‘American Rust: Broken Justice’ Recap – ‘Ponderosa’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Namir Smallwood and Rob Yang as Sheriff Frank Deluca and Chief Steve Park in Season 2 of ‘American Rust: Broken Justice’. (Photo Courtesy of Dennis Mong/Prime Video.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 208 of ‘American Rust: Broken Justice’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, our discussions regarding the magnificent Prime Video series, American Rust: Broken Justice, have focused heavily on the rising tension in the story and a troubling development. Specifically, how so many characters are not finding the peace they hoped to find in their new endeavors and chapters in life. For so many have been struggling and find themselves filled with questions and sorrow, instead of peace because they haven’t reconciled what’s truly eating at them or put forth a proper path to success. Which has left all of us wondering when an explosion regarding such issues will come and well, it would seem… we are closer than ever.

For the next episode of this saga, ‘Ponderosa’, saw so many reach the precipice of their problems. For instance, Grace’s belief that she was now immersed within a swanky new lifestyle of riches and innocence came crumbling down. For when her neighbors expressed concern about Landwill’s actions, she tried to get something done, only to be ignored and informed she was a pawn. Which upset her to no end. Not to mention, Lee’s attempts to be a hero and stay hidden more or less came to an end, thanks to the fact that her boss made some discoveries, all because the joy of helping others made her feel safe and protected. Not to mention, Isaac also struggled here because of his inability to set boundaries with his emotions, which is understandable since he is just now discovering who he is and what he wants.

But those… paled in comparison to the two most troubling journeys in this story. One of which involved Billy. Simply because he took his father’s advice and indulged in slow, powerful revenge. Which seemingly gave him peace and joy in his soul, but we all know… it was anything but. It was nothing more than a temporary measure to heal the pain and give him peace since revenge does little for us but poison our soul. And while we saw Billy jump about and sing on stage with his father and tell Lee how much better he felt, the question that now remains is how long that joy and that goodwill will last. For once the shine comes off of his actions, he will be faced with the reality that he has killed in cold blood and that will absolutely haunt him.

As for the other troubling journey, well that came forth via Del. Because he was scared now about who might come to harm in bringing down the Brotherhood. Especially after being told by Fisher that something big was going down, and well… he more or less fell into a deep well of fear. Wherein old ghosts and old actions haunted him to no end and left him wondering if by chance, he should even go through with this. Which of course, he decided to do so, but that didn’t stop the FBI from applying pressure in the matter. But it was fascinating to see Del in this state and frame of mind and see him collapsing over the reality that doing this level of good comes with a cost, one that may be as bad as he fears.

For the end of this tale… saw he and Angela walking into one ugly trap. One that has us wondering how the Brotherhood figured out they were under fire and of course, if Del and Angela will be okay. But while we wait to see, we can applaud one juicy and engaging story. One that methodically put our characters on the precipice of disaster in a manner that was quite realistic in nature. Because we don’t just fall off of a proverbial cliff when darkness descends. We have to walk up the that hill and take a step into the abyss and that’s what we saw here and that added to the brilliant realism that this series resides within, and now that we’ve reached the beginning of the end for these new chapters in everyone’s lives… it is time to hit play on the next episode and see what lies ahead. Until next time.

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