In Episode 6, HBO's The Outsider answers a huge question about the hooded man
We just learned another key detail about the show's supernatural villain.
Last week, The Outsider revealed new details about the HBO show's supernatural villain as it set its sights on Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn). Tonight, in Episode 6, we learned even more about this monstrous murderer, including the answer to one looming question that could reveal when the hooded man will strike again...
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Outsider Episode 6.
Still here? Glad to see you decided to stick with The Outsider this Sunday and ignore the Oscars. Grab a seat and settle down because it's about to get weird. Holly Gibney is coming to Georgia.
But before that can even happen, The Outsider's monster tries to stop Gibney, provoking her into almost causing an accident on the bus she's riding into the small Georgia town where this story began. Meanwhile, Detective Jack Hoskins seems to have cut some deal with the hooded man (maybe he finally found the right lamp), and the gross rash on the back of his neck has dissipated as a result — for now.
When everyone finally gets together, it doesn't go well. Holly's presentation quickly goes off the rails once she reveals her big discovery is basically: the boogeyman did it. In response, Terry Maitland's widow storms out of the room. Jack is also seeing visions of the words stop her ("her" is obviously Holly), but he's seemingly trying to ignore them.
The evolution of (hooded) man.
Outsider Episode 6 really picks up when Ralph's wife Jeannie invited Holly to stay with them while she's in town. Back home, Jeannie reveals her own research: a series of witness drawings of the hooded man that reveals what Holly describes as his "transformation." Later that night, after finding some sort of residue on the kitchen table, she adds that the monster is "shedding like a snake."
Why does this matter? (Besides being gross and awesome, that is). Well, as Holly concludes, the fact that the hooded man has to physically transform in each of its victims over several weeks answers a big question about The Outsider: Why does it wait almost a month before each murder?
Holly's discovered that there's always 24-28 days between each murder. Now she knows why. The hooded man is too weak while it transforms. During that time, it hides out in a remote location (like that barn by the cemetery) and uses its powers to manipulate those around it.
Speaking of which, Jack's having a really bad time on The Outsider Episode 6. After ignoring the monster's messages to stop Holly, he returns home where a vision of his dead mother beats the crap out of him. She's not really there, but the bruises are real. When Jack meets Holly to show her the barn the next morning, he's covered in bruises. Also, his rash is back.
Gross.
Holly notices the rash too, but it's too late to flee. She's trapped in her car with a large man who's possessed by The Outsider's monster. At this point, her only hope may be that the hooded man is still transforming, and too weak to strike just yet. But based on everything we know so far, that may not be enough to save her.
Got a theory about The Outsider? Send me a message at jake@inverse.com.
The Outsider airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on HBO.
