The Farrells have once again forgotten the dire state of their supplies as they party hard to celebrate Gwen’s miraculous fucking recovery from blood poisoning. No one is a little bit concerned about the supplies, even though the embers of their burned smoking shack and winter food stores are almost certainly still hot enough to fry and egg on.

Sorry. I’m honestly just jealous. As shockingly wasteful as it is, that party looks lit and I want to be there. Everyone is happy, and Big Foster merrily talks down Gwen’s lingering guilt over Morgan, and it’s so nice.

It’s going to go so, so horribly wrong.

A helicopter appears in the sky and the scared clan scatters. Gwen just about keeps the men from shooting down the whirly bird and they all stare fearfully into the high intensity beam it casts down upon them.

Dramatic as fuck y’all!

Lil Foster has a nightmare about almost every episode of the show. We don’t see Asa at all, make of that what you will. He wakes afraid, and his lover Barbara gently comforts him. She seems genuinely nice.

It’s a Sunday and Wade takes the kids to Church, though Hilda doesn’t want to go inside. The recent series of tragedies has taken the wind out of her faith and she figures it’s all BS. Wade scores infinity points on the parenting scale by agreeing with her wholeheartedly, and quickly running through his own departure from faith after his own series of tragedies. It’s not maudlin or pitying either, he just relates to her 10000000%.

He says she has to go to church anyway because it makes her mother happy and life sometimes means making sacrifices, but reassures her they can keep each other company and be miserable together.

She brightens and they head inside.

Just … he’s so good, you guys.

Up the hill, a Farrell tends considerable fields of crops, but a duster plane screams over the tree tops and rains poison on the precious foods and the innocent man.

Ledda is home alone, throwing up and looking exactly as sick as she is. She passes a window and sees the most curious sight; Elon Farrell.

So let me pause for a second to address … just all of what’s about to happen; We have always thought Wade is somehow linked to the clan.

There’s some speculation over who sees the mountain children, Elon and Phelia, and why. Big Foster, Gwen and now, Ledda have seen Elon. Gwen and Big Foster clearly see him as having real influence on clan matters and decisions — Big Foster’s spiritual journey has been entirely guided by the boy, and Gwen decided to take the Oak after she saw him.

More curiously, though I didn’t point it out at the time, when Gwen saw Elon she was left his charm necklace, the one Big Foster recognised. This charm might have been left on the boy’s body, or hung from his headstone. Both seemed to feel its ‘appearing’ in Gwen’s home held meaning.

Several people see Phelia, the spirit of the mountain — almost exclusively the Farrell — though Sally Anne, pregnant with a Farrell child, has seen her too. So, theories in the comments.

Ledda rushes outside, thinking the boy is lost, and he silently embraces her in a deep and powerful hug. She hugs him right back, clearly moved by it all.

Guys, it just gets weirder. This is so curious.

Gwen is seeing the poisoned fields and the poor poisoned farmer. She is utterly horrified by the destruction. Gwen gives the farmer advice of how to clean the nasty, toxic crap he is completely soaked in, but I don’t think standing directly under a crop dusting is something you counteract with goat’s milk.

She’s called to a medical emergency nearby.

After church, Wade is trying to manage the kids when a lady named Dana approaches. She’s an old friend of Wade’s from their youth. She is also freshly divorced, and back in town ministering to her sickly dad, and she says it right away which makes me love her at once. No playing around, this girl.

They talk up how Ledda has always been punching bullies, heh.

Wade is so delightfully Wade, and awkward and weird as she asks him out for drinks and leaves her number, because as we learn later, this lady is a goddamn Wade Whisperer.

Gwen has been taken to a cute, very sickly little boy named Silas. He has fallen ill and developed an ugly rash after playing in a nearby creek.

Gwen and Krake hop over to the creek and find it poisoned too. The fish are dead and the water is so toxic it turns fresh leaves black on contact.

Is this legal? How can this be legal?! That’s fucking attempted murder!

Gwen calls a council meeting. She’s crunched the numbers and with work, new fields, and rationing they can ride out the winter. But, she’s not just prepping for survival. She wants to drag someone from the coal company up to look upon what they’ve done, see the real people they’re killing. Big Foster eagerly volunteers to a mostly collective ‘Nooope’, but Gwen is all in and sends him to find Hasil, who knows Haylie, the coal woman.

Girl is ready for War. YES G’WINVEER. FUCK ‘EM UP!

Big Foster runs off to recruit Lil Foster, who missed the meeting to lay with sexy, sexy cousin Barbara. Big Foster is disgusted, and we learn that when Lil Fos was born, his mother bled out while Big Foster was in bed with another woman.

