Walker: Independence (2022) s01e05 Episode Script

McDowd! We've got you surrounded!
Come on out and we won't hurt you!
All right, Santiago.
I'm coming out right now.
Get! Get! Get!
We're coming for you, McDowd!
You're running out of places to hide!
Hey, can you hand me the gin?
The brown one, right?
- Abby.
- I'm kidding.
More of a Scotch gal myself.
Aren't you a delight?
So, how's it going?
What with the new management and all.
Well
It's the strangest thing, you know.
Can we turn those beds, please?
We're in a hotel here, folks.
Ever since Tom took over,
I have just gotten
so damn clumsy.
Kate
Next one comes out of your paycheck.
Abby, I'm heading home to clean up.
See you at the jailhouse later.
So, my meeting with Ethan's
in a couple of days.
We have a lot of work to do before then.
Grand. Where do we start?
Well, uh, Liam.
I read his file, I saw that he departed
from the Boston police pretty abruptly.
We should also probably talk
about your family,
who they are, why you're
estranged from them.
That kind of thing.
I don't see why any of that matters.
Tom murdered Liam.
Shouldn't we just focus on the murderer?
Of course, right, but we need
an airtight case,
and when this kind of thing happens
the Pinkertons often focus on the victim
as much as they focus on the criminal.
So if we want their help,
which I'm assuming that we do,
you may have to be ready
to answer some tough questions.
I've already told you
everything there is to tell.
Right, Abby, y-you know
I'm-I'm, I'm trying to help.
I
There's nothing more to say.
Whoa.
What the hell?
Damn it, Eli.
Come here.
It's damn good damn good to see you.
Yeah, I heard you were out this way.
I thought I'd come see it
for myself, huh?
He might have been
aiming for you. He punched me
square in the teeth, come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you took
a lot of punches for me,
but a lot more were meant for you.
How's Texarkana?
You still running the old schemes?
Nah.
Nah, stealing cattle in East
Texas ain't what it used to be.
Half the money, twice the chance
of getting your head blown off.
Yeah, plus, without you there
as sheriff to cover my tracks,
it was, uh, only a matter
of time before I got caught.
What about this little visit?
You in trouble?
Can't an old friend just drop by?
What brings you in to town?
I came here to check on your wound.
Thank you for everything.
You take better care
of me than I do myself.
Well, you're healing well.
It'll leave a scar, though.
That's all right.
I sort of take pride in them now.
It's good to see you find your strength.
Calian, is something wrong?
I might not always be around
here for you, that's all.
Hey, come on.
It's Gus. Any idea what that's about?
No.
I've been so busy with
you and Hoyt and Lucia
I've failed to be there
for Augustus and my people.
- Calian, that's my fault.
- No. It's mine.
And as long as I've known
Augustus, we've been outsiders.
But lately the way
he trusts the sheriff
it's hard to know if we're
still on the same side.
I suppose if we can no longer
trust our friends
who can we trust?
You remember Sadie?
Of course. I knew her before you did.
Well, she married a dentist from Ohio.
A dentist?
Not how I pictured
her living out her days.
No kidding.
We always said we were gonna
name that cantina after her.
What cantina?
- You don't remember?
- No.
We were gonna take
the cattle rustling money
and open a little cantina
south of the border.
Sadie's Cantina. That's right.
I can't believe I forgot about that.
You and I were gonna get fat and old,
and she was gonna tend the bar.
Well, here's to
Sadie and her dentist.
We could still do it.
Do what?
Open the cantina. I got
a little bit of money left.
Maybe not enough,
but you and me riding together again?
- Eli, hang on
- We could
- No, no, just think about it.
- Hang on a minute.
I got my hands full
here in Independence.
You name me one thing
the two of us ever put
our minds to we couldn't pull off.
I can't up and go to Mexico on a whim.
Why not? Tell me, why not?
Hey, all that money
we made stealing cattle?
I never told anyone that was your idea.
I'm just asking you
to do me a favor, Tom, okay?
Why are you really here, Eli?
- I told you I'm going to California.
- No. The real reason.
First you come out here out of the blue,
and now you're selling me
on an old daydream
like your life depends on it.
- Why are you really here?
- Because, damn it,
I won't make it out there
without your help.
And I'm really tired of running, Tom.
Eli, who are you running from?
Morning, Sheriff.
Morning, Gus.
New batch of warrants
just arrived earlier today.
