Hudson and Rex - Into The Wild - Review

Kendra, who we last saw in season two’s “The Woods Have Eyes” returns in “Into the Wild”, to not only help find Charlie, but to give Sarah more insight into what Kendra and Charlie’s relationship was, and to spill a little Charlie-flavoured tea while she’s at it.

Kendra is great; her sense of humor starts the episode off with a chuckle.
“Is it true this is bear country?” a hiker in her group asks. “Oh, no, no, no. There’s way too many pumas and wolves for them,” Kendra replies. It’s then that Kendra and her group come across a body in a stream. A mummified body.

Back at the SJPD, Jesse thinks the body could be from the 1700s, and the team are practically salivating at the idea of examining a mummy. Or that could just be Rex because Joe made the mistake of mentioning the word ‘bones’ out loud. We don’t say the ‘b’ word around Rex. Sarah examines the mummy and determines it isn’t as old as it appears. The mummification, the clothing, the lack of dental work or tattoos, there’s nothing to link him to modern life. However, one piece of evidence can: the rifle slug located near his kidney. The one item that might help ID the body is an amulet he was wearing around his neck.
Charlie, Rex, and Sarah head out to talk with Kendra. Rex is happy to see Kendra, and while Charlie might say Rex has a crush on Kendra, I think he might be talking about himself a little bit there too. Kendra and Charlie hug and Sarah tries to not be an awkward third wheel. It shows through just enough to bring a hint of a cringe to Charlie’s face. The ex-girlfriend and the future girlfriend are going to end up besties, Charlie. Hope you’re ready for this.
Kendra sniffs the amulet and has Charlie do the same. He notices it has a licorice smell. “Anise,” Sarah specifies. Catnip for dogs.
Kendra suggests the victim might be a survivalist, someone living off the grid in the area.

Jesse knows a little something about survivalists – from TV shows. St John’s has their very own survivor man. A journalist named Edgar Vance who, while out on a different story, came across a group of survivalists. For two decades they’ve been living off the grid. Children have been born in this camp. This could explain why the victim showed no evidence of modern life.
Charlie goes to Edgar’s, and, while there, Rex sniffs out the same kind of amulet as the one found on the body. Edgar claims it was a gift from the group. When Charlie describes the victim, it is obvious Edgar knew him. From the description, Edgar I.D’s the victim as Heath, who had a love of The Count of Monte Cristo, and a desire to leave the camp.

When Sarah reveals the bullet wound wasn’t immediately fatal, but that Heath would have survived a day or two, Charlie decides to go in search of a possible secondary crime scene. It’s a two-hour drive, and then a hike through the wilderness, but Charlie is unperturbed – even if his colleagues aren’t wild on the idea of him heading into the barrens.
Wearing jeans and a thin top, Charlie parks his car and heads out on the hike with Rex. He’s anticipating a day hike, but the jeans still aren’t the smartest idea, and he won’t have much in that small day pack. Charlie looks woefully unprepared for this outing.
At the site where the body was found, Rex sniffs out a small pouch. Inside it is a water damaged page torn from a book. He sends a photo of it to Jesse but Jesse can only do so much with a photo. Because Charlie had to take an alternate route to the crime scene (thanks to downed trees on the road), he won’t be back at the precinct for at least 4 hours. In the meantime, Jesse sends him a photo of Baron. A mugshot. No wonder Baron didn’t want his photos released.
Charlie returns to his car, to find a window smashed in, and the spark plugs missing. His phone is dead and he has no way of charging it. Oh. Charlie. Rex can smell the anise, so whomever has broken into the car is connected to Heath’s death. So back into the wild Charlie and Rex go. But not before leaving a note on the windshield.
Night falls and Charlie makes a fire with a battery and foil gum wrapper. A trick, we soon learn, that was taught to him by the resourceful Kendra.
Sarah, meanwhile, is concerned. She goes to Joe’s office, but no one has heard from Charlie. At Sarah’s suggestion, Joe contacts Kendra, and Sarah heads out to meet up with her.

