Circling Vultures

**"Circling Vultures"** was the second episode of the first season of *Joe Pickett*. Though originally broadcast on Spectrum Streaming in the fall of 2021, its Paramount+ re-debut was in May 2022.

## Synopsis

Joe weasels his way into a local murder case and finds himself at odds with some important townsfolk; Marybeth manages the rest of the family at a motel and does some digging on her own.

## Plot Summary

In a flashback, young Joe Pickett runs from someone in the middle of the woods. His father, George Pickett, screams at him- warning him he’ll have to come home eventually. After his dad leaves, Joe gets angry and begins hitting a piece of wood against a rock nearby. He sits down and begins sobbing before humming to himself.

In present, Joe calls Cricket Ludlow and asks to speak to Sheriff Barnum -but she explains they’re both out responding to calls of a wounded man on a horse riding through Round Acre Campground. The description of the man is likely in his 30, with a beard, and wearing a bloody T-shirt. Witnesses say the man was waving around a plastic box or cooler. Joe asks her to get in touch with the Sheriff and tell him the man is Ote Keeley and he is lying dead outside of his house.

Before the police arrive, Joe takes pictures of the crime scene. Marybeth tells their daughters to get away from the window. Joe takes a photo of the cooler, which has a few scat droppings inside. Marybeth’s mother, Missy, asks about the dead body and says this doesn’t happen in Jackson Hole. Sheridan is told to get her father while Lucy is told to go with her mother. Marybeth grabs her rifle and points it out of the window before an unmanned horse casually strolls by. Joe goes back inside to get dressed before the Sheriff comes.

As the Sheriff drives toward their property, Joe and Marybeth talk about the horse and how far it must’ve traveled to get to their property. Marybeth thinks it traveled much further than Round Acre Campground because the saddle is so loose. Joe says Ote was injured at the campground and came this far so every step must’ve been agony. Going to the police station would’ve saved him a mile of riding yet he came to their property. He isn’t sure what that means yet. Then, he goes outside and directs the Sheriff to Ote’s body. Deputy McLanahan arrives and asks about the arrow sticking through Ote’s body. Joe explains the arrow is custom. It is a broadhead with a four-blade mechanical and a shock collar. He points out the rubber pod and reveals it is designed to hold poison. It is not legal and toxicology on the pod would give them more evidence than any ballistics test would. The deputy jokes that they have their own Perry Mason on the case, but the Sheriff doesn’t find that funny.

When Joe tells them about the scat in the cooler, the deputy makes a joke about that as well. Joe doesn’t think it is mouse scat so he recommends sending it in for testing although the Sheriff doesn’t think it is necessary. The sheriff agrees to do it if it’ll make Joe feel better. Sheridan watches from the window as a small animal which is likely a ferret runs across the crime scene and hides in the woodpile. When Joe goes back inside, he tells his wife it would be a good idea for him to stay somewhere else and act like this is potentially dangerous. She asks if the state is going to pay for it. Joe asks why and whether they can afford it. It is the end of the month so they’re running low. Marybeth insists she’d feel safer with him here anyway, but Joe recommends using the credit card to stay at a motel. Before she leaves with the kids, she encourages her husband not to blow things out of proportion.

Missy gives the officers something to drink and Deputy McLanahan thanks her. Their conversation gets a bit flirty before Marybeth yells to tell her mother to hurry up. The Sheriff wishes he could work a crime scene that well. When his family leaves, Joe is asked about Ote taking his sidearm from him. When Joe says yes, the Sheriff wants to know why he only heard of it from the Saddlestring Roundup. Joe claims he and Ote resolved the problem internally since it would’ve looked bad for both. Sheriff Barnum admits it looks bad when one of them ends up dead. He asks Joe if he has a compound bow sitting around somewhere. Joe says no and insists he wouldn’t kill someone in his backyard. However, he doesn’t want them searching his property without a warrant.