Yeah, I'm headed in soon.
Can we discuss it then?
Actually, uh, afraid one can't wait.
Eli McDowd.
Yeah, somebody in town thought
they spotted him earlier today.
McDowd's wanted for cattle
theft, fraud, and murder.
There's a huge bounty
on this guy's head.
Right, yeah. Appreciate you telling me.
Yeah, and one more thing.
If Eli McDowd is in the area,
he won't be for long.
Gil Santiago is after him.
You heard of him, right?
Only rumors.
Yeah, he respects the bounty
more than the badge.
He will get in our way
if we don't move fast.
So I figured that I'd take
a ride off and take a look.
No.
I'd like you to wait for me,
and, uh, your friend
the Apache tracker
- Calian.
- Yeah.
Both of you, go to the ridge
overlooking the town
and do not do anything
until I get there.
You got it?
Where the hell'd you go, Eli?
Morning, y'all.
Hoyt, it's practically noon.
Which begs the question,
where do you sleep anyway?
You know, here and there.
Oh, I want to guess this one.
All right, it's Wednesday,
and they muck out
the stables on Wednesdays.
So you didn't sleep there.
I'm gonna say
that you bunked
at the undertaker's again.
- Mm-hmm.
- Hey.
I appreciate the quiet.
- Do you?
- I do.
I'm sure.
Calian.
Augustus.
Been looking for you.
The sheriff wants your help.
We're tracking down
an outlaw Eli McDowd.
Of course.
What do you know about him?
I'll be out on the ridge
when you're ready.
There's something
very wrong about this picture.
- And what is that?
- I'm the only person
who doesn't work for Tom Davidson.
The rest of y'all are
at his damn beck and call.
Oh, please.
You run this place for him.
Abby's his clerk. Calian's his tracker.
But me?
I'm beholden to no man.
A genuine renegade.
- Hmm, you're a genuine something.
- I'll prove it to you.
Tom and Gus are
riding out of town, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- Well, I'm gonna break
into Tom's place, see what I can find.
Whatever I dig up, you can take
to that Pinkerton boss of yours.
What?
Hoyt, you aren't exactly stealthy.
What is that supposed to mean?
She means you're about as subtle
as a bag of hammers, gorgeous.
Given your luck, you'd get
caught and hanged by sundown.
Wow. Okay.
Well, fine, I won't linger
where I'm not appreciated.
Well, if it's appreciation
you're looking for,
you might want to start with a bath.
Aw, I feel bad.
I think we hurt his pride.
Don't.
He's a modern-day caveman.
He just needs to find something
to smash with a rock.
He does have a point, though.
With Tom preoccupied,
it'd be the perfect time
to go through his place.
Mm, I do need all the evidence
I can get before my meeting.
Well, there's no question that we are
a lot more discreet than Hoyt.
And he said it himself,
even if we were caught,
we both work for Tom.
We'd have a reason to be there.
You ever cross paths with this McDowd?
Nope.
Must be a big bounty on his head
if Gil Santiago is chasing him.
Mm-hmm.
I know I've been distracted lately.
Distracted by what?
Just tell me, because I can't make sense
of anything you do anymore.
I'm the same person, Augustus.
I haven't changed.
Same person.
Well, maybe you haven't
been paying attention.
But two weeks ago,
you wouldn't step foot in town.
And now you're sitting around
at Hagan's with Abby Walker,
a stranger, and Hoyt
Rawlins, a low-life.
Why?
I was trying to protect a friend.
And here I was thinking we were friends.
We used to have each other's backs.
But now I see I got to watch my own.
Calian, I presume?
- Mm-hmm.
- Good.
I've heard talk of this Eli McDowd.
He's got a reputation for being one
crafty bastard, he's dangerous.
Got a dozen notches on his belt.
If we get close, I go in first.
Nobody makes a move
unless I say so. You got it?
Understood.
Good. Let's ride.
Hyah.
The widow of a lawman
and a Pinkerton agent
breaking into the sheriff's house?
Is this crazy?
Yeah.
Right.
All right, he keeps
his papers in his desk.
And here's some crates
he hasn't unpacked yet.
Oh, great. You take one,
I'll take the other, huh?
What are you?
Abby?
- Find something?
- Well, sort of.
I know that Boston's a big
place, but Tom is from there,
all the Davidsons are from there.
Did you ever hear about them back home?
