Chomp

Fortunately, the helmet camera that Badger is sitting on absorbs the charge from the lightning bolt, but he is launched through the air and rendered unconscious. He wakes up later with no memory of what happened. In a daze, he believes that he has finally transformed into a vampire and wanders into the woods to sleep until nightfall.

With Jared’s gun pointed to his head, Mickey tries to keep the airboat as steady as possible. They stop for a moment while Jared guzzles a beer and vomits overboard. Suddenly, they hear another airboat, and Jared orders Mickey to head in that direction. Desperate to keep Jared away from Tuna, Mickey uses the heavy rain as an excuse to meander aimlessly away from the other boat. In the low visibility, they hit a submerged log, and the boat flies out of the water.

The narrative shifts to Wahoo’s perspective. With Link unable to pilot the boat, Wahoo takes the rudder and follows Mickey’s trail. When the lightning grows more severe, he steers the boat to an island, where they take cover under a tarp. Wahoo fears for his father’s safety; they are isolated by the weather, and Link’s wound is growing worse. Wahoo knows that once the rain abates, they must get Link to a hospital. Meanwhile, Mickey will have to fend for himself.

Raven Stark ponders the chaos that the Everglades episode has become. Badger is quite possibly dead, the media are at their heels, an armed and angry man has taken a hostage, and her reputation as a TV producer is in tatters. She sits with the police, waiting for the rain to clear so they can begin their search.

Mickey’s airboat has flipped over. Mickey and Jared both survive, although Jared still has the gun. Lugging the beer that Jared stole from Sickler’s store, they trudge through the muck in search of higher ground. Mickey gives Jared the hard truth: that they are stranded and have to wait for help. Jared, drunk and irrational, orders Mickey to lie on his belly, then fires at a heron and misses. Mickey notes that Jared only has three bullets remaining.

When the rain stops, Wahoo and Tuna explore their surroundings. They soon come upon Link’s stolen airboat stranded in the reeds. They call to Badger, but he thinks he’s a vampire and orders them away. While they try to coax him out of a tree, they hear a gunshot. Badger calls for help and falls out of the tree.

Trying to trick Jared into using his last three bullets, Mickey claims he hears a bear nearby. The strategy works. Jared fires three shots into the bushes, but he then reloads with spare ammunition.

Badger is uninjured from his fall, and Wahoo, eager to find his father and get medical attention for Link, urges them all to get moving. When Badger claims that he’s still infected with vampirism, a fed-up Tuna threatens to expose him as a phony, and he agrees to help bail out the boat. As they furiously scoop water out by hand, they hear Jared’s final three shots. In the distance, they can make out the faint voices of Mickey and Jared, so they hide.

When the rain stops, the police marshal their resources—four airboats and two helicopters—and begin to sweep the Everglades for signs of Jared. Meanwhile, rumors fly on the news and social media about Badger’s disappearance. Germaine considers alternatives in the event of Badger’s death, one of which could be a tribute show with “highlight reels.” When he mentions replacing Badger, Raven is aghast and asserts that the star is still alive.

Wahoo, Tuna, Link, and Badger hide from Jared, but Badger complains—loudly—of aches and tremors. Tuna hands him a couple of the pills—the same type that she has given to Mickey. The pills quiet him down, and Tuna secretly confesses that they’re only placebos. She uses them to calm her father. Wahoo checks on Link. The wound is clean, but Wahoo fears that the bullet has punctured a lung. Just then, they hear several airboats, and Link suggests building a campfire to signal the rescue team.

As dusk approaches, Mickey worries about the possibility of being stranded with Jared overnight. As the search teams close in, Jared plans to use Mickey as leverage for his freedom. While Mickey looks for dry tinder to make a fire, he spies Tuna’s footprint and covers it, but Jared soon discovers Tuna’s discarded flip-flop. Mickey decides that now is the time for action. He takes a swing at Jared, but the swing misses its mark.