He claims there is nothing to find while reminding them the sanctity of his home was violated. They better bring a court order or be ready to kill Joe. The Sheriff tells Joe to make himself useful by helping them put the hillbilly in the body bag. As they work, Joe has a flashback of dealing with Ote and pointing his gun at him. When the Sheriff and Deputy aren’t there, Joe takes a sample of the animal scat from the cooler. Then, he gives the cooler to the Deputy to ensure he doesn’t forget it. Joe has to take Ote’s horse back to his widow so he offers to notify her as well.

Nate Romanowski watches an eagle fly before crashing to the ground in the woods nearby. He walks over to the dead bird and finds the ground littered with them.

Marybeth and Missy arrive at the Saddlestring Motel. Missy isn’t happy that she ended up in a place like this. Marybeth wants her mom to tell her when she is ready to be a part of the solution. Missy says she is ready. Joe arrives at the Keeley residence and says hello to Ote’s daughter, April. Jeannie comes out of the house with a shotgun pointed right at him. The heavily pregnant woman walks forward while telling Joe to walk forward so she can shoot him legally. Once she finds out her husband is dead, she lowers the weapon. After she sits down, she curses Ote and wonders what she is going to do with all these kids now. Joe tells her they don’t know who did it yet. Jeannie admits Ote started a lot of crazy crap so a lot of people could’ve done it. She mentions the survivalist type of guy who is likely Nate. He got mad at Ote because he shot some bird. When questioned about a bow, she says Ote never hunted with one.

She asks why he is investigating a murder when he is just the game warden, but Joe claims he is looking into a hunting violation. He goes on to say he is investigating the arrow which was illegal. She laughs at the idea of Ote being killed by an arrow before realizing Joe is the new game warden who had the incident with her husband. Before he is forced to leave, he asks where Ote was going. She says she thought Ote was going to see him. Jeannie expands on that by explaining her husband told her he was going to go get his hunting license back. Moments later, Joe tries to remove their horse from his trailer, but it isn’t easy because the horse is skittish. April comes over to help while admitting the horse doesn’t like strangers. Joe watches as April comforts the horse and effortlessly guides him out of the trailer.

Marybeth orders a coffee and hears the gossip brigade at the store talking about the new game warden. They mention Ote and the discovery of his body at the game warden’s house. They speculate that the new game warden killed him.

The man tells the others about the time Vern caught Ote selling antlers to the Japanese. He says the type of game warden who tickets the governor wouldn’t look the other way like Vern often did. Marybeth interrupts to tell the group the game warden has an airtight alibi because he was in bed with her. When Joe returns home, his dog is barking so he suspects something is wrong. He finds a dead bird on his porch. After the discovery, he calls Marybeth to check on her and warn her to keep her eyes open. He visits Vern after Marybeth tells him what she heard about him. He finds him and asks how well he knew Ote. Vern says he caught Ote poaching once and decided to play the long game with him. Ote would give him tips about things that were going on. He admits Ote wanted him to put in a good word with the game warden so he could get his license back.

When Joe asks about the poaching ring, he is told how valuable the land under their feet is. Vern suggests everyone is trying to steal from it from the natural gas, minerals, antlers, water, and more. He describes it as a giant bank vault with money all around it. Someone is always going to try to run in and scoop up the resources. Joe is warned he’ll have to learn how to bend to it or it will break him. When he is asked what the Sheriff thinks about it, Joe admits he doesn’t think they’re in a hurry to solve it. Vern isn’t surprised and says the Sheriff hasn’t been challenged in over 30 years so he has gotten lazy. That is about to change since Wacey Hedeman is going to challenge him. Vern can’t wait to see the look on Barnum’s face when he loses. Joe listens as he says he wouldn’t wait for Barnum to figure out the Keeley murder.