No. First time I heard of them was
when Hoyt told me about them at Hagan's.
All right, well, what about Liam?
Do you think he might have known them?
Liam was a police officer.
I'm sure he knew lots of people.
Fair enough.
Abby?
Kate.
It is a coincidence, though.
Both Tom and Liam, two men from Boston,
should leave home, wind
up all the way in Texas,
and both be hired as the sheriff
of the same little town.
I'd prefer not to think about what
my late husband and his murderer
have in common.
Fine, it's
It's a hell of a coincidence, Abby.
Of all the sheriffs' jobs
in all the country, why here?
Why Independence, where the Davidsons
have their bloody hands
on everything? It's
I can't speak for the Davidsons.
Liam and I weren't happy in Boston.
We needed a fresh start.
Independence had a job.
He took it.
What? As his wife,
you never questioned this?
Don't speak to things
you know nothing about, Kate.
- - Kate, I
- Shh.
Did you hear that?
You mind pointing those someplace else?
You two stole my idea.
Well, we figured
we'd have a better chance
of sneaking in than you.
Yes, clearly we were horribly mistaken.
Still my idea.
Well, did you get lost? We beat
you by a good ten minutes.
Well, after what you said,
thought I'd freshen up a bit.
You just point those baby blues
at some boxes, we can
get out of here faster.
What'd y'all find so far?
A whole lot of nothing.
I bet it's 'cause you don't
know where to look
for Tom's secrets.
You got to think like a criminal.
Yeah? How do we do that? Get
kicked in the head by a horse?
Twice.
The floor.
I'd bet my life Tom has a hidden place
under one of these loose floorboards.
It's gonna be in one of these.
You'll see.
Kate, Hoyt. Look at this.
Hmm?
I was gonna check the books.
Soon as I was finished with the floor.
It's a list of companies.
- Chamlee Mining Works.
- What about them?
They were the ones that had the offer
to buy the Sullivans' land.
Mm, Laredo Pines Company.
All of our liquor orders at Hagan's
list Laredo Pines as the buyer.
But only since Tom took over.
This must be how
the Davidsons are buying
- things in secret.
- Hmm.
Could help us unravel what else
they're buying and why.
Yeah.
That's just what I was thinking.
Why would McDowd come to Independence?
There's bigger towns out there
if you want to disappear.
Why not ride for the border?
It doesn't matter where McDowd goes.
With Santiago on his trail,
he's got nowhere to run.
You're not out here
for your opinions, Deputy.
Whoa.
What is it?
These tracks.
Something's not right.
Like what?
For a man on the run,
McDowd's not moving very fast.
We should push on.
Sooner we find McDowd, the better.
I'll take the long gun
and head up the canyon.
If McDowd's drawing us in for an ambush,
I'd be able to pick him off.
No.
Come on.
Sheriff, his warrant
says "dead or alive".
Do you really think a man like McDowd's
just going to surrender if we find him?
No, a man like that,
only way they go peacefully
is in a pine box.
Damn it, Gus!
Button your lip and stay behind me!
You care to have that
tone with me again?
We need to keep moving is all. Let's go.
Yeah.
So, did you send the list
of companies to Ethan?
I just sent the telegraph.
That was good work back there.
Even you.
Oh, sure, knock old Hoyt down.
But don't y'all forget
who the real outlaw is.
Lookee here.
What is that?
It's silver. I think.
Took it from Tom's place. I collect 'em.
You guys don't know everything about me.
Apparently we do not.
You contain multitudes.
Hey. I want to play a game.
I ask you one question,
and you have to answer honestly. Yeah?
Fine. One.
All right. I'll go first.
All right.
Tell me one thing about you
that nobody else knows.
Oh. Easy.
I have a birthmark on my butt
in the shape of a
Strawberry.
We stopped at a watering hole.
He's an exhibitionist.
Hello, Strawberry.
All right. Now you.
Right, uh, something nobody knows.
My father was never fond of Liam.
He wasn't from that world
and Daddy didn't trust him.
So, at first, I had to
sneak out to meet him.
And of course
Liam didn't have much money,
so he surprised me.
With a picnic
at the Boston Public Gardens.
But all he brought
were a couple of apples.
I was starving.
We talked for hours.
We stayed out so late,
we watched the lamplighter go to work.
My father was furious,
but it didn't matter.
I knew Liam was the one.
Oh, so, he defied your father then?
