Someone has posted lots and lots of posters with Gladys’s
face on them and the words “save them” underneath – Laurie and other members of
the Guilty Remnant aren’t happy about this and rip the posters down. While she’s
doing so, she sees Jill passing and they have an angst moment before Aimee
pulls Jill away.
Jill and friends go to the woods to play a fascinating
game of “who can stay locked in a fridge the longest”. Because these are the
most bored teenagers in the world. Jill wins, of course, and the handle breaks
so they can’t get her out. She starts suffocating when an old man – her grandfather
(who was in a mental institution) lets her out. He tells her not to tell Kevin
she saw him then leaves.
Over to Nora and Kevin who are both awkward in their
flirting and surprisingly cute. But when they go to Nora’s the GR are there
smoking at them – Kevin argues, Nora is more pro-active and gets the hose. Nora
invites Kevin in and amusingly mocks the GR and their tactics of stealing
photos, though she realises it may be a faux pas given Laurie’s membership.
Unfortunately, the GR have broken the mood and the awkward causes them to
raincheck
Kevin goes home to Jill and Aimee (has Aimee moved in?)
and Jill asks about her grandfather – asking specifically if he hurt anyone.
Kevin says yes – and Jill tells her dad that her grandfather is out of the
mental hospital.
Kevin calls the police together where we learn his dad
(the ex-police chief) burned down the library before checking himself into the
mental hospital. He sets the police looking for him while he goes and visits
Mayor Lucy. They’re both worried about someone getting hurt – but when he
suggests searching her house she succinctly replies “fuck you, Kevin I haven’t
spoken to your father in a month.” Apparently his mental illness grew too much
for her to deal with. She also believes he’s going to see Kevin not her.
Which leads to Kevin going home and making sure there’s a
gun by his chair as he listens to the police radio. He falls asleep and has odd
dreams about dogs, Dean, dead GR, guns and his son. He wakes up, in bed, with
his hand bandaged and a dog tied up outside. His hand has been bitten. When
Jill and Aimee wake up (does she live with them?) Aimee says that Kevin brought
the dog home and apparently she helped him doctor his hand.
He goes out when he gets a call from Dennis, one of his
officers. Dennis approached Kevin’s father (they always got on before) and the
old man brutally beat Dennis. He then ripped the library apart. Interviewing a
man there, Kevin learns that his dad used a computer, broke it and tried to
borrow $200 to get something for his son.
While Kevin’s at the library his dad goes to his house –
and Jill finds him wrestling over his shirt with the new angry dog. She takes
him in and gets him something to eat, talk about his voices (who call her Snow White)
and he asks to borrow $200 and when she says no, he asks for tranquilisers. Which
they do have – because Kevin takes a lot of pills. He wants to drug the dog
then starts arguing with the voices in his head. Which is when Kevin comes home
– Jill called him before she let her granddad in and he praises her for it.
Kevin throws his dad a pair of handcuffs and he puts them
on himself. Kevin drives him back to the hospital, on the way he asks after
Dennis (who he beat up), calling him a “nice guy,” and offering an apology. He’s
also concerned about Kevin’s pills which seems incongruous from a man who
rather randomly beat someone to the point of needing hospitalisation. His dad
talks a bit randomly before he escapes when Kevin has to stop because of a GR
road block (they’re all carrying “save them” pictures of Gladys but have added “don’t”
over the top).
Kevin runs through the crowd, pushing past the GR and he
knocks Patti over. His dad escapes.
Back to Jill using the twins credit card, the twins and
Aimee – there’s a party which Aimee isn’t going to - which Jill says means she’s
going to hang around at her house with Kevin – I’m taking that to mean Aimee
does live with them – but Aimee reveals whenever Jill goes out so does Kevin –
so it’s clearly not the first time.
Which is why she’s alone when Kevin comes home and she
challenges him on his memory lapse of getting the dog and her bandaging his
hand. Kevin dodges the question and instead says how they like having Aimee
there (I think this is less creepy and more a “stop asking questions you’re a
guest”). Kevin flushes away all of his pills and feeds the dog some random meat
from the fridge. The dog continues to bark and lunge menacingly at him. While
doing so, in the garden he finds the money and poster accusing the vanished
judge that Rev. Matt left there.
Kevin goes to see Matt but he’s not there but, as is his
habit, he barges his way in yelling for Matt anyway. Does Kevin not understand
the concept of “not in?” He makes one of the people in his home office/church
call Matt so he’ll answer his phone then has a temper tantrum to Matt about his
dad, he seems to think Rev. Matt is hiding him. Kevin’s right but Matt says they
need to get something before Kevin can see his father. Um… Matt, no? This is
not how the system works – you don’t wait for a man who just brutally assaulted
someone to complete a treasure hunt before calling the police. Matt sets up a
meeting instead. Kevin, in his classic calm response, shatters the church
member’s phone.
Kevin attends the meeting and his dad promises not to run
and asks for the handcuffs to be taken off. Kevin does – because there’s police
watching the diner. His dad gives Kevin a copy of National Geographic from May
1972 which “they” (assuming he means the voices) insist he show Kevin. He
demands Kevin take it and argues with the voices in his head. He tells Kevin
that he isn’t “crazy” and that the voices are telling the truth. It has to be
said that he’s not exactly convincing. He demands Kevin accepts because he has
a purpose and lots more vagueness – but Kevin is angry (of course he is, Kevin
is ALWAYS angry), angry that his dad fell into mental illness when Kevin needed
him and now wants Kevin to join him. Kevin refuses to abandon his
responsibilities and his family – and his dad punches him. He then tears up the
National Geographic and calls Kevin a coward than starts loudly ranting about
Kevin going to sleep. It’s dramatic enough to require choir music to drown out
the ranting as Kevin restrains his father. He’s taken back to the mental
hospital and he hugs Kevin before he goes in but also whispers that he’s not
going to let Kevin off that easy
Rev. Matt tries to justify himself by quoting Bible
verses – and even judge Kevin – but Kevin tells Matt “fuck you.” For once I
agree with Kevin. Kevin goes to Nora’s (still with the GR stalkers). The GR
doesn’t spoil the mood this time and they have sex.
Meg, one of the GR following