Joe has a few leads of his own starting with finding the poaching ring. Once he leaves, he goes to the local taxidermist to ask whether he gets any trophies from bow hunters. He shows him a picture of the broadhead to see if he has seen anything like it. The taxidermist doesn’t want to say anything since it would hurt his business if he got his customer into trouble. He asks about the elk with velvet on its antlers. The taxidermist promises everything he does here is aboveboard and says it is an old mount. He recommends Joe go look somewhere else for trouble. Pickett notices a bulletin on the board about an arrow and asks whether he knows who put it up. He doesn’t. Outside, he is approached by the Sheriff who asks if he has been to the new coffee place down the block. He says it is a good place although the new owners from California are a bit goofy. He has been trying a new coffee every day to make up for lost time. Joe is forced to take a swig and taste the coffee.

He pretends to do so but doesn’t. Barnum says Deputy McLanahan bamboozled him into telling Ote’s wife about his death although he didn’t give him permission to interrogate her. Since Joe is new around there, Barnum is going to let it slide this time, but he should stay out of his way from now on. Joe says otherwise since the murder weapon violates hunting regulations. It is his jurisdiction too. He warns Joe not to get on his bad side before telling him to keep the coffee. With the Sheriff gone, Joe decides to look at his map to find the location where the arrow was found. Meanwhile, Joe’s kids play outside of the motel while Marybeth sits with her mom. Sheridan says she can do real magic since she wished for a pet and one magically appeared. She doesn’t tell her sister what type of pet it was. Missy admits she wasn’t a good mother to Marybeth, her brother, or her sister. Marybeth says they turned out okay, but Missy suggests otherwise since her brother never reached his potential and her sister is still a child.

Missy expected more from Marybeth especially since she has a law degree. Marybeth reminds her she did the law firm thing and ended up working 80-hour weeks in a 10-by-10 box. When she saw Joe and the girls, she was so tired and anxious that she had nothing left for them. Missy listens as her daughter says she didn’t like herself in that life and begins telling her what she did yesterday and how much she enjoyed it. She believes she belongs here regardless of what her mother wants. Missy warns her that relying on men can lead to major issues. She hoped she raised her to be independent because all men are like her father. Then, we join Joe as he rides a horse with snow on the ground around them. He finds the spot in the picture and spots a makeshift camp in the distance. In a flashback, Joe remembers the sheriff taking him back home. His mother rushes up to hug him while his father calls him stubborn. Back in the present, Joe gets off the horse, grabs his rifle, and approaches the camp.

He finds Nate chopping up an animal and asks him to drop the ax. As Nate turns around and approaches him, Joe slowly backs up. He asks Joe if he is alone. He recommends he not point that gun in his direction before calling for the edge to land on his arm. Joe asks if he is the one making those broadheads as Nate tries to get closer. Nate claims it is his property although Joe says it is public land. Once Joe convinces him to stop, Nate says he only makes legal broadheads. Joe mentions the poison pods. Nate denies being responsible before pulling out a gun and saying he’d give the guy with the poison pods two in the chest if he knew who it was. Nate drops the handgun. Then, several vehicles and a helicopter with the Sheriff’s Department arrive to arrest Nate. The Sheriff tells Joe they got a tip that Ote got into a spat with a survivalist over a falcon. They find a compound bow and that is enough to convince Barnum they’ve found their man.

Nate says he is insulted that they sent the local yokels to take him in. Deputy McLanahan hits him with the butt of his rifle before kicking him around a few times. Joe eventually stops him and says it might be game warden business if he is going to act like an animal. Nate is arrested for Ote’s murder and taken away by the Sheriff’s men. Joe returns home to burn some of the bloodied wood and clean up the rest. While he scrubs away the blood, he remembers his conversation with Ote. Later, he goes to the refrigerator to get something and stares at the list of baby names stuck to it. At the bottom, he spots the name Victor and has a flashback of his brother, Victor. The brothers hang out on the trampoline as Victor admits he was afraid he wouldn’t come back. He pleads with his brother to promise that he’ll take him if he ever decides to run away for real. In the present, Joe imagines his brother is in the room with him. Victor reminds him he was just a kid when he made the promise.