Abby, would you say
that he was a risk taker?
Would you say that he was reckless?
- Kate.
- Do you think that going
west was an impulsive thing?
Or could he have been running away
from enemies, I don't know,
say, in the Boston police?
What exactly are you asking, Kate?
I am asking you how well
you knew your husband.
Excuse me.
Hey, Hoyt, you want to go to the bar?
Indeed, I do.
What'd you find?
Tracks.
They make no sense.
Well, maybe he's doubling back?
No. More like he has
no direction at all.
Stay back.
- Damn it.
- Sheriff?
He was never here.
He weighed down the saddlebags
to mimic a horse carrying a rider.
That's why it never broke a trot.
He sent us on a wild goose chase.
But where would he go?
You two carry on further in case
he went that way on foot. Hyah!
There's no way he's back there.
I know you see it.
The sheriff's hiding something.
He ain't the only one.
If you've lost your trust
in me, Augustus, I'm sorry.
I'd like the chance to earn it back.
I think you're right about Tom.
My gut says that him
and McDowd have history.
Watch the way he rode off?
Headed back to town.
I think we should head
that way ourselves.
Well, let's ride.
So, by the time they open
the boxcar, I'm long gone.
And that, my friend, is how I robbed
the Lindale train coming and going
- Oof.
- all in the same day.
- That is quite a feat.
- Yeah?
You know, when I do a double like that,
I usually go for
something a little bigger
like the Houston and Texas Central.
The H&TC?
Yeah.
Well, that's-that's
the biggest train in Texas.
Ah, don't beat yourself up.
Everybody's got to start somewhere.
Evening, Sheriff.
You're on your own, friend.
What in the hell
do you think you're doing?
Belly up, Tommy. I hear
you own the place after all.
Look, this isn't good for either of us.
Why's that?
Because you're a wanted fugitive
and I'm the damn sheriff.
Oh, I noticed that, yeah.
It's like Texarkana but even better.
Here you are, lawman, businessman,
feared and respected
by all these people.
- That's enough.
- No, no, Tommy boy.
Just-just-just hear me out, okay?
Hey, look, it got me thinking, right?
Opening that cantina in Mexico
was a little far-fetched, I admit it.
And why bother?
You found paradise right here.
It's time for you to go now.
Just don't like to think
you're hiding something from me.
I love you more than you will ever know.
That's my only secret.
We can run this place together,
like old times.
This little trouble I'm in,
- you can end it, you can protect me.
- Protect you?
All you got to do is pin
a deputy star on my chest.
- Have you lost your damn mind?
- No.
No, I-I'm seeing things really clearly.
Tommy, I think I like this town,
all these nice folks,
so, yeah, maybe I'll settle in.
We can get to know
each other a little better.
I'm sorry, Tom, somebody catch your eye?
No. Abby's just an employee.
Oh, is that all?
You need to stop stalling and
get on your horse and you go.
- Let's go.
- Hey.
I'm waiting on your answer.
Are you gonna make me a deputy?
You listen to me, okay?
Things aren't like the old days.
I work for my family now.
They do not tolerate unnecessary risk.
You understand what I'm saying?
Yeah, Tommy, I think I do.
Well, then you answer me this, okay?
How long, do you think,
until the good people
of Independence find out what
kind of a man you really are?
Sheriff.
Whoa
Hey, look.
McDowd!
Throw down your guns!
Sheriff?
What's the play here?
Throw 'em down, McDowd.
Come and take 'em, you son of a bitch.
Stay down till it's over.
You're hit.
Oh, damn it!
Come here.
Careful!
Lower your guns.
Stay down.
- Get your hands off me.
- Shh.
Hoyt, stand down.
Let him go.
Let go of me.
- Hey, hey!
- Kate! No!
What do you want to do?
I'm gonna go up there.
Wait, why you?
Let me go.
No. You're gonna want to let him
go talk to his friend alone.
You want to save Abby?
I'm your best bet.
Okay?
If these so-called bounty
hunters do anything stupid,
shoot 'em.
I do hate bounty hunters.
One thing we can agree on.
All right.
Everybody take it easy.
Who are you? Another
one of Tom's employees?
Of course you would be
up here, saving yourself.
You know what? It would be
better if you did shoot me.
Because then I wouldn't have to
be in another room with you
You walk around here like you're
better than everyone else.
- Let me tell you something!
- You know what?
- All of this is your fault!
