it, very briefly, as Holly sits listening to that song that Ralph told her about -- his mom's favorite song that played omg the radio on the night his son was being born, “Washington Square” by The Village Stompers. The cut could come from the cave and all the rocks that were falling. Or it could be El Cuco since it's the same type of scratch it gave people. But if it was, how did she get it? She didn't tussle with him.
The Outsider's finale was filled with shocking violence, sad deaths, and some nice wrap ups for the surviving characters. Ultimately though, the final fates of Jack and El Cuco itself didn't satisfy. The show took a little too long getting to the final showdown, by containing a few episodes too many, so by the time we got to the caves a simple conv...
In “Must/Can’t”, The Reign Of El Coco Comes To An End…Or So We Think. An upside-down long shot of the woodlands opens the episode and instantly alludes to a situation turned on its head. A situation that implies death and disorder.
Mar 9, 2020 · “Must/Can’t” is the thrilling and kinetic finale that a story so patient and beautifully-made deserves. Ralph Anderson, Holly Gibney, and all their allies finally come face-to-face with the...
Mar 9, 2020 · To resolve the cliffhanger that ended last week's episode, "Must/Can't" used up all its violence, tension and excitement in the opening scenes, resulting in an episode that climaxed at the...
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Must/Can't. The group finds itself in a climactic showdown in their last-ditch effort to root out El Cuco. Stream Season 1 Episode 10 of The Outsider (2020) online or on your device plus recaps, previews, and other clips.
