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BUSSIN'

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BUSSIN' is the first episode of the third season and 19th episode overall of Reservation Dogs.

Synopsis[]

Teenie brings the Rez Dogs home.

Plot[]

Spirit rides his horse onto the screen and welcomes all the young warriors out there to the spirit world. He's here to recount a story. He tries to get his horse to ride off, but the horse refuses to move.

Spirit reminds everyone where we left the res dogs, moneyless and stranded in California, with Bear deciding not to go home.

Bear psychs himself up, then knocks on the door. Elora asks if he's sure he didn't just dial the wrong number, but Bear called the number he had for Punkin. Willie Jack wants to go find White Jesus if Punkin doesn't answer the door. Bear knocks again and a woman calls out for him to hold on. A woman opens the door holding a young child. Bear says he's looking for Punkin, but the woman hasn't seen him in a week. He took off on tour with his co-called manager and hasn't called once. When the woman asks why, Bear lies and says Punkin told him he could come by and record a song.

Spirit says there will be more to that story later, but like any good indigenous storyteller, he'll drop viewers in the middle of the action.

Teenie tries not to gag as she rides in the back of an Uber. She tells the driver she tends to get car sick in the back seat of cars. The driver tells her not to puke in his car because he has a date later. Teenie tells him to stop riding the brake. He says in LA, if you don't ride your brakes, you might die. When he phone rings, Teenie asks him to turn down the music. It's Rita, asking if she has the kids yet. Teenie says no and Rita tells her to tell Bear he's grounded for a year. While he's in her house, he has to follow her rules. Teenie ends the call because she's feeling sick.

White Jesus tells the rez dogs they will always have a home in his manger. As they're talking, Teenie's car pulls up. She jumps out and vomits into the bushes. White Jesus points at her and says that's why they don't do drugs. Teenie says she's not on drugs. It was the driving that made her sick. She asks who White Jesus is and the kids explain who he is. Then she asks the kids if they're okay and what they're doing in LA. Elora say they came to say goodbye to Daniel. It was his dream to go there. She's upset that they left without telling anyone, but Cheese says he told his grandma. He's excited to go home because he's never flown before. The others are also excited until Teenie tells them they're not flying. It's too expensive. They're taking the bus. White Jesus says that's the best way to travel. Teenie confused about him being there and he says he's guiding the young ones. They say goodbye to White Jesus and Teenie gives him some money and thanks him for watching out for the kids.

Spirit continues the story as the rez dogs make their way home.

Teenie and the kids ride home. Willie Jack sees what Cheese is drawing and says she wants it. She didn't know he could draw and he tells her he's been practicing after his grandma goes to bed. He asks her if she ever thinks about Bear and Elora leaving. He thinks about all of them leaving because he's the youngest and his grandma won't be around forever. Willie Jack says she's not going anywhere. LA was cool, but it made her appreciate home more. He asks if she thinks Elora and Bear will leave and she says they probably will, but she won't leave him.

The bus stops in Amarillo. Teenie leads the kids off so they can transfer. They have an hour to wait, so they go inside the bus station. Willie Jack and Cheese go to get snacks. While they're gone, a man with a bag of donuts offers some to Bear and Elora, who turn him down. Once he's gone, Bear admits that he nearly took one. Elora checks in with Bear, who says he's just tired. She knows he's sad and asks if it's because of his dad. He says yes, but he just had to go try to see him, but now he doesn't know what to do next. Daniel's still not with them. Elora says they're meant to live how Daniel would have wanted to live.

Teenie talks to her boss on the phone, pretending to be ill.

Willie and Jack bring snacks back to Elora and Bear and Bear gets up to go to the bathroom. Elora notices that Cheese is eating a donut and he defends himself by saying it was free.

In the bathroom, Bear sees a text from Jackie, who tells him his mom is mad. As he texts her back, he gets a warning that his battery is at 10%.

Elora, Willie Jack, and Cheese hear that their bus is leaving in 15 minutes, so Elora goes to find Teenie. Once she's gone, Cheese pulls another donut out of his pocket for Willie Jack.

Elora finds Teenie, who thinks she's going to get fired. Elora says she's sorry, but Teenie's okay with it. She was feeling it was time to move on anyway. It's the longest she's ever had a job, nearly eight years. Elora asks her what her job was. She says she worked at a company out of Phoenix that printed health brochures. It's not a bad job and she likes her life in Phoenix, but she misses home.

