The ITV drama series Out There is a tense chronicle of the County Lines, a system of narco-trafficking that has inexorably drawn Wales under its heel. The movement of drugs in the rural community is not the only bugbear for the rebellious farmer, Nathan Williams. He can sniff a larger conspiracy brewing between the ever-growing nefarious stakeholders.
Spoilers Ahead
Who is Nathan Williams?
Nathan Williams is a Welsh farmer who has recently lost his wife. Being part of a sparse but close-knit community, Nathan lives with his son in his rustic farmhouse. He owns the Bron Haul farm in Lye Valley. The small farmers in this part of the region are united in their shared misery, living in insurmountable debt. One farmer, Bill Turner, has sold his farm to a corporate storage company. A stranger by the name of Scott Foley shows up unannounced, inquiring about the barn. Unable to pay back the ever-growing debts, Owen Thomas, Nathan’s longtime friend and neighbor, kills himself in front of Nathan’s eyes. Before his death, Owen hinted at his future aspirations with his farm. He hid from Nathan that he had received an offer to sell his farm. When Nathan finds out that Owen had in fact seriously considered selling out, he grows paranoid. He grows anxious of the ways he, a small farmer, would now be victimized by the new corporate landholders. The cleaner at the Thomas household, Eva, seems to be hiding from the police and avoiding interrogation.
We also see Nathan’s son, Johnny, being pulled into narco-trafficking by his schoolmate, Rhys. Rhys asks Johnny to hide a suspicious-looking package for him for a few days. However, Johnny becomes miserable when he finds out that the package has gone missing. He is certain that the package has been carefully stolen from his room by Eva. Rhys becomes livid and demands answers from him. After his anger wears off, he asks Johnny to take a bag to the Raglan Castle Hotel. Johnny follows Rhys’ instructions, even if unwillingly. Nathan’s anxieties are further increased when he sights a mysterious drone flying over his expansive farmlands in Lye Valley multiple times.
What leads does Nathan gather regarding the drone?
In the second episode, Nathan is closer to figuring out the mystery of the drones. He spots a Land Rover that he suspects to be launching the drones. He pulls up in front of a property from which a woman appears. In a heated discussion over the drones, Nathan finds out that the woman, Robin, is the partner of his estranged brother, Caleb. Caleb works for the animal testing lab, Palisades. Johnny, on the other hand, seems to be getting even more densely intertwined in narco-trafficking. The Heddlu police (name for the South Wales police) spare him with a warning but promise to crack down on him should he be seen running errands for Rhys. The next day, Rhys tries to guilt-trip Johnny into accompanying him for a drug deal. Johnny refuses and thereby directly goes against Rhys.
On the other hand, Johnny broaches the topic of the future of the farm with a hospitalized Gwen. With this, he becomes clearer about where he stands with his chances of buying the farm. The conversation between Nathan and Gwen is interrupted by Gethin, Gwen’s nephew. Gethin’s arrival sets the stage for a new course of drama. Going by the terse way he approaches Nathan, it would not be too far-fetched to assume that he might turn out to be a claimant to the Thomas farmland. For Nathan, more sinister events await. Soon he is informed of Johnny breaking into Eva’s house in the dead of the night. Eva empathizes with Johnny. Nathan, on the other hand, drags Johnny to Rhys’ house to settle the score. He asks Rhys to cut ties with Johnny in exchange for the damage done to him. Nathan is ready to reimburse him for the cost of the missing package. Rhys’ sister, Sadie, discloses the secret that has kept Nathan and Johnny leashed—that the package was stolen by none other than Rhys. More damningly, the package never contained any drugs, but a deflated rugby ball.
Heddlu police officer Jane Crowther has to adjust to the constantly shifting tactics of the drug cartels. She has to face the constant jabs from her higher ups on her traditional modus operandi of going after local junkies. The meeting between Nathan and Caleb sheds light on the nature of their relationship. It becomes clear that the brothers had a rupture in their relationship over the ownership of the farmland and Caleb’s eventual association with Palisades, notorious for its unethical practices in animal research. At the Skirrid Inn, Nathan comes across Scott again. After Scott leaves, he surreptitiously enters his room in search of the missing clue that might bind Scott in the entire drama. Nathan does get what he desires. He finds a file inside Scott’s room containing details of Nathan’s Bron Haul farm along with a pen drive. The pen drive has a recording of an unidentifiable person in a red cagoule flying the drone.