In the morning, Charlie and Rex are on the hunt for water. Rex leads Charlie to a pond. Charlie rushes to the water’s edge, but on the way down stumbles on a loose stone that shifts beneath his foot. As he falls he hits his head on a large rock and is knocked out.
Charlie wakes up in the survivalist camp. He wakes up quite suddenly thanks to Rex pulling the pillow out from beneath his head. Oof. Poor guy already has one head wound, Rex. Go easy. But he does have Rex to thank for the medical attention he received. It was Rex who led the survivalists to Charlie.
Charlie meets two of the residents: Shale, and Casey the camp doctor. One thing is missing from Charlie’s pack. His gun. Shale tells him it wasn’t there when they found him. It’s hard to know what to trust.
Charlie spots the amulet around Shale’s neck. He shows Shale the one found on the victim. Shale recognizes it and takes Charlie to Heath’s mother, Skye. During this conversation, Baron walks past. The man is distrustful of Charlie’s presence, and makes it known in his body language. Baron was there when Charlie was found, and it isn’t a giant leap to suspect Baron has his gun. It also helps that Charlie recognizes him as Mateo Baron, who violated his parole after doing time for manslaughter. Baron may seem reformed, but he did lie about not having Charlie’s gun.

Joe and Jesse are still trying to work out the significance of the page that was torn from the book. Jesse is overthinking it, trying to read into the passages, and getting nowhere.

While searching for signs of Charlie, Sarah asks Kendra how she and Charlie met. Kendra tells her they were high school friends who reconnected after his divorce. It’s basically the same story Charlie told Sarah in Kendra’s first episode, except here Kendra admits they became more than friends. And then she spills the Charlie tea. Kendra tells Sarah that Charlie was always a bit closed off to her. A lone wolf.
And no one is shocked by this revelation. It’s the reason the possibility of a Sarah/Charlie relationship is some way off yet. He still has a lot of work to do there.

At the camp, Rex sniffs out a rifle buried in the sand. With it is a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo with one page torn out. Charlie quietly leaves the camp, and it isn’t long before Baron starts asking around, agitated, because he hasn’t seen the cop for a while.

What would these men do with the woman in their lives? After overthinking the passages from the novel, Jesse gets the answer from Sarah. Read between the lines. The fresh perspective proves invaluable, and the answer is found. By enlarging the page, Jesse can make out the imprint left from a pen. A name is legible: Kent Coolidge. Also known as: Casey. The camp doc isn’t all he appears to be. He’s actually a felon on the run for killing his own father, and now he has his rifle aimed at Charlie.
Speaking of Charlie, he’s still hiking, making his way out of the forest. He’s walking over mossy ground and old trees in a way that makes my ankles want to roll just watching him. Did he learn nothing from the rock incident earlier?
It isn’t the terrain that sends Charlie to the ground this time, but a shot from Casey’s rifle.
Kendra and Sarah also hear it. They pick up speed and head towards the sound.
Having sent Rex away, Charlie soon comes face-to-face with Casey. Charlie tells him he noticed the rifle under the sand had a bolt on the left side. The only left-handed person in camp is Casey.
So why did he kill Heath? Because he overshared with Heath about killing his father. To clean up his mess he shot Heath in the back. Before he can shoot Charlie too, Rex returns. He jumps from the rocks behind Charlie, right onto Casey. As Casey goes down the gun goes off, and this gives Kendra and Sarah what they need to finally find Charlie. They arrive as Charlie punches Casey.
Sarah and Charlie have a cute little moment. It’s small, but it’s another tiny, subtle piece of evidence that Charlie is becoming less closed off with those he cares about. Kendra and Charlie’s moment may have passed, but he has something sweet with Sarah.

As is common in a show this uplifting and heartwarming, Charlie goes back to the camp one more time to say goodbye to Heath. Skye thanks Charlie for the return of Heath’s body and presents both him and Rex with one of Heath’s pendants.
As for Baron, well, without a lot of pressure to pursue his case, Baron is free to continue living at the camp. It’s a nice moment for the man who is clearly remorseful for past crimes, did his time, and who is now just trying to start again.

Hudson and Rex airs Tuesdays on CityTV.