Bear leaves the stall and washes his hands. Then he sees Spirit in another stall and Spirit tells him he shouldn't get on his bus. Bear thinks something bad is going to happen, but Spirit just says he shouldn't get on the bus. His path leads elsewhere. Bear doesn't understand that. He's done everything that Spirit asked. He thinks he's done enough. He hears a toilet flushing and stops talking as donut dude comes out of the stall. Bear pretends to be practicing for a play. Once he's gone, Bear blames Spirit for making him look crazy.

Teenie tells Elora a secret, that adults are messed up, even more than the kids. Elora doesn't believe that, but Teenie asks her to think back to when she was 11. Elora says she was running around then with Bear and Daniel, getting into trouble. Teenie asks her how she felt. Elora says she felt the same as it does now. Teenie says that's the point. She feels the same as an adult as she did when she was Elora's age. There's no miraculous change. You're the same as you've always been, except that you're an adult and have baggage. That's what changes people. You have to deal with your stuff or you just keep carrying it. Some kids have more baggage than others, people like Daniel and Elora's mom. They'll never know what they're carrying. Willie Jack interrupts to tell them the bus is about to leave. They get up to get on the bus.

In line for the bus, Teenie asks where Bear and Cheese are. They look ahead in the line and see Cheese standing next to someone who looks like Bear from behind. They board the bus.

Spirit knows that that guy didn't even look like Bear. There are two lessons to learn. The first is to travel using the buddy system and the second one he forgot.

Bear exits the bus station and sees that he's been left behind. He checks his phone and sees that it's dead.

The bus worker relays everything Bear has told her about why he missed the bus. Donut dude backs up Bear's story, but the bus worker won't have them turn around to come back for him. He'll have to buy a ticket for the next bus, which doesn't leave until tomorrow. Bear says he doesn't have any money, so she calls for the next customer.

Outside, Spirit tries to talk to Bear, but Bear is mad at Spirit for making him miss his bus. Spirit continues talking to him anyway. He tells Bear that their time together isn't over. Him visiting his dad's place was a big step for him. The path to healing for a man is often found in helping others. He has a chance to go on a journey. Bear says he doesn't have anywhere to go. Spirit says that's perfect and directs Bear to walk a certain direction.

The bus crosses the border into Oklahoma. Cheese is drawing a flip book. Olf leans across the aisle to offer him some cookies, which he takes. Cheese checks if they're laced with anything and Olf says they aren't. Olf asks if Cheese is Native and Cheese nods, which Olf celebrates. He says he's Comanche and Ponca. He asks Cheese about Teenie, Elora, and Willie Jack, whom Cheese says are more like family. He's drawing them plus his grandma. Olf tells Cheese about getting held at gunpoint and then getting arrested for a past crime. Cheese doesn't understand the connection, but Olf says everything is connected.

Elora offers to let Teenie stay at her house if she wants. She has plenty of room. Teenie says she might have to go right back, but she'll see. She tells Elora she looks just like her mom, which Elora knows, but sometimes her facial gestures remind Teenie of Elora's dad. Elora thought her dad was the one driving the bike the night her mom died, but Teenie says no. Teenie wonders why Elora never asked about her dad. She says she did, but Mabel would never tell her anything, said she wouldn't speak about the dead. Teenie says she's friends with Elora's dad on Facebook and he's not dead. He's around if Elora wants to meet him. She could reach out if she wanted. Elora asks what he's like and Teenie says he's white. Elora always knew she wasn't fully Native, but had no idea her dad was white. Teenie says he was always good to her.

Bear walks along the road. He watches a tumbleweed get blown past him.

Bear's back at his dad's place. After the woman closes the door, he turns away, but then turns back to the door and knocks again. When the woman opens the door, he asks for a piece of paper to write a note so he can give her something to give to Punkin as he pulls the beadwork he had made out of his shirt. He thanks her and then hands it over.

Inside, the woman looks at Bear's note, which says that for once, he's deciding when to disappear instead of Punkin.

The bus pulls into the station in Tulsa. Leon, Grandma Irene, and Rita Smallhill are waiting for them, along with Mose and Mekko. Willie Jack hugs Leon, who tells her she's grounded as Cheese hugs Grandma Irene. Teenie also hugs Rita and they look back at the bus and realize Bear didn't get off.

Bear looks around, then chooses a direction and keeps walking.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Notes and Trivia[]

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]


See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

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