'The Outsider' Episode 7: Anderson wants a rational explanation for the murders but fans want him to 'wake up'
This article contains spoilers for 'The Outsider’ Season 1
This episode titled 'In the Pines, In the Pines', saw Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) try to save his colleague PI Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) from Officer Jack Hoskins (Marc Menchaca), who seems to be under the control of the supernatural entity, El Cuco. As Gibney continued to share her speculations and evidence that prove that all the accused in three child murder cases are in fact innocent, Anderson seems to stray as far as he can from this possibility.
He has sketches from three individuals, one of whom is his wife, Jeannie Anderson (Mare Winningham) detailing the "hooded man" and residue of the creative on his dining table, yet, he'd still rather depend on facts that simply don't exist. In this episode, he was called out on it by both Gibney and his wife but still seems to struggle to believe that a supernatural force that feeds on children and the grief of their families is running around town preying on its residents.
Frankly, seven episodes into the horror-thriller and Anderson hasn't budged a bit and it's getting on our nerves. In this episode, we saw a slight inclination that he might start to think the irrationality of the situation can be credited to El Cuco. "Ralph the evidence is telling you Holly is telling you Your WIFE is telling you the agent is telling you and your therapist is telling you please stop trying to apply a rational explanation to irrational events WAKE UP PLEASE but I think he’s finally coming around #TheOutsider," tweeted a fan.
In his delirious state of trying to find a rational explanation, he has managed to leave vital information from Gibney, who is trying to save the next victim. While he doesn't seem to care, no one has time to soothe his doubts while there are dead bodies - especially children - about to drop. "So The Outsider one I knew Holly would be two who in the hell would pick him up I mean the bad coverup makeup alone three Ralph please listen to your wife and the FBI agent and finally Holly has the right to be pissed he didn’t tell her about the scratch #TheOutsider," tweeted another fan.
Fans were especially glad at the fact that Anderson was called out on his behavior and we agree - El Cuco took a back seat on this episode as two other characters stoke the show. "I wanted to wait until after The Outsider was over to tweet about it but Ralph’s wife wins the episode!!! When she basically said no Ralph enough open your damn eyes she won #TheOutsider, tweeted an enthusiastic fan.
We're hoping Anderson wakes up in the next episode and helps his team instead of getting in their way - he seems to be chasing a rational explanation that does not exist.
‘The Outsider’ airs Sundays at 9 pm EST (8 pm CST) on HBO.