THE OUTSIDER: Episode 9 Breakdown & Ending Explained | Full Spoiler Talk Review

With one week until the finale, things are really ramping up in the show.

Episode 9 is the penultimate entry of The Outsider and there’s a lot to unpack from it

Throughout this, we’re gonna be breaking down all of the ins and outs of the episode and it’s ending.

There will be heavy spoilers here so if you don’t want anything ruined then I highly recommend that you turn off now.

With that out the way, thanks again for clicking this, now let’s get into our breakdown of The Outsider Episode 9.

The Outsider Episode 9 Recap

Episode 9 pretty much sets the grounds for in which the finale will take place, it opens however in the past all the way back in 1947 with two boys John and George. The entry opens with a boy searching a barn similar to the farmhand that discovered Terry Maitland’s clothes earlier in the series, however, this is just a game and the two head off into the woods.

Eventually, they end up sneaking into a cave opening which just so happens to be the cave that we heard about in last week’s episode of Cavestock.

This is the bear cave that due to what happened there gets renamed and this is why later in the episode it’s not on a map.

Eventually, the boys become sealed in there and the search party dies along with them after the cave collapses. People did try to save them but unfortunately, the machinery back in those days was not strong enough using explosives would’ve caused the whole system to collapse.

El Cuco Feeds On Grief

Now there was a large number of lives lost that day and it is possible that El Cuco chose this location because of the grief that is laced the area and also because it’s secluded. We do know that the creature feeds on the despair of those that have lost someone they love and this is why this cave was chosen above all others.

We discover that the Bolton family, aka Claude’s ancestors, were members in the search and that four of them died during the collapse along with many more people. Because El Cuco has Claude’s memories, the creature is aware that this is the location of a tragic event and there is more grief in this area than the surrounding locations.

El Cuco once more is in control and those that try to enter its domain are doomed.

It gives the episode the theme of hopelessness and a feeling that no matter what people do, they will also lose. Claude discusses how The Outsider wanted in and it got in and there was nothing that he could do no matter how much he tried. It was like a virus. This is also given weight when there is mention of The Spanish flu of 1918 which hit the area.

In case you hadn’t heard of it before this was a massive pandemic that took out 500 million people during the early part of the 20th century.

The world population at the time was only 1.9 billion so there was a big hit on humanity.

El Cuco is a cancer that not only ravages people but the planet too and it looks like the group is out of their depth.

Cycles Of Oppression

The Outsider is very much about breaking cycles of oppression and victimization. El Cuco has been in a position of power for centuries because of its ability to control those around it. Whether it’s the slaves that it takes or the fact that police look the other way 99% of the time, the monster very much represents a system that allows it to continue to do what it likes.

I don’t really think it’s a metaphor for the TimesUp movement but that’s the most recent example that I can think of in which a system was set up in a certain way that allowed certain people in power to do things that they wouldn’t really get away with because they had money and a position that granted them the ability to.

There really would have been a feeling of hopelessness to a lot of people who had to go through situations that eventually lead to people speaking up and you very much get the feeling that Ralph and co are in over their heads. We know that not many will come to their aid and similar to the aforementioned movement, El Cuco feeds on the fact that people would rather stay out of things that could lead to trouble.

This is exemplified by the fact that a lot of people outside of it just don’t want to get involved in whatever is going on and it really hammers home the message that Evil rises when good men refuse to act.

However, with the group, they are united and tackling the problem together which means that they can rise up and meet it.

Why It Followed Claude

After the initial introduction which is laced throughout the episode, we jump to Ralph talking to the police and they try to suggest a link between the boy that was almost abducted at Cavestock and Frankie Peterson’s murder.

They ask the officers if they can interview the family and are granted permission.

We also learn that El Cuco has a psychic link with Claude and that the in best interests of the group, they should edit what they say so they don’t give away to the creature what their plan is. This is how it knew to follow Claude to another town and whereabouts that he would be staying.

The only way that we ever learned about El Cuco in the first place is because Terry was shown on CCTV to be in another part of the country and this started off the entire investigation. It doesn’t want this to happen again and this is why the creature didn’t just remain in Cherokee city and kill someone there.

