Today was an important episode. The most important thing about it was that I discovered Becky is not Becky. Somehow, I’ve been hearing her name incorrectly since episode one. It’s Maggie. That is a major snafu on my part, and for it, I apologize. Other than that revelation, today we find out that Beau’s ranch is about to go under and everyone is trying to find a way to cut back on costs. MAGGIE makes an offer to help Beau, and Colt tries to exercise some humility.

Here are some thoughts.

1. Playing HORSE with a gun is a new thing for me

The episode begins with Colt and Rooster playing a game of HORSE, only with a gun instead of a basketball. I gotta say, that’s something I truly have never encountered or had even considered before I saw this episode. Maybe it’s a more common thing in the South. Or, actually, maybe Montana? It kinda feels like they’re in Montana, except for the accents. Hard to tell.

Nope, just looked it up. They’re in Colorado.

2. Colt destroyed the TV

Colt immediately shows the danger of playing with guns by shooting off a pipe and having the bullet ricochet and hit the TV inside. There goes watching the play offs, I guess. That’s a thing right? I don’t watch football.

3. “What in the fuck is almond milk?”

Beau, trying to demonstrate how money is being wasted, pulls a carton out of the fridge and asks, “What in the fuck is almond milk? Show me the teat on an almond.” It was a perfect moment of culture clash and Beau outrage.

4. There’s a subtle anti-government sentiment

Apparently, the property taxes on Beau’s ranch have doubled since last year, which he blames Obama for. Not sure how that scans, but okay. “They’re using out tax dollars to go to space!” is Beau’s reductive and un-nuanced retort to the very idea of property taxes. Well, okay, yes that’s true. But space exploration is incredibly important to the furtherance of humanity. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Beau to be sympathetic to that point of view, however.

5. Beau gets a – dun, dun, dun! – loan

When the boys come to the realization that they might need to get a bank loan, the response is one of sober horror from all involved. It’s not played for laughs. It’s played as a genuinely terrifying thing that they will have to endure. I guess that makes sense in terms of somebody as staunchly libertarian as Beau, but come on, these guys need to grow up and bite the bullet here.

6. That banker is hilarious

The actor playing the foppish banker is a welcome bit of a color on a show that doesn’t see much deviation from standard tropes about ranchers and people in the South (or the midwest, I guess). From his quick temper that he uses numbers to control; to his little power walks around the desk, this man is the epitome of liberal caricature by a conservative writer. I’m willing to laugh along with it, but it’s couched in the understanding that it’s a little bit unkind.

7. Colt remains an asshole

When he discovers that the banker was a ref that made a call against him during a play-off game, Colt decides to call the banker an asshole and berate him for “making a mistake.” To the banker’s credit, he doesn’t let it affect his decision. But it seems like every episode, it would appear Colt has made progress. And then the next episode, he doesn’t something mean or stupid or selfish to negate all the progress he’s made, only to “learn his lesson” by the end of the episode. The formula is wearing a little thin.

8. “You need to start acting like men.”

Beau gives his son sort of good advice, which basically boils down to “you need to start taking responsibility.” That’s a fine thing to tell your boys. But not if you’re totally unwilling to accept help from others. Ahem.

9. Maggie offers to help

Maggie offers to put up the bar as collateral, and of course Beau refuses because he’s the proudest dude around. When he tells the boys that he turned her down, their response is understandably to be upset about it. They tell him that if he’s going to ride them about how they need to be better and change as people, he needs to take his own advice.

10. This episode is about Beau changing

Which by the end of the episode, he actually does. He goes back to Maggie and accepts her help. Finally. Only took an entire episode.