Big Foster says a child died before Lil Fos (… Foster VII?), so when Lil Foster was coming, he panicked and ran off. He was a fool and Lil Foster shouldn’t want to be him.

Big Foster talks about Elon, and Lil Foster is horrible about it. Big Fos firmly says Elon forgave him, and hopes Lil finds whatever he’s looking for. He storms off.

Honestly, I could have done with more than the nightmare scene to drive home Lil Foster’s trauma. It makes perfect sense he would be traumatised; it’s just a little abrupt a transition from last week to this.

Sally-Anne and Hasil go to a restaurant for her birthday, but the occasion quickly sours. He spots the fight club guy who signals they have a fight later. Hasil has claimed he’s in disguise because of fight club, so she calls out the fact he’s not worried the fight fixer just publicly acknowledged him. She knows it’s because of the prison break and wants to leave, but he refuses and tries to calm her down. They’re interrupted by the waitress.

Wade comes home and frantically searches photo albums. I honestly thought she would have a photo of their father as a child, and he’d look just like Elon, and we’d learn they are indeed related.

Instead, she thinks the child was a young Breece, sent to comfort her before she dies. Wade just goes with it, because what do you say to that?

Haylie is working on Sunday, because of course she is. She gets a call from a reporter who has her emails. Haylie was CC’d on an email from her company to the Governor, essentially bribing him via campaign donations into hiring Matt to take over the coal issue. Haylie no comments, hangs up, and begins to panic.

Still recovering from medically untreated blood poisoning that just … went away, because that’s how things work now, Gwen is tired and Emily notices.

And casually asks if it’s also perhaps, because of the baby? I did wonder why, Gillian Alexy’s pregnancy was increasingly obvious throughout this episode. Only Emily really knows and she asks, without judgement, if Gwen knows whose it is. Gwen says it’s hers.

Also without judgement, just a reminder, the father could be Lil Fos, Big Fos and possibly Asa.

Big Foster is rope-climbing down a deadly cliff face. It’s their most dangerous way down the mountain but the overweight, alcoholic, 60 odd year old, recently poisoned, recently shot, recently got his ass thrown into a fucking tree by Lil Foster, Big? …cartwheels down this bitch.

Are. You kidding me. Show?!

I do like the timing, though. Haylie’s position in the company is about to become very unstable. Big Foster risks making her a victim and almost martyr for the coal cause. That said, if her she realises Gordon’s warning she’s expendable rings true, she might well be very sympathetic to the mountain folk.

Well played, show.

Big Foster reaches the town and finds a car to steal, donning a hoodie and tying back his hair to blend in. Sure, okay Big Fos, we’ll all pretend that would work, you literal, actual giant.

He spots Sally-Anne and Hasil, and it’s a nice touch how immediately Hasil is ready to help.

Back at their place he outlines his idiotic-yet-maybe-potentially-genius-by-accident plan to the kids, who are not even a little bit enthused. But, Big Foster will do it anyway, so of course Hasil has to go. Sally-Anne doesn’t want Hasil anywhere near actual kidnapping, but Big Foster is telling Hasil how needed he is. Hasil is in, and Sally-Anne is hurt. He promises her he’ll always return to her; people are trying to wipe his people off the Earth, and he won’t stand by and let that happen. She makes him promise he has to accept all her crazy life shit too, as Big Foster drags him out the door.

A tech guy collecting Haylie’s PC to analyse it is shady about the fact the leaked emails definitely came from her computer. She’s genuinely baffled as to how it happened, until he collects her laptop and she visibly remembers Gordon and his CD’s.

The guy leaves and Haylie’s panic quadruples, as she fails to raise Gordon on the phone.

Wade and Ledda are at a hospital. He’s talked her into getting check up scans just to give then an idea of time frames. The girls have told her about his talk with Dana, and she sweetly suggests he go on the date. He thinks he’s got too much baggage and she suggests the baggage, the three kids he’ll be single-parenting (like a boss) sooner than later, is why he should be looking for someone to be with.

The clan work on the new fields, as Gwen notices Lil Foster’s absence. Cousin Barnabas says Lil is busy, and to Gwen’s ‘doing what?!’ he says ‘… Barbara?’

Bwahahaaaa!

Gwen huffs off to find her former lover.

Halyie meets Matt for drinks. He’s awfully cocky for someone who I’m sure could probably be fired, now it’s known his appointment was shady as fuck. He’s sure Haylie didn’t leak the emails … except it turns out he knows she helped Ledda get insurance, and isn’t that just the funniest thing? Oh, this asshole.

He’s clearly decided she’s in with Wade, Ledda and others.

She realises she’s being just as watched and played as the rest of them, and leaves him with the warning she’ll crawl over glass before she lets a man like him mess with her.

