Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Outdoor beach.
To have a time-traveling character in a Western drama would be pretty shocking, but Three of them? Consider us puzzled.
In the last two episodes of Prime Video’s Outdoor beach (now streaming), Royal revealed to his eldest son Perry that he knew full well what the metaphysical void was in their land. That’s because he already walked it when he was a kid — in 1886! – after accidentally shooting his father in a hunting accident. When he crawled across it was in 1968, and the Abbott family took him in and let him work the land. Following the revelation of this huge family secret, Perry did the unthinkable: he jumped inside the hole, when it seemed to close around him.
But in the second punch of the supernatural western’s one-two punch, Autumn was revealed to be Royal’s granddaughter, Amy from the future. After the young woman was trampled by the mysterious herd of bison, Royal was determined to finish her off, until a familiar scar on her forehead caught his eye – the same scar Amy had had the night of the Abbott family’s big brawl when broken glass rained all over their kitchen.
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Below, Imogen Poots talks to TVLine about Autumn’s connection to Royal, her “bizarre friendship” with Billy Tillerson, and the beauty of the show’s confusing symbolism.
TVLINE | The relationship between Billy and Autumn in these last two episodes is certainly something special! How would you describe their relationship, and does Autumn really care about him or is she just manipulating him?
IMOGEN POOTS | I think what starts initially is kind of a discipleship as far as Billy is concerned. [But] in my heart, I feel that she is really starting to fall in love with him. He’s in and she respects that. I think she’s probably a deeply lonely person and probably having a great time hanging out with him. It’s kind of – and I gotta be careful how I say that [Laughs] – but it reminds me of my best friend. We haven’t done anything they do, but I appreciate this kind of underground, weird friendship where you two are just there exploring weird goblin caves and getting into weird scenarios, you know ? I really like that friendship and that energy, and it’s something that I know pretty well, so I really loved that.
TVLINE | Their kissing scenes are so awkward, and you and Noah [Reid] both are 100% committed. How were these scenes written into the scripts?
I think it was like “a long chain of saliva is connected between their mouths”, something so funny and extreme. And it was cool because they were on point during the filming. We tried many different types of materials and fluids to achieve this type of texture and at one point even got KY Jelly on our tongues…in the deep New Mexico midday heat in a parking lot trying to stay conscious while your electrolytes are just sprinting out of your bloodstream. Trying to get it right was a lot of fun and memorable.
TVLINE | The scene in Episode 7 where Autumn pumps herself in the mirror was powerful. She seems totally out of balance at this point. What does that say about her and what have you done to prepare yourself to enter that mindset?
We did this crazy early in the morning. It really seemed necessary for the character to have something like that. Something deeper inside her, not responding to anything outside. And I think that reflects a lot of who Autumn is. She was such a blank canvas for other people’s opinions and thoughts. I think it’s a pretty dangerous place to operate from. So the fact that she chose that as her mantra… I felt it was coming from her like she repeated it over and over again. It’s probably something she often whispers to herself. It was just coming together almost like a beat of rhythmic poetry, this kind of relentless dialogue engine a la Allen Ginsberg, where it just comes out of you. It really lifted my spirits. I felt raw nerves doing this.
TVLINE | Autumn becomes quite the adversary of Royal and almost looks like a puppeteer. How would you explain his change in behavior throughout the season?
At first, I think there’s a reason the writers didn’t decide to have him say, “It’s good to meet you.” So from that point on, I appreciated that it’s kind of on Royal that she sticks around. It was his decision. And I think you sort of see someone who’s an opportunist, and she’s definitely there for her own reasoning. I don’t think she knows the whole truth, but I think she has a pretty good idea that this is where she belongs and that she, in deep psychosis, believes there is something that it has the right to possess or have access to. I think the change can certainly seem pretty extreme to viewers, but I also imagine that once she realizes the power she has over the family, it probably boosts her confidence quite dramatically, that’s why she realizes that now is the time to act. Once she has acquired Billy as a sort of follower, they go shopping.
TVLINE | In the finale, Royal and Autumn find themselves at a true Western standoff. Why do they both feel the need to get out of each other?
I guess I have the following question: can autumn really die? Can nobody really die? There’s something about this shootout that almost feels like a video game. It’s just for bullshit and giggles because what about the future and the past and all that? That’s why there was a feeling of “woo-hoo!” to all. The stakes seemed a little floppy. She wants to take him out because he’s getting in the way of what she wants. Of course, Autumn and Royal complement each other throughout the series. There is a lot of Royal in fall, and fall in Royal, untapped. You can go into a deep metaphor about all of this, but she’s going to try to squeeze it out, at least in this present moment.
TVLINE | I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about your experience working with Josh Brolin. You both have incredibly intense scenes together in the finale and throughout the season.
I love Josh. It was wonderful to work with him. He really wanted everyone in the cast to feel good, and he went out of his way to make it happen. I remember in the beginning we all had costume fittings, Lewis [Pullman]Noah [Reid]Isabella [Arraiza] and I was having lunch in this little room, and Josh came in and sat down. Everyone shut up because they felt like, “Whoa! Joe is here! But he doesn’t want that at all. He wants everyone to have fun and he really broke some boundaries there. He’s a big jerk, but he takes it all very seriously, and he really believes in this project and this cast. I loved working with him. That’s what makes it so great and makes the hours worth it because you’re spending time with people who are genuinely happy to be there. He always loves what he does. I’ve worked with and know actors who certainly don’t feel that way. He is very grateful. Yes, I’m a big fan of his. He’s intense, but in these scenes you want him to act with it. You want that tennis match. It has to be intense.
TVLINE | How far in advance did you know the big twist – that your character was actually the adult version of Amy?
I didn’t know when I signed. I signed on, say, August before I started filming in January, but then [producer] Zev [Borow] and [creator] brian [Watkins] told me a few days before the start of filming. It was kinda weird ’cause I was hanging out with Tom [Pelphrey, who plays Perry Abbott]he’s a little older but we’re the same generation or whatever, and then it’s like, “Oh shit, Tom is my dad?” [Laughs] It was funny to have this weird banner in the works. But yes, I only knew this information just before the start of filming.
TVLINE | As for the symbolism of the show and the Easter eggs – from the buffalo with the arrows on the side, to the bears, to the symbol and the disappearing mountain – has Brian ever told you what that means , or are you like in the dark that we are?
I have my own idea of what these things are. Especially when it comes to animals and the parallels of the myths of the American West and the myth of America in general. But in terms of Brian’s revelation, no. It was almost disrespectful to ask. I know that sounds stupid. It would have been almost a lazy question trying to figure out every fleeting beat, easter egg, and symbol. I also feel like, and it can frustrate people, but when a musician puts out an album, people say, “Oh, is that about that?” A musician has the luxury of being able to say, “I don’t know. What is you do you think it’s around? So maybe the show does something in that vein too.
TVLINE | Yes! I like this. Now, regarding a potential season 2, have there been any discussions about what might happen if the story continues?
I definitely know what would happen because obviously things from Season 1 were set up to be fleshed out in a later season. But I think with a show like this, because it was so original, you don’t envision… there’s a world in which Outdoor beach goes for five seasons and a world in which he doesn’t go more than one, because he’s his own beast that way. I can see it working that way, kind of like a one and done. But the impression I get is that people are really hoping for it to happen again, and there’s definitely been some whispers about it, just in the sense of its potential and how it seems to have touched a nerve with some public.
