The Outsider Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Foxhead
Paul Dailly
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Following a supernatural killer who can be anyone it wants is a recipe for disaster.
That much came to light on The Outsider Season 1 Episode 8 when Ralph, Holly, Andy, and Yunis hit the road to track down Claude.
It was a pro-active move to vouch for Claude should El Cuco don his skin and start a rampage, and one that the heroes will not forget any time soon.
While the first half of "Foxhead" was slow because it was setting things up for the second half, it was a successful way to amp up the stakes as the characters ventured to a new town.
Preventing Claude from being arrested from a crime he did not commit was a good move, if only because when El Cuco tried to kidnap a young boy, he was ruled innocent.
The revelation was enough to push Ralph to believe what Holly has been saying all along. People need time to process things they don't believe, so Ralph's apprehension to believe everything was a natural response.
Admitting El Cuco was real would render the final meeting with his son to be nothing more than a vision, and it's evident that was playing on his mind.
Holly: Here is what I intend to do today, by myself if I have to. If this entity, if this Cuco is in the process of becoming Claude Bolton, and your information puts him in this town, I am going to out there to try to isolate him.
Ralph: Isolate him from...
Holly: Harm. Blame.
Jeannie: Because, when it starts its killing, Claude's identity will be all over the victims.
Holly: I could be the witness who saves him from a prosecution. I could be the witness who puts a spotlight on this thing's existence, because a human being can not exist in two realities at the same time. When you discovered that footage of Terry in a hotel sixty miles away from where he was supposedly killing Frankie Peterson, it had to run, because of the reinvestigation it knew had to happen. I think it needs to stay in one place for weeks at a time after it kills to regain strength to complete the transformation, but it had to run before it was ready when it was too weak to fend for itself which is why it made a slave out of Jack.
Ralph's journey throughout The Outsider Season 1 has been polarizing due to him not believing a word out of Holly's mouth, but we can't deny that they have an excellent dynamic.
The car journey highlighted that, even if they don't agree on things, they can be friends after this. Holly is a nice person who generally respects people's views, but she slowly started to realize that Ralph needed a nudge in the right direction to understand everything.
Her breaking point would have arrived if he still tried to explain everything after the damning footage of El Cuco in action came to light.
Now that Ralph knows what is going on, his aim will be to rid the world of it and to vindicate Terry Maitland. Glory has had her doubts about letting Ralph lead the investigation, but somewhere along the way, she realized she needed to put her trust in him.
Ralph was quick to rule Terry as a sadistic killer, and that is thanks to the evidence. It pointed the finger straight at Terry, and when you factor in the eyewitnesses, it's easy to understand why he came to that conclusion.
Claude: Shouldn't you be out there working with them?
Seale: Yeah, I probably should.
There was a process that had to be followed, and Terry is a casualty of cases like this not occurring before. Ralph desperately wants Terry's family to lead the life they want wherever they want, so he wants the real killer brought to justice.
He's been a tough nut to crack, but his hard as nails exterior masks a soft center. Whoever gets through the guard he has up, they get the real Ralph.
There will be an element of guilt that comes into play here because he won't be able to shake the feeling that he could have saved lives if only he believed.
There was an immediate atmosphere thanks to Seales, the brother of Claude, who was played by Max Beesley. Once I managed to put my qualms with the half-baked American accent Beesley was using, I thoroughly enjoyed his character.
He's into some dodgy dealings, which explains the car that keeps following him around.
He's spent a lot of his life being chased by the law, so to have various members of the law from another city taking up residence in his home was something he struggled to process.
Still, he could have been warmer when the law was only trying to protect his brother. The issue with El Cuco being in such close proximity is that it is hungry, and is looking to feast on whoever is in sight.
The carnival was a logical location because there are caves and plenty of people to eat. My main gripe with this plot is that Jack should never have been able to break into his apartment.
Jeannie: Are you going just to appease me?
Ralph: Certainly not.
Surely, if the place was covered in bloodstains and based off the way he acted with Holly, there would have been 24-hour security located there in case he showed up.
It was inevitable that he would show up, so it's something I can't forget.
The Outsider Season 1 has been a robust series, but sometimes parts o the plot feel too convenient to take seriously.
"Foxhead" had a slow beginning, but when it got to the good stuff, it was good. We could have done without a good chunk of the car scenes in favor of having more action in this new locale.
The humans seem poised to go after El Cuco in the final two episodes, but without knowing how to take it down, what chance do they have at making it work?
Holly has been an asset thus far because she's been able to research everything and prove her claims hold water. However, the El Cuco we've come to know up until this installment did not have a complete bunch of people at a festival to eat.
It's a worrying thought, but everyone is going to be pushed to the brink on The Outsider Season 1 Episode 9.
What did you think of all the trip? Were you impressed? Were you surprised Holly was right all along?
Hit the comments below.
The Outsider airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