Who are Scott and Kenny?
The second episode ends with Johnny and Sadie arriving at Newport to give Kenny the returns from the drug deals. A high-strung man, Kenny seems to be the higher-up of Rhys in this business. He runs the Nail Bar line in Newport. Johnny and Sadie manage to somehow trick Kenny into believing that them missing the mark of collecting the required money is due to Rhys still settling a drug deal with one of his boys. However, this lie does not hold up for too long. Nathan gets to know Scott better. He introduces himself as a third-party estate agent, his interest primarily lying in European farmland. Scott denies having anything to do with the Bill Turner deal. Scott expresses his desire to buy Nathan’s farmland.
Nathan is finally able to clear the mist surrounding the mysterious drone. It had been Scott all along. However, Scott does not reveal the identity of the person in the red cagoule. Nathan’s suspicion inevitably shifts towards his brother, Caleb. Realizing that the two have fooled him, Kenny brings them to the Raglan and arranges for a suite. Inside the suite, he attempts to sexually assault Sadie in the master bedroom by locking Johnny out. Finding a way to break into the room, Johnny stabs Kenny to death. Kenny’s blood floods the floor of the suite. Johnny calls up Nathan and narrates the entire incident. The shock leaves Nathan unresponsive. Noticing Nathan’s perplexed state, Caleb takes the wheel, both literally and figuratively. The two brothers help Johnny and Sadie clean up the bloodied mess. They wrap the body in the shower curtain and load it into the car. Dan, the receptionist, grows suspicious when he does not see Kenny leaving the hotel, but only Sadie and Johnny. Back at the Williams’ farmhouse, he offers Sadie to stay the night or even decide if she wants to spend a few days at the farm till she feels safe.
Kenny’s death due to Johnny stabbing him is a sore spot for Nathan. It is a sore spot because we already see several forces working against him, or at least with ambiguous intentions, definitely not in favor of him. Despite Caleb taking it upon himself to pull his nephew out of the sticky situation, we are not certain of his loyalty to Nathan. In addition to this, there is a man who has witnessed Kenny’s car being incinerated by the three. Jane Crowther gets a call from him in no time.
What happens after Kenny’s death?
The fourth episode has at its center an intense tussle between the operating styles of Jane Crowther and the Newport CID. But before that, word does get out of the sighting of a car being set on fire. The CID raids Michelle’s Nail Bar, which acts surreptitiously as the County Lines’ main drug distribution hub. Despite being written off by the more fast-paced culture of the CID, Jane has found her way to the charred car of Kenny. She is also piecing together the evidence at the quarry and has formed her assumption of a dead body being involved in this crime, it is just a matter of time till she figures out whose it might be. Johnny grows anxious when he realizes that he has dropped his phone-grip at the quarry. When Nathan goes to search for it, he notices Jane is already at the site. It is a burnt piece of the shower curtain that almost gives Nathan and Johnny away.
This episode also sees newer characters with newer motives in this world of narco-trafficking, following the death of Kenny. During the raid at the nail bar, a D.I. police officer dies as a result of being pushed to his death by one adversary from the cartel, Khalad Rogan. Both Nathan and Johnny recall Khalad from the day they spotted him smashing expensive furniture. Khalad is later killed by a white-haired man of tall stature. Scott turns up at William’s house with an offer to buy his farm in exchange for a million bucks. Scott seems to be aware of the informal boundary change that Nathan’s father managed to acquire in return for allowing Owen to find sustenance using his gear. Scott’s knowledge of the history of the Bron Haul farm and how Nathan’s father, like a true Englishman, always looked for ways to expand does not go down well with Nathan. The position of the Asp River cutting through the farmlands of Nathan and Owen turns out to be a bone of contention. The uncertainty regarding Gethin’s motives does get murkier when Nathan spots him with Scott.
