'Marshals' Season 2 Episode 4 Recap & Ending Explained: Is Rudy Carpenter Dead?

The fourth episode of Marshals season 2 is centered around a domestic terrorist, Rudy Carpenter, who made his first appearance in the fourth episode of season 1, when Cal and Kayce encountered him on their way to the mountains to rescue Tom Weaver. At that time, neither Cal nor Kayce knew who Rudy Carpenter was. They believed him to be a random mugger who tried to rob them, which was why Cal didn’t bother arresting him on the spot, and instead asked him to turn himself in at the ranger station. Later, the team discovered that the criminal that Cal and Kayce had let go was America’s Most Wanted domestic terrorist, a serial bomber who had been on the lam for three years. At the end of the season, Cal picked up another lead on Rudy, and was waiting for him to show up near a motel, but he and his team had to drop the mission after they learned about the attack on Kayce’s ranch. So in a way, Rudy had become Cal’s white whale, a blot on his record, which was why arresting Rudy Carpenter became Cal’s top priority, even though he had been struggling both physically and mentally due to his chemotherapy sessions. Cal wanted to prove to his superior, Harry Gifford, that he still had fight left in him, and wouldn’t turn his back on the team.

Spoiler Alert

Andrea Finds A Lead

In the previous episode, Kayce decided to send his son, Tate, to a therapist to deal with his PTSD; however, the opening of episode 4 suggested that Kayce had been struggling with his own demons too, but he was too afraid to confront them. In a nightmare, Kayce saw a young version of himself with a Yellowstone “Y” that had been recently branded onto his chest, and he applied a burn ointment, to feel how painful it had been for him. The vision, as I see it, is Kayce’s mind telling him that he has still not been able to make peace with his past. The family may have sold off Yellowstone Ranch, but Kayce is still holding on to those past grudges and haunting memories that are keeping him up at night. Waking up in the middle of the night, he texted his squadmate, Andrea Cruz, who also couldn’t sleep because the events of her kidnapping in the previous season were still haunting her when she was alone. Andrea had been reading her father’s case file to divert her mind when she received Kayce’s text, and the two decided to chase fugitives at night rather than let their trauma haunt them. However, neither of them told each other about the issues they had been struggling with, so I guess it would take a bit of time for them to be honest with each other.

During their late-night takedown, Kayce and Andrea arrested a fugitive carrying illegal weapons, and they brought him to the compound; the man begged for a plea deal. He told the Marshals that he had recently crossed paths with a man named Rudy Carpenter in the parking lot of a gun show. So, with that information in hand, Cal and his team decided to hunt down Rudy Carpenter and put him behind bars before he could hurt anyone else.

A Wild Goose Chase

The only thing Cal couldn’t understand was why Rudy didn’t leave Montana even after he and Kayce encountered him in the mountains. Being a top 15 fugitive, Rudy might have assumed that the two officers had recognized him, which would have given him enough reason to flee to another state, but instead, he was still hanging around in the same place. Andrea thought he might be trying to reconnect with his ex-wife, Audrey, who had left him two years ago and remarried an old rich man. But I think it went much deeper than that. The thing is, as per Rudy’s previous actions, his bombings were meant to leave a statement. Back in the day, he had sent pipe bombs to congressional staffers and federal officers after an EPA policy change had cost him his job as a logger. This made Harry believe that if Rudy was still hanging around in Montana, then he must be planning something big, which was why it became so urgent for them to find Rudy Carpenter before he could blow up anything else.

Cal took Miles to search the motels and the restaurants near the area where the gun show was held, believing Rudy might have left a trail. They got security footage from a gas station, in which they spotted Rudy carrying a bag. Cal and Miles searched the place and found the bag that Rudy had hidden in a dumpster, and as it turned out, in that bag, Rudy had kept the shotgun that Cal had left behind back in season 1, episode 4. Cal and Kayce had decided to scale the mountains to reach Weaver in time, which was why they left some of their gear behind, including the ranger’s shotgun, which Rudy got his hands on, using the weapon to attack Cal and Kayce while they were trying to bring Weaver down the cliff. Well, it seemed like that shotgun didn’t last very long, so Rudy contacted the man at the gun convention, the same fugitive who was arrested by Kayce and Andrea at the beginning of this episode. Along with the shotgun, Cal and Miles also recovered an encrypted code (from Rudy’s bag), which happened to be a dark web address that led the team to an online message board where Rudy was conversing with a local street gang, the Disciples. 

The Marshals raided the Disciples’ chop shop and arrested the Soler brothers, Nick and Paul (the leaders of the gang), and Nick told Kayce that they had promised Rudy a place to lay low in return for pipe bombs, but Rudy tricked them and disappeared after they gave him the blasting caps that he had asked for. The fact he went out of his way to get his hands on blasting caps made it clear that Rudy was planning another bombing, though no one knew when and where. Miles later scanned through Nick’s cell records, and discovered that he had been constantly texting with an identified burner phone. Nick had received specs for blasting caps from this number, which made it apparent that it was Rudy who was texting Nick to place an order for the items he needed for an explosive. However, what was most surprising was that Rudy’s burner phone was last active in the industrial part of town, suggesting the location could be his next target. In the meantime, Cal and Kayce learned about a break-in where someone had stolen eight barrels of ANFO (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) from a construction supply warehouse. That amount of industrial explosive was enough ordnance to blow up a city block, therefore further implying that Rudy was planning to take out the industrial complex.