Ralph Finally Believes

Ralph is clearly now on board and even shuts down Howie for trying to question the notion that the creature doesn’t exist.

Just because they’re accepting it though doesn’t mean that it will be easy killing it. They have no idea what this really is or how to defeat it. They do know that they need to get Claude out of the area as it’s unsafe to be there. Jeannie doesn’t sound too happy that Ralph is staying and it seems that he doesn’t believe he’s got much of a chance either due to the fact that he’s smoking.

I’m probably reading into this but just in general whenever I watch something and see a character who didn’t really smoke suddenly doing it I always feel like in their head they think they’re gonna die soon. People often don’t smoke because of the health hazards that it can lead to down the line but when they suddenly take it up it always shows to me that they know that’s not going to be the thing that kills them.

It’s really subtle and again I could be looking into it but let me know if it’s something you’ve noticed as well in tv shows and movies.

The team reviews the footage and realize that El Cuco is vulnerable, hungry and desperate. This kinda reminded me a bit of when Ted Bundy was on the run and he was frantically taking as many lives as he could. I’ve already discussed the similarities between El Cuco and serial killers so I don’t want to retread old ground but you do get the feeling that the show is deliberately having the creature operate in a similar manner.

Finding Out Where It Is

From the interview, Ralph and co learn where the beast is hiding. We also learn that the old guy is the grandfather, I know said it was the dad so my bad, the Santa hairstyle should’ve given it away.

Ralph also brings up the scratching and though it did look like the grandad could have been cut last week, he denies it so yeah, draw your own conclusions from that. My wife said he did, I was a bit unsure but this kinda clears it up.

He talks about how El Cuco’s face and how it still looked like a mask and Howie accidentally lets slip about the group hunting the creature.

We also learn that Howie is an anything man. The two have a history in which Howie represented Claude for a fight at the club and it eases some of the guilt on the latter’s shoulder when he realizes that he wasn’t bad enough to be remembered.

From Brother Bolton, they learn about a secret entrance in the gift shop and he also lets slip to Claude about their plan.

He did it for the right reasons but now it knows that everyone is on their way.

To make matters worse El Cuco has a sharpshooter on his team that can take them down.

Seale, Claude and Howie head out to join them but it looks like time is running out for everyone.

Episode 9 Ending

The episode ends with us them caught in the crossfire and we wonder if they’re gonna end up dead. We see him take out Alec with no problem and the episode really goes out with a bang after several shots can be heard firing.

We see a snake stalking Jack and I kinda have a feeling that this might come into play next week and it could bite him. Jack is also wrestling with himself and trying to fight the control that El Cuco has over him but whether this happens or not we will see. He doesn’t really seem to care but yeah I hope he turns to the light in the end.

The Book’s Ending Explained

Now for the rest of the article we’re gonna be talking about what happens at the end of the book. We’re just one week away and if you don’t wanna know what could happen next week then I suggest that you turn off now.

Ok, so they do manage to make it past Jack and get to the creature. This was also shown in the trailer for next week so no massive spoilers there. Holly, being an Outsider herself manages to track The Outsider in the caves and she kills it with a Happy Slapper which is a sock filled with balls. She used this in the Stephen King book Mr. Mercedes but whether it appears here or not we don’t know as they haven’t really mentioned that prior story with her.

In this episode, we also saw Glory and Jeannie talking face to face and there’s lip service paid to the DA asking her to talk with him. Though she denied his request if the story follows the book then next week he plays a big part in delivering some good news. That is that he drops all of the charges against Terry Maitland and he publicly announces that the CCTV footage proves that Terry was not the killer.

The work does seem to be going this way and Holly actually asks what it’s name is. We also see Ralph using a stone to hit something in the cave so it could be him who is the one to kill the monster.

Again this was another brilliant episode and with just one more entry I can’t wait to see what happens.

Your Thoughts

Now obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on Episode 8 and what you’ve thought of the season so far. Comment below and let me know! If you enjoyed this video then please drop a thumbs up and if you’ve missed any episodes then make sure you check them out in the playlist at the end.

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