'Jamestown' Recap: Season 3, Episode 4

Previously on Jamestown: Pedro and Maria attempt to run away from the colony, but their efforts are thwarted thanks to (who else?) Yeardley, despite the fact that the rest of the town conspires to help them get out. Silas tries to do us all a favor by killing the Governor with a Pamunkey bear trap but his goal is thwarted by Pedro, of all people. He saves Yeardley’s life even though he despises him, because we aren’t allowed to have nice things, I guess. If you want more details, our full recap of Episode 3 is right this way.

If last week’s episode of Jamestown was the series’ dullest hour to date, this one is perhaps the most bizarre, spending most of its time on a truly weird hunt for a palomino horse that appears out of nowwhere in the woods. (No, I am not making this up.) The mysterious (and admittedly, very pretty,) horse manages to fascinate most of the town with its flowing mane and golden sheen. Yeardley, of course, wants the animal so that he might ride around like Caesar on a magnificent stead. Jocelyn wants it merely to keep it away from Yeardley. Meredith just wants to know whether it is real, or merely a drunken hallucination. And James Reed seeks the creature so that he can feel like a man again or something, in the wake of his affair with Joss. (This makes little sense, obviously, but let’s go with it, I guess.)

The idea that the entire settlement would somehow become obsessed with this horse is not the compelling story that Jamestown appears to think it is, and the adventure eats up most of the episode with scenes that feel truly ridiculous and drag endlessly. These include James Reed teaching Pedro how to literally horse whisper, Silas immediately being able to ride said horse once he finds it despite the fact that there’s little evidence it’s been broken, and Henry orchestrating an elaborate plot to trade the animal to Redwick in exchange for Silas’ safe return to the colony.