[Takes place after S2E6 Tell It Slant]
The Contrary Warrior's purpose in doing the opposite of what was expected was to get people out of their comfort zone and force them to examine their beliefs. The time spent with Aaron Two Rivers and the days solving his sister's murder was making Walt think more deeply about his own situation.
He hadn't come to terms with Martha's death because of the circumstances surrounding it and the events in Denver afterward. It had left him stuck in time, unable to move forward. That was all right, for awhile, because he hadn't wanted to move forward. That was beginning to change but why did it make him uneasy? Martha's memory would always be with him; it wasn't as if he could ever forget her. So why not let her go a little, just enough to be really present with Cady and Lizzie.
And Vic. She had become an important part of his life. There was an attraction between them but he wasn't embarrassed or particularly worried by it because he had no intention of acting on it and neither did Vic. Her marriage was a little shaky right now which wasn't unexpected for a couple who uprooted themselves from a familiar life back east to transplant in Wyoming. They had been here less than a year and were still settling in and settling down. He felt a little like her therapist because she told him things he wouldn't have talked about to anyone of the opposite sex and maybe not even to Henry. At the same time it was gratifying that she felt she could confide in him. They were friends. He recalled something he had heard: Friendship is like therapy for poor people. Vic could afford therapy if she needed it but apparently he was an adequate substitute.
What bothered him were comparisons his mind was making between Martha and Vic. Martha was a beautiful, intelligent woman with a good sense of humor. So was Vic. But Martha was a woman of her generation and Vic was from the next one. The words meant different things when he thought of each woman. Martha's beauty had an old-fashioned modest quality; Vic's a modern boldness. Martha's intelligence was more thoughtful than Vic's decisive, confident instincts. Martha's humor was quiet and subtle; Vic was in-your-face with her quick wit and sharp tongue. There were other differences. Martha had been strong enough physically until she got sick but Vic was stronger and tougher. Emotionally, Walt would turn it around. Martha had strength of spirit that allowed her to face a terminal diagnosis with courage and grace. Vic was far from fragile emotionally but she was more brittle and Walt thought she might break under intolerable strain. They were two completely different women so how could he like each one so much?
Two men had recently used the word 'pushy'. The matchmaker Jeremiah Rains said a lot of guys think American women are pushy and overbearing. Omar Rhodes said he liked pushy women. Vic had rolled her eyes at both of them. Walt thought Martha might have done the same so they had that in common. Maybe most women would.
He wasn't the only one with these two women in mind. Questions about both had been directed to him at the debate. First Roseanne said she was pulled over by a foul-mouthed blonde lady who wasn't even from here and why was Walt taking jobs away from Wyoming residents. Walt calmly stated that Deputy Moretti was a resident of Wyoming and his most experienced officer. If Roseanne had come to him he would have looked into any problem with the traffic stop.
Walt had heard about it from the foul-mouthed blonde herself and while he was aware that there were two sides to every story he tended to believe Vic who had told him that an entitled bitch was deeply offended when issued a speeding ticket for twelve miles over the limit. Roseanne was a life-long resident of Durant; she was a pleasant enough woman but entitled described her exactly. She was small-minded and small-town-minded.
Then a Cheyenne man brought up Martha's opposition to the casino. By the time Walt explained Martha's concerns, assured the group of his own impartiality and listened to Branch's smarmy recital of his plans for casino security, he welcomed Aaron's interruption of the proceedings.
No clear answers had emerged yet but Walt felt he had at least got his thoughts in order. Until he realized that he had been so focused on the two women nothing would happen with – his dead wife and his deputy – that he had given no thought to the two he should be concerned about: his daughter Cady and Lizzie, the woman he was sort of seeing. He was left feeling at a slant all over again and he wasn't up to more soul-searching right now.
The Two Rivers brother and sister puzzled him. Cassandra's 'psychic visions' were the result of an ability to read people and do research. So why had level-headed Martha consulted her? Maybe the cancer that was consuming her had already eroded common sense. People facing a death sentence can be desperate for answers before they pass. Martha had wanted to know if the cancer would kill her and what would happen to her husband. The tape of Martha's session could be played anytime but Walt was glad that Cady had stopped it as they listened.
Branch considered Aaron a head case, Vic said he sounded annoying, and he had grated on Henry's last nerve years ago. Aaron was a fraud like the sister he had killed. Aaron's belief that the thunder spirit resided in him was most likely alcohol combined with paranoid schizophrenia. Aaron himself said his thunder dreams were a calling and a curse. So why did Walt still believe Aaron might be a vessel for some force that couldn't be controlled or understood?
Before Walt took him to jail Aaron had insisted on speaking to Gretchen and Calvin Cowley about their missing daughter Emma. Aaron said his sister told him she was outside Burlington in Vermont in a blue house. Walt hadn't been sure why Aaron wanted to speak to the parents. Had Cassandra said something to him or was he trying to give comfort with the continuing hope that their daughter was still alive?
Four months later Emma Cowley was found chained in the soundproofed basement bedroom of a blue house outside Burlington, Vermont. More than two years earlier she had been kidnapped by a man to care for his mother who had advanced dementia. The chain was long enough for her to reach a small bathroom in the corner. She was physically unhurt and had not been sexually assaulted. Emma knew that she would be killed after the old woman died so she had taken very good care of her. Time was running out when she was rescued; the old woman died two weeks later.
Aaron had been committed to a psychiatric ward for treatment. Walt questioned him but, consumed by grief and guilt, Aaron was uncommunicative. His own voice along with the ones in his head had finally been silenced.