As this episode opens Sheriff Truman is having difficulty coming to terms with Josie's death as he declines breakfast in favour of a bottle of bourbon. With the Sheriff unable to work Cooper has taken over the running of the department; while awaiting Windom Earle's next move in their macabre game of death he deals with the paperwork involved with Josie's strange death. Windom meanwhile is furious when he sees Cooper's move; immediately realising that Cooper has got somebody else to help him play a stalemate game. Donning a disguise he goes and visits Donna claiming to be an old friend of her fathers; when he learns of this he has quite a surprise as he saw the friend drown many years before. When he opens the gift Windom left he realises who he is dealing with; it is a chess piece with the next move attached. Away from Earle's chess game Major Briggs and the 'Log Lady' pay Cooper a visit to talk about what happened in the woods and the strange makes each of them acquired there and Ben Horne's attempts to thwart Catherine Martell's Ghostwood project get underway with a 'Save the Pine Weasel' event at the Great Northern.
Too many shows kill off characters who are then forgotten by the next episode so it was good to see Sheriff Truman genuinely affected by the death of his lover Josie even after Cooper told him of all the crimes she had been involved in. The chess game is getting more exciting even though Earle hasn't killed anybody else his reaction to Cooper getting help suggests he is planning something. While this isn't a comedy series it does have the occasional laugh out loud moment and in this episode the laughs are provided by a delightful Pine Weasel that bites the pretentious Dick Tremayne on the nose during Ben Horne's big event! The best performance this episode came from Michael Ontkean who was excellent as the distraught sheriff, the episode is also notable for the first to feature actress Heather Graham, in an early role as Norma's younger sister, and ex-nun, Annie.
Too many shows kill off characters who are then forgotten by the next episode so it was good to see Sheriff Truman genuinely affected by the death of his lover Josie even after Cooper told him of all the crimes she had been involved in. The chess game is getting more exciting even though Earle hasn't killed anybody else his reaction to Cooper getting help suggests he is planning something. While this isn't a comedy series it does have the occasional laugh out loud moment and in this episode the laughs are provided by a delightful Pine Weasel that bites the pretentious Dick Tremayne on the nose during Ben Horne's big event! The best performance this episode came from Michael Ontkean who was excellent as the distraught sheriff, the episode is also notable for the first to feature actress Heather Graham, in an early role as Norma's younger sister, and ex-nun, Annie.