Rudy Is Likely Dead

Miles had been reviewing the traffic cam footage to track down the white cargo van (which Rudy had used in the ANFO theft) when Cal suddenly spotted a blast crater near an old farm in Bozeman. Cal was confident that Rudy was dry testing the explosives before planting them at the target location, so he asked the team to gear up as they needed to stop him before he left the location. At the end of the episode, Cal and the rest of the team surrounded Rudy on the farm, where he was loading explosives into the white van. Cal asked him to surrender, but Rudy started firing at them; however, when Kayce hit him with a bullet, he ran straight into the barn, where he had armed a bomb. As soon as Kayce and Andrea entered the barn to arrest Rudy, he triggered the bomb. Well, it may seem like the explosion would kill Andrea and Kayce, as the episode ended on a cliffhanger, but I think nothing’s going to happen to them, because they are the stars of the show. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be assumed of Rudy, as he was too close to the bomb when he triggered it, so my guess is he died in the explosion. This had already been hinted at in the episode, as Rudy’s ex-wife, Audrey, told Kayce and Belle that prison had done irrevocable damage to Rudy’s psyche, and he came out a completely different man, which meant he would do anything to never go back again. I believe this was why Rudy decided to blow himself up rather than get arrested and be thrown into prison.

Harry May Let Cal Stay

The episode began with Cal informing Harry about the diagnosis, as he didn’t want to keep him in the dark, as the check-ups and chemo were taking a toll on his health. However, Harry made it all about himself, pointing out that he couldn’t let Cal lead an elite unit in such a condition. The President had appointed Harry to ensure the safety of the people of Montana, and he couldn’t let sentiments cloud his judgment. He’d already started talking about Cal’s replacement, and he wanted Andrea to step into Cal’s shoes, but even though Cal wasn’t aware of Andrea’s PTSD after the whole Randall Clegg’s mess, he was still convinced that Andrea wasn’t fit to lead the pack. Cal had a few suggestions, and Harry refused to listen and was bent on making Andrea take Cal’s place. This argument took a completely different shape when Andrea showed up with information on Rudy Carpenter. Harry used Rudy to taunt Cal about how he’d failed to catch a most wanted fugitive, not once but twice. He framed it as Cal’s biggest failure to make sure Cal would accept that he wasn’t fit to lead the team and should let Andrea take charge of the case. This actually made things  worse between Cal and Andrea, as he assigned her to desk duty for a major chunk of the episode, as Cal wanted to arrest Rudy himself. This was his last shot at redemption, which would remove the stain from his career. Harry, on the other hand, had been pushing Andrea to arrest Rudy, which would have given Harry enough reason to promote her to Cal’s position and take his place when he would take a medical leave. The funny thing is, Harry was convinced that Cal wouldn’t return to duty, and though he didn’t say it to Cal’s face, Cal understood the meaning behind his words, which agitated him further.

But as Cal said, Andrea was a great marshal, but she still wasn’t ready to lead the team, and I think Andrea knew it herself, which was why she ignored Harry while he was trying to manipulate her to take the position. That brings us to the question here: what’s going to change Harry’s mind so he will let Cal keep his position as long as she can? I guess it was the way Cal spotted a blast crater in the middle of nowhere, because honestly, no one else would have been able to recognize something like that unless and until they had spent their whole life in a sandbox. Ironically, it was the sandbox that most likely gave Cal his cancer, and now it was the same training that came in handy, helping him to catch wanted fugitives in the field. This might convince Harry that he could get a replacement for Cal, but no one could live up to an experienced SEAL like Cal. And before you bring up Kayce’s name, he’s already pointed out that he has no interest in leading the pack. Furthermore, Cal’s alertness and his quick response may have stopped a tragedy, because if the Marshals hadn’t been able to locate Rudy in time, he may have triggered a series of bombs in the city, leading to one of the most devastating domestic attacks in decades, and that might have cost Harry his career. So in a way, Cal actually saved Harry from that embarrassment, and he owed him one. Well, Harry isn’t the only one that Cal needs to worry about, as it turns out his daughter, Maddie, suspects that something’s wrong with her dad. Cal has asked everyone on his team (including Maddie’s boyfriend, Miles) not to tell his daughter about his diagnosis, but Miles has been acting a bit strange recently, which makes Maddie suspect that he’s hiding something from her. I guess, in the upcoming episodes, Miles will finally tell her the truth, and when he does, it’s Cal who’ll have to face his daughter’s questions.

Belle Has 48 Hours

Other than Cal’s illness, Kayce’s nightmares, and Andrea’s PTSD, the episode also showcased a brief scene where a man working for the casino that Belle owed 20 thousand dollars to showed up on the streets and threatened her to return what she owed in full along with the interest in 48 hours, or the consequences would be drastic. The man had already cracked her car’s window to give her a warning, and I believe, if Belle failed to make the payment in time, these thugs would try to hurt her family. I guess the 48-hour window didn’t expire by the end of the episode, so we might see the casino employees showing up at Belle’s house or the Marshalls’ compound, after which Belle would have to share her problem with the team, and finally the Marshals would step in to help a teammate out. Needless to say, we can expect another action-packed episode next week.

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