Nathan’s bank refuses his multiple pleas for a mortgage to buy Owen’s farmland. Upon learning the skewed positioning of the river, the bank hesitates to grant the loan. Both Crowther and Kenny’s godfather watch the footage from the night of Kenny’s death and single out Johnny and Sadie. The mystery man, Kenny’s godfather, pulls up at the Williams farmland to avenge Kenny’s death.
What deal does Nathan strike with the man?
The mystery man shows up at Williams’ house unannounced. As he holds Johnny at gunpoint with Nathan, Sadie, and Rhys looking on, Eva eavesdrops on the heated exchange from upstairs. The man wants information on Kenny’s body and wants a reprisal, or what he calls, “a life for a life.” Nathan agrees to take the man to the body, but not without a condition. He wants the man to spare Johnny and Sadie. Nathan is aware that the warehouse behind Powys Garden Center houses the man’s treasure, his main supply of drugs. The drugs are illicitly smuggled in, hidden in the garden furniture. Nathan warns the man that the police will sniff out the contents of the warehouse in no time. So, he offers to shift his base to the Bron Haul farm. Eva valiantly shows up with a gun to defend Nathan. She prescribes the way in which Alice’s trade in eggs can serve as the perfect cover for the covert narco-trade to operate. The man, called Turuk, realizes that hiding behind Gwen’s business would endow his trade with continuity. Sadie’s way of slowly integrating with the more sophisticated life of the Williams grates on Rhys. His anger is palpable when Sadie refuses to leave with him and chooses to stay the night with the others. Rhys’ anger perhaps also stems from his understanding that he would never be allowed the safety that has been granted to his sister.
The next morning, Gwen is introduced to Turuk by Nathan. Nathan is told by the Welsh Bank that, according to a new directive, the bank now avoids investing in traditional agriculture. Jane traces the physical address of the number that dropped a lead on the burning of the car and reaches the sole witness. Nathan tells Turuk that he needs financial assistance to buy the farm of Owen. When Turuk turns irritable, Nathan stresses on the mutually codependent nature of their pact. Turuk would not survive a day if Nathan did not build his acceptable image amongst the rural community. Turuk agrees to purchase Gwen’s farm, in the form of a loan, and asks Nathan to watch out for the money in the form of an investment from an offshore fund. Caleb asks Nathan to permit him to work on the farm. Nathan, however, does not seem to be too keen on the idea of letting Caleb have any claims over his farmland. He is ready to loan out some money, but not to let his brother work, which infuriates Caleb further. We realize that Nathan is simply trying to keep Caleb at bay from the nuisance that has sprung up on the farm.
Nathan and Eva join forces with Turuk’s chemist, Hakan, and the other men to build a hatchery from scratch. Hakan details his requirement for ‘Zones.’ Zone 1 is a large space that is fully reserved for offloading incoming goods. Zone 2 would have to be a hidden space connected to Zone 1 to store the narc products, and Zone 3 needs to be a secret room for the product preparation. It is important to note that Nathan is not indulging in the illicit narc trade by jeopardizing the hatchery business and reducing it to merely a cover for the other trade. He ensures that Gwen’s hatchery trade flourishes at par with the drug dealings of Turuk. However, Nathan’s morals have to bear the brunt of this new association with the crime world when he is additionally assigned a little extra task of disposing of Nail Bar manager Michelle’s body. On the other hand, Jane shows up at Nathan’s farm and narrates an entirely accurate estimation of how Kenny disappeared. She is aware that Nathan and Caleb are involved in some capacity.
Nathan arrives at Caleb’s place to inform him about the witness from the mine. Nathan tells him that he plans to draw out the extent of what Jane knows on the pretext of visiting her with a leg of lamb and a nice wine. When Jane leaves for her duties, Nathan shows up at her door exactly as he had planned. Jane’s husband, Malcolm, welcomes him in. The two sit in their kitchen and chat for some time. Assuming that Malcolm can be fooled, Nathan, with the excuse of putting the gifts in the freezer, starts looking around Jane’s office. Malcolm, however, has his eyes set on Nathan.
