In this episode, Ronald the-trucker-guy has our three kidnapped females in a big, metal storage trailer underground. He conspires with Legarski, the highway patrol guy, about what to do next. Legarski tells him that they can possibly sell the prostitute simply because he thinks no one will be looking for her, but he doesn’t think they can sell the other two because they look too wholesome and college-bound and that their families and friends will look for them. He turns out to be wrong later in the episode when a waitress at the local diner tells Jenny that she misses her friend Jerrie the prostitute.

Danielle catches on that Jerrie is trans. She flat out asks her if she has a penis. Jerrie confirms that she does. Later, Ronald takes Jerrie out of the metal trailer and forces her to undress and wash herself. He tells her he’ll be sending her elsewhere, which I take to mean he intends to sell her to Canada. However, once he sees her naked he decides not to send her away. I knew she was either trans or intersex in episode one, though I wondered if any of her clients ever caught on to this. Imagine if she were to solicit a man under the guise of being female. Wouldn’t that customer be disappointed to see that she has a penis? Also, I was cool with Ronald not realizing she was trans and only discovering it when he sees her in the shower, especially since she could definitely pass as a female, but I thought the moment where she pulls off her wig was a bit much. Reminds me of those movies and shows where the man in drag always takes his hair off to show that he’s really a guy. Feels unnecessary and silly to me. Hair is not what makes a person look male or female. Her strong jawline is what made me wonder if she was intersex or trans.

Grace and Cassie seem to be the two smart people on this show. Grace tries to conspire with the others to devise a plan to get them out of the trailer, though she loses her temper and head butts Ronald and only makes him angrier. At least she thinks and tries, though. The other thinker is Cassie, the detective that Legarski is sure to point out is “beautiful and black,” which, according to him, makes her a rarity in Montana. Cassie is smart in that she’s intuitive enough to realize something is not quite right about Legarski. He creeps her out and she knows from just a few minutes alone with him that he must be in on the disappearances. Still, smart as Cassie seems, she also makes some silly choices. First, she lets Legarski know that she suspects a long haul trucker might be involved in the disappearances, a detail that immediately puts Legarski on high alert. Cassie also makes the mistake of sitting out in her car to call the office secretary and tell her something isn’t right about Legarski, and she does this instead of just driving the hell outta there. Lucky her, though, Legarski realizes he can’t make her disappear in the way he did Cody, or else people will know for sure he’s in on the disappearances.

Ronald’s relationship with his mother looks crazier and crazier. In this episode, he climbs into bed with her at night because he can’t sleep. This is definitely appropriate behavior for an elementary school kid, but not for a 38-year-old man.

I’m waiting for his mother to realize that Ronald is into something illegal. Does Ronald actually carry any goods in his big truck, or is it only used to transport his kidnapping victims? Does he fail to bring home a regular check? If so, his mother would definitely notice these things.

I think the writers are getting the language wrong at times. Both Ronald and Legarski use “fixing to” at some point in episode two. I’ve never been to Montana, but I’m willing to bet my house that “fixing to” isn’t a common phrase around there. It’s a Southern dialectical phrase, at least I think it is. Perhaps the writers are Southern and trying to make these men sound folksy but are choosing the wrong phrasing at times. “Easy peasy” was a phrase that fit, but not “fixing to.”

There’s some lovely singing throughout the episode, especially at the end when the three captured women sing “Down in the River to Pray,” but the song doesn’t fit the setting. The song reminds me of Appalachia, and I would also associate it with the Southern church hymns I grew up with before I would associate it with Montana. But maybe I’m reading too much into it. Folk songs are folk songs. People around the country probably know that song, whether they’re Southern or not. Still, I love the song, and the cast “sounded” lovely as they lip-synched it.