Note: Major spoilers for the second episode of the 11.22.63 mini-series, you have been warned.
The episode starts with young Harry Dunning running through the woods, away from some kids chasing him. They catch up to him, spit in his face, take his pants and throw them in the river, and then leave him by himself on the bank of the river. This really sets up how this kid was bullied, not only by his dad as we know that he is going to kill his brother, sister, and mother on Halloween night, but he was also being bullied by the kids at school as well.
We then cut to Jake, who is at a diner when Harry walks in and has a brief conversation with the diner owner. The owner tells him he needs to stick up for himself, and gives him an extra pair of shorts, since the boys took his pants and threw them in the river. Jake then asks if there is a place he can stay in town. The diner owner tells him that he can try Edna and Arliss Price, because they rent out a room sometimes. After settling in to the Price house, he goes to the bar in town to see if he can track down Frank Dunning, Harry's father.
He walks in and talks to the man behind the bar, a man named Bill, and asks if he knows Frank Dunning. They guys looks at him funny and asks why he wants to know. Jake explains that a friend told him to look Frank up if he was ever in town. I guess he didn't learn his lesson about being too obvious from the previous episode. Anyway, Frank shows up and Bill tells him that this man was looking for him, so Frank and two of his friends sit down at Jake's table to talk to him. Frank is right out of the gate overbearing, intimidating, arrogant, and you can just tell that this guy is all bad news. They drink and talk for a while before Frank tells Jake to come with them, they want to go have a little fun.
In the car, Frank asks Jake how he knows him, because he never heard of Jake before. Seeing a tattoo on Frank's arm, Jake says that a guy he met in Lexington said he knew him from his time in the service. Frank asks Jake who it was, but he just gives a vague description, trying to throw him off. It's unsuccessful, but Frank doesn't let on. They go to the meat packing plant in town, and all go inside. Frank takes Jake to the kill floor, where they slaughter the cows. He brings one out and puts it in the gate, with only its head sticking out. Frank then tells him that his dad used to just have to swing the mallet one time, and the cow would be dead. He then hands the mallet to Jake and tells him to give it a shot. Jake hesitates, and then finally drops the mallet and walks away. Frank and his boys all laugh and they leave, guessing that their message has been sent.
The next day, Jake goes to the Dunning house and tells Doris that she has won tickets to a festival in Lexington, and that she should go away for the weekend. Jake goes back to the Price house thinking he has changed the past and everything is going to be okay. Jake is eating dinner with Arliss and Edna when Arliss tells him a story about how he killed a boy during the war, and the boy didn't even resist him. He just held him under the water and let the kid drown. He says that there is nothing heroic about killing a man.
After this story, Frank shows up and tells Jake to take a ride with him. They go to Frank's butcher store that he owns, and he brings out Doris, who has a black eye. Frank says that he thinks Jake is trying to sleep with his wife. Jake says that was what he was doing, but that Doris had no idea. Frank hits Jake a few times and throws him out in the street, along with Doris. Jake tries to apologize to Doris, but she just walks away from him. Jake then goes and buys a gun before heading home, as he has decided there is only one way to deal with Frank.
Jake goes to the Dunning house right before 8 o'clock, which was when Frank is supposed to kill everyone except Harry. While he is waiting outside, Bill shows up and holds a knife to Jake's throat, asking what he is doing there. Jake tells him that he is from the future, and that he is going to stop Frank from killing the Dunning family. Bill thinks Jake is crazy, but tells Jake that Frank killed his sister 12 years earlier, so if Jake is going to kill Frank, he won't stop him.
The events from Harry's story start to play out, and so Jake runs into the house, with his gun drawn. He finds Frank and Doris upstairs, and he tells Frank to stop. Frank comes at him, so Jake shoots him, but it's not a clean shot and Frank keeps coming. The fight back and forth, and Jake tells Doris to run. Young Harry comes in and grabs the mallet that Frank brought with him and takes it downstairs. As Frank goes to get the mallet back, Jake takes a rope and wraps it around Frank's throat, holding it there until Frank dies. Jake walks downstairs to make sure everyone is okay, and then he leaves the house.
Back at the Price house, Edna is waiting, and says she should call the cops. Jake says that no matter what it looks like, what he does was not a bad thing. She says that God will decide that, and then lets Jake leave without calling the cops. Jake drives off, but he stops along the road to wash his hands and face off at a water fountain. As he is standing there, saying to himself that he did it, Bill shows up and holds up the newspaper clipping that Jake had, saying that JFK has been shot. He holds out a gun and says, "Get in the car."
Of all the potential that I thought this show had after watching the first episode, it exceeded all of my expectations in this episode. The episode just flew by, and there were so many good scenes, the best of which were when Arliss told his story about killing the German kid, and the meat packing plant scene. The episode also left the cliffhanger with Bill finding out that Jake may not be crazy after all, and so now I am going to have a hard time waiting until next week for the next episode. If the remaining 6 episodes of this mini-series can keep the pace that this episode had, then I think this whole thing will end up being better than I was even hoping for after the first episode.
My rating for the episode is 9/10
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