American Gothic recap: The Oxbow

At long last, some key Hawthorne secrets were revealed this episode. We saw Garrett relive part of his last 14 years spent in the woods, the return (and departure) of Jennifer Windham, and lots of dead rabbits. Let’s recap episode 9 of American Gothic!

At the beginning of “The Oxbow,” we see that Garrett is now in jail. He’s been accused of being Mitch’s accomplice in the SBK murders following last week’s discovery of his matching knife. Madeline gets Garrett the best defense lawyer money can buy, and at first he’s resistant to everything she has to say. The lawyer, Madeline, Alison, and Cam all agree Garrett should not talk to the cops, including Brady.

Garrett is oddly calm and nonchalant about his predicament. At one point, he tells his lawyer that yes, he did actually expect to wind up in jail. The fact he was there now was not a surprise to him, and he wasn’t exactly trying his hardest to clear things up and get himself out of the pokey.

At least, until he found out Christina was pregnant. On a trip with Tessa to have an ultrasound, Jack saw Christina waiting for an ultrasound as well. When Jack told Garrett, he immediately called Christina and was suddenly determined to be exonerated.

Aside from the aforementioned scenes, which all took place in 2016, the rest of the episode bounces around in time, showing us various flashbacks of Garrett’s life during the previous 14 years.

The first flashback to 2002 might be the most important. A young Garrett is standing in his bedroom, covered in dirt and blood, holding the knife in question. Madeline stands in his doorway and asks “What did you do?”

Other flashbacks cover Garrett’s life in the woods, spanning from 2002 to present day. He meets a man named Al, who at first tries to kill him but then befriends him. Al teaches Garrett to live off the land and catch rabbits, and over 14 years living in an isolated forest, the two share many fresh-cooked rabbits together. Garrett also goes to stalk his family from afar, as they go to the same house in this particular woods every summer. It was during one of these “visits” that Garrett was able to slip Tessa the phone number to reach him, without ever being seen by anyone.

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Al has congestive heart failure and has some terrible coughing fits over the course of these flashbacks. Eventually, shortly before Garrett returned to Boston in 2016, he found Al wheezing and dying on the floor of his cabin. Al tells Garrett this was the end, and begged Garrett to kill him. At first Garrett refused, but he eventually holds a pillow over Al’s face, suffocating him.

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This particular flashback is important given Tessa’s upcoming confrontation with Garrett. She and Brady were quarrelling over Garrett’s guilt — Tessa refuses to believe Garrett could have had a hand in anything her father/SBK could have done. She speculates someone might have planted the knife to frame him, and she reminds Brady that Garrett’s DNA was never found on the weapon or at any of the crime scenes. Brady implores her to ask Garrett directly about his innocence instead of blindly defending him.

Tessa visits Garrett in jail and tells him she’s on his side, asking him to just be completely honest with her. “It’s just me,” she says. “Just tell me you never killed anyone.”

“I can’t do that,” says Garrett. Tessa leaves the jail in tears, and though we know her assumption was a misunderstanding, Tessa admits she’s been naïve and vows to help Brady anyway she can from now on.

Aside from the Garrett drama, Alison cooked up some metaphorical rabbit of her own tonight. She approaches Jennifer Windham again, reminding her that she’ll have her thrown in jail as soon as possible if she doesn’t do as Alison says. Alison asks Jennifer to find some dirt on Connelly, the incumbent mayor currently beating Alison in the polls. Jennifer initially protests, but after following Connelly for a bit, she’s able to secure video footage of a secret meeting between Detective Cutter (Brady’s partner) and the mayor.

Later, as Garrett’s watching the news in jail, the head anchor throws to Jennifer. She’s supposed to be on location with an update about the SBK accomplice, but instead, the video feed shows a tied-up Jennifer, crying and reading a note written by the (presumably) real SBK. She tells the police and media to stay away from the killer or else. Then, the supposed SBK kills Jennifer Windham on live TV.

Finally, in the episode’s closing moments, we revisit the first 2002 flashback — a young Garrett, dirty and bloodied, holding a knife in his room. Again, Madeline asks “What did you do?” and Garrett responds, “He tried to kill me.”

So, as we suspected, it looks like Garrett is not SBK nor the killer’s accomplice. But the age-old question remains: Who’s the real killer? Also, will Christina take Garrett back now that she’s pregnant? And is that the last we’ll see of Jennifer Windham? Tune in next week as we approach the final four episodes in the Hawthornes’ saga!

Ep. 9 Honorable Mentions

• “I want you to know I’m proud of you,” a jailed Garrett says over the phone. “I’m in rehab for the fifth time,” Cam says, from said rehab.
• “They’re all dead.” —Both Al and Garrett when they broach the topic of their families.
• Brady doing his best “interrogator” or “bad cop” impression on Garrett, to which Garrett says, “I like you. I’m happy my sister married a good cop.”

Who Actually Dun It?

We now know for sure what we’ve assumed for a long time: There’s another person (not Mitch, not Garrett) involved here. Since we know Cam’s in rehab, who else could have kidnapped Jennifer Windham? I wouldn’t be shocked if the mayor was SBK, as I’ve suspected him since the second I laid eyes on him, but why would he be working with Cutter?

Let me know in the comments what you’re thinking after this revealing episode!