Fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene as well as witness accounts all clearly indicate local sports coach Terrence Maitland as the killer, so detective Ralph Anderson orders a public arrest.

Detective Jack Hoskins, who holds a grudge against Anderson, is sent to investigate an abandoned ranch outside of town, where clothes that the murderer wore are found.

Holly shows them a few minutes of a Mexican luchadora film which depicts a mysterious presence kidnapping and murdering a child, leaving evidence that points directly to one man, who expresses his innocence but is found guilty and subsequently hanged.

Holly states how she believes El Cuco, which she refers to as an "outsider", is responsible for the murders—it is able to mimic a person's appearance by absorbing their blood.

Instead, Holly insults the Outsider and hits it repeatedly over the head with a sock full of ball bearings when it lunges at her.

Holly and Sablo go to the Bolton residence to get their stories straight with them, while Ralph waits with the bodies of Howie and Pelley.

[7] On December 3, 2018, it was ordered to series by HBO, starring Ben Mendelsohn as Ralph Anderson,[8] along with Jason Bateman, Paddy Considine, Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, and Mare Winningham.

Julianne Nicholson, Yul Vázquez, Jeremy Bobb, and Marc Menchaca are to appear as regulars, with Hettienne Park and Michael Esper set to recur.