- Kate!
- Kate, go!
- Hey!
Are you trying to get yourself killed?
So, you're that outlaw
that everyone's after, right?
And you're Abby.
Your boss told me.
Oh, yeah, you two were
chatting at the bar.
Didn't seem altogether friendly, was it?
Oh, I can see why
you've got his attention.
Hmm.
Did you know him in Texarkana?
I don't know what you're on about,
but I'll tell you this for free.
Your sheriff down there
might be the most
dangerous man in Texas.
- Eli.
- Hey.
I'm unarmed.
What took you so long, Tommy?
Come on. Let's get me a fresh horse
- so I can get the hell out of here.
- Eli.
No, no, no, you distract 'em, Tom.
- I'm-a slip out
- That's enough.
We both know that's not gonna happen.
I guess not.
I'm sorry. I can't help you here.
I'm working to build
something in this town
that's bigger than you and me both.
Whoa.
I wish we'd gone to Mexico, Tommy.
I wish you'd gone to Mexico.
Yeah, wouldn't have made
much of a difference.
There's no place I can run
Santiago won't find me.
Then stop running. Turn yourself in.
He'll gut me in the street, Tommy.
No! No! I will take you in myself.
You're gonna get the rope.
It's better than the alternative.
Just another weary outlaw, huh, Tom?
Tired and small.
Getting his neck stretched
out for a crowd of people.
Spare me from that, won't you, Tommy?
You can't be serious. No.
Hey, hey, there's another way.
- Let us help you.
- Yeah.
Maybe in another life, okay?
Tommy, I know I done wrong.
And I know I don't deserve it,
but there must be some
small bit of grace here
for me here at the end, yeah?
Come on, Tommy.
Come on.
I will not do this for you.
Hey! Hey, hey.
Please don't make me hurt her, Tom.
Hey, hey, put it down.
Eli, we can work this out.
There's still one way you can help me.
I'm not gonna do that for you!
- Now or never, Tom!
- Eli!
No, no, no, no, no.
Eli. Come on.
Stay with me
No, no, no, no, no!
Sheriff, without the body
I can't collect the bounty.
You had no right putting
yourself in danger for me.
Thank you.
You would have done the same.
And you might yet.
That's true.
Kate, I'm sorry.
About earlier, what I said.
Come here.
I know I know that what I said to you
about Liam hurt you.
And I'm sorry.
I'm sorry that I hurt you.
But I'm not sorry for asking
you difficult questions.
Because I care about you.
And I'm gonna do everything
I can to help you.
And right now that means building
the best possible case to take Tom down.
You're right.
Am I?
The truth is, Liam wasn't perfect.
I don't know everything that happened
with the police in Boston,
I don't know if he had enemies.
Or if we were running from
them when we came here.
Or even our last night together,
I thought he might be hiding
something from me.
I'm sorry, Abby.
To answer your question,
I don't know how well I knew my husband.
But I promise you
I am ready to face the truth,
wherever it may lead.
I have to ask you one more question.
- It's just one. I promise.
- All right. All right.
It's my job.
What did you see in there?
With Tom?
I saw a criminal.
The killer we know he is.
But I also saw a scared,
heartbroken man giving up
something he loved very dearly.
Sheriff.
Glad to see you're doing all right.
I wanted to thank you.
For what you did.
You were very brave.
Trying to talk him down like that.
But you can't reason
with a desperate man.
He was a friend. Wasn't he?
He told me you were dangerous.
I turned a blind eye to some things
in Texarkana I shouldn't have.
The past is hard to face, isn't it?
Maybe we should all be judged
on what we do with today,
Miss Walker.
I can't talk right now.
Tom will be back soon.
I'm not sure this can wait any longer.
The way I see it, everybody who knows
something about
Tom Davidson winds up dead.
Eli McDowd.
- Just like Griffin
- You can stop there.
What did McDowd know that
Tom wanted buried with him?
Tell me you aren't suspicious.
What do you want me to say?
That something's wrong in this town?
Of course something's wrong.
I mean, damn, does everybody
think I'm a fool?
Look, I knew Tom was hiding something,
just like I knew you were.
I'm not hiding anymore.
I'm tired of watching
the bodies pile up.
And Tom murdered Liam Collins.
I wish you had come to me sooner.
I mean, why wouldn't you trust
me with something like this?
I think I know who
murdered Liam Collins.
And it wasn't Tom.