Dana and Wade are on the date and … oh my god, you guys, it’s like watching a car crash. He’s not drinking much, and we know why — but Dana doesn’t — and jokes about her relief he’s not an alcoholic. Then he tells her outright how Ledda made him agree to the date, but Dana is just so great and so into him so she just rolls with it all.

She remembers how as kids, he told her he would be a policeman, and now he’s a Sheriff and she’s happy he got to follow his dreams.

Wade … is in a bad place, and talks about how he’s just making what he can of the life he wound up with. His dad died, his wife, his brother in law, and now, his sister is dying. She’s sympathetic but he says its no one’s fault. Except. maybe his, as the last man standing of all of them.

He excuses himself, tearful and in the bathroom literally slaps himself to try to get a handle.

Wade. Dude.

Big Foster and Hasil wait for Haylie at her hotel, and they tease each others disguises. Big Foster can’t understand living down in town and while he likes Sally-Anne, he figures there are Farrell girls just as nice. Hasil mentions the baby, and Big Foster is … not a douche. Whoa. Then, Hasil asks what it’s like, and Big Foster acknowledges he’s the wrong man to ask … but it can feel like the best thing you’ll ever do. Like all your goodness is in them.

Excellent scene. I am so glad David Morse got to be this Big Foster.

Haylie arrives home, and smokes and looks at photos of the kids she barely sees because of her job. The boys park up behind her, and she spots Hasil and calls out to him.

It’s interesting that her greeting is friendly and curious. It makes me wonder what may have happened if he’d just … spoken to her.

But instead, Big Foster grabs her from behind and she’s shoved into the trunk of their stolen car.

Wade’s considerable dork charm has come through, and Dana is reassuring him he has nothing to apologise for. But he wants to, and explains he was in high school when he met Andy-Ray … His wife.

Ray? Like Lady Ray? He said he was in high school, but what she was doing remains unclear.

CURIOUS.

Anyway, he never really dated properly so he doesn’t know how. Dana cutely teases that crying is usually a bad idea. She admits she was so nervous driving over she nearly puked, and she understands moving on is incredibly difficult. He’s her first date since her divorce. D’aaw.

A polite goodnight peck on the cheek sets alight their considerable chemistry, and their date ends on a very deep kiss.

Big Foster stops to let Hasil out before he heads back up the hill, though he’s keen for Hasil to return with him. He even wants Sally-Anne to come too, and promises Hasil he’ll clear it with Gwen so they can all stay. He calls it his apology, and asks how it sounds. Hasil thinks Big Foster is a different man, and Big Foster returns the compliment. They shake as if meeting for the first time, and part ways, for now.

It’s a gorgeous scene, but what makes it better is that the entire time, Haylie is in the trunk going absolutely, tirelessly apeshit. I love that woman.

Gwen finds Lil Foster and his harem a mere seconds from a fivesome, and hauls his drunk ass outside for a jolly good telling off. He’s drunk, and I don’t know if he knows he’s depressed but he is, badly. He admits that he killed a man in prison, and says they can’t fight the Losties, who are too evil, too warped. He figures the end is nigh, so they may as well get drunk and laid as often as they can until their beautiful home is gone.

It’s a nihilistic plan, but it’s not one I object to.

Gwen is furious he won’t fight; he says when she married his father, she taught him there’s nothing worth fighting for.

Oooh, dang.

Hasil arrives home to Sally-Anne reading to her tummy. She seems to have accepted that sometimes, he’ll have to go and be a Farrell, but she’s going back to school and he has to stop hiding things from her.

He agrees to it all, and sits down so she can show him the letter T and start teaching him to read.

D’aaaaaaw!

In the morning, Wade hears Ledda sobbing and finds her in the kitchen. The hospital has called and as he braces for the worst, she drops the stunning news; she’s in remission.

She didn’t hear the doctor explain why or how, but … she’s going to be okay. Wade hugs her fiercely and mutters ‘… goddamn’.

Did … Elon heal her? For trying to save the mountain? Like the wolves killed Asa for rejecting it?

And then … god, this was so shocking and so sudden and heartbreaking. Gwen is called back to the sick little boy, Silas. He’s died from the poison in his body.

His tiny body is wrapped in cloth for a funeral, and his mothers sings over him, her voice mournful and beautiful.

A furious Gwen tells the gathered clan that she’s done being peaceful. The coal woman will join them soon, and she’ll eat their food, and drink their water.

Big Foster lets Haylie out of the trunk. Curiously, she hasn’t called the cops on the phone she still has, and claims to be a friend of the Farrell. Big Foster ignores her and starts carrying her up the mountain.