Nevertheless, Joe broke that promise. He believes he was responsible for protecting his brother, but Victor says no and he would’ve left too. At the motel, Lucy asks her mother if the bad guys will come back to get them. Marybeth says no although Joe would stop them anyway. Marybeth explains people tend to underestimate Joe, but they don’t. Joe calls his wife’s phone to leave her a goodnight message before Nate calls from jail. He is using his late call to phone Joe and ask him to come to the jail. Nate asks whether he got the vulture he sent talking about the dead bird on his porch. He won’t say why he did it and instead wants to meet. Joe wastes no time getting to the jail to meet with him. When Joe asks about the dead vulture, Nate admits it is weird as if the bird just fell out of the sky. He goes on to say there are many more so he was hoping Joe would look into it.

Although he didn’t kill Ote, he would’ve because Ote killed one of his falcons last spring. He doesn’t trust his lawyer since he is a 26-year-old public defender named Jason. Instead, he wants Joe to prove his innocence because he was going to apprehend him with a rabbit shooter. When asked why, Joe says he is comfortable with the rifle since he had it as a kid and he didn’t know Nate’s reputation. Nate doesn’t believe it and suggests Joe likes being underestimated. After he stands up, Nate asks whether he was raised by a dangerous man. Nate says he was and he had to convince the old man he was an idiot to keep everyone around him safe. He describes himself as safe on the outside yet dangerous on the inside. He sees through Joe who is going to be the only one standing between him and the needle although Joe doesn’t want that. Joe says this isn’t covered by attorney-client privilege so he should choose his words carefully.

He tells Nate he can trust him to look for the truth. With that, Nate says there is something he needs to tell him. Joe speeds through the streets in his truck and stops abruptly. Joe walks up to Sheriff Barnum’s house and finds him around back before revealing Nate said Ote and two men were headed for Crazy Woman Creek right before he died. They were heavily armed and likely up to something bad. Nate claims he told the Sheriff this as well. Regardless, the Sheriff isn’t going to change his opinion based on Nate’s claims. He reminds Joe that he is a game warden and not a cop. As for whatever happens on Crazy Woman Creek, nature tends to sort those problems out. Joe wonders if it might be game warden business after all.

When Sheriff Barnum asks if he wants to do his job, Joe says he doesn’t, but someone has to do his job. Joe contemplates driving up there to find out on his own although Barnum doesn’t think he can because it is some of the roughest terrain in Twelve Sleep. Joe reveals he knows someone who will show him the way and his name is Wacey Hedeman. The Sheriff doesn’t like that and refuses to send any backup for Joe or Wacey, but Joe expected that anyway. Joe is told to bring weapons because whoever is up there will have him outgunned. Barnum promises to make this Joe’s last screwup in Saddlestring if things go wrong.

## Cast

### Main

* Michael Dorman as Joe Pickett
* Julianna Guill as Marybeth Pickett
* Sharon Lawrence as Missy Vankeuren
* Mustafa Speaks as Nate Romanowski
* Skywalker Hughes as Sheridan Pickett
* Kamryn Pilva as Lucy Pickett
* David Alan Grier as Vern Dunnegan

### Recurring

* Patrick Gallagher as Sheriff Barnum
* Leah Gibson as Jeannie Keeley
* Benjamin Hollingsworth as Ote Keeley
* Chad Rook as Deputy Kyle McLanahan
* Aadila Dosani as Cricket Ludlow
* Cassie Dzienny as Sadie Pickett
* Kyle Mac as George Pickett
* Mark Bellamy as Mitch
* Sally Bishop as Deputy #2
* Zebastin Borjeau as Young Joe Pickett
* Diego Diablo Del Mar as Oliver Lopez
* Kim Faires as Kelly
* Vivienne Guynn as April Keeley
* Oliver Mandelcorn as Young Victor Pickett
* Joshua Morettin as Victor Pickett (18 Yrs.)
* Melanee Murray as Valerie
* Bryn Roy as Game Warden Wilman