I thought it was clear from the repetitive narrative dialog that 'the farther you get out of town, the more dangerous it gets'. My assumption was that they were waaaaay out of town. That's why he got actually bludgeoned.
For me this ep really brought it back. Redeemed itself for the last 2 slogging entries. It gave me the miserable, uncomfortable feeling that something is going on beneath the surface and whatever it is, most likely cannot be dealt with in mortal terms. A lot of 'playing God' themes in this. I don't hate it.