Does the finale resolve all tensions?
Jane’s husband spots Nathan snooping around Jane’s office. In a few moments, Nathan gets a call from Caleb. With a voice that rings with urgency, Caleb informs Nathan that he has found the witness from the mine. Nathan finally lets go of the knot in his chest when the witness condones the killing. Nathan and Caleb exchange a few heated words when the former asks the latter to steer clear of the situation, now that Crowther is after them. We immediately realize that Scott has been relying on Caleb to keep tabs on Nathan. Caleb informs Scott that Nathan has no intention of selling off his farm. Rather, he is looking for ways to buy Owen’s share of land. Caleb does not feel too good about spying on his brother. He cuts his contact with Scott for good.
By now, Jane, a complete professional, has threaded together pieces and come up with a theory that incriminates Nathan and Johnny. She threatens to let loose cadaver dogs at the mine to find Kenny’s body. Nathan divulges the secret dealing with Turuk to Caleb. The Newport CID, on the other hand, receives the body of Khalad Rogan. In a conversation with Turuk, Nathan tests his willingness to be resourceful for Nathan when the time comes. Nathan suggests that the only way the police might stop making a beeline towards them is when Turuk loses his warehouse. Nathan negotiates with Crowther to enter into a deal with him. Nathan drops a lead on Crowther. He says that he had spotted the killer of the police officer with another man smashing brand-new garden furniture. Crowther observes the movements at the Powys Garden Centre. Rhys, on the other hand, gets battered by some other guys from the local drug cartels.
As was decided, Turuk agrees to give up the warehouse, and the Newport CID busts the place. Turuk is impressed by Nathan’s farsightedness but fears that it might be too soon to trust him. Turuk does not receive Caleb’s involvement well. He directs Nathan to collect a consignment from the docks, which would appear to be hatchery machinery. He needs Nathan and Eva to collect the consignment, while Caleb is directed to go up to the quarry. A car starts tailing Nathan’s truck midway. It is Scott Foley. Eva tries to speak to him, but Nathan stops her. He puts the truck in reverse gear and damages Scott’s car. Caleb ventures into the quarry with two of Turuk’s men to recover Kenny’s body.
Johnny shows up at Rhys’ door, having previously shown his desire to make Sadie a permanent resident of the Williams house. Sadie’s cold demeanor confuses Johnny till Rhys lets out the truth. According to Rhys, it was Sadie’s idea to get the otherwise soft-spoken Johnny to get involved in narco-trafficking. Johnny is shattered to learn the truth. Rhys poses a question that reads like the logline of this micronarrative. To the world, Rhys’ downward spiral into the world of narcotics and crime is an unfortunate but expected statistic of the youth on the fringes, getting wasted on decadence. The outlook changes when Johnny is caught up in the same world of crime. Johnny’s involvement evokes a lot more sympathy and shock. Rhys underlines the unequal value of the lives involved in crime. Johnny decides to leave behind Sadie and move on with his life. However, Rhys’ claim seems to be a manipulation of facts. It can better be understood as a reaction from the day when he had to leave with Turuk while Sadie stayed the night with Nathan and Johnny. Things slowly pedal back to improvement with Caleb and Nathan reconciling and Johnny leaving behind his trauma. Eva too is glad to find a sense of belonging in the group.
With the arrival of Alice, Nathan’s daughter, the close-knit group becomes wary of freely talking about their sinister secret. Nathan assures Johnny that despite life presenting him with the option of being at Ragan’s place, he made the sensible choice of finding his way out of the muck. When Johnny asks how they plan to get rid of the snake they have invited in, Johnny assures that he waits for the time that Turuk will falter. The world, which has been left upside down by the influx of the pesty agents, does not seem to go back to its normal ways anytime soon. The episode ends with the mysterious body of an unidentified man with his arms twisted, lying unclaimed at the crossroads. With that kind of an ending, the possibility of having a new series is a given. Turuk, on the other hand, is a ticking time bomb that can detonate at any time. The circumambient tension that goes unresolved necessitates another metaphorical lap around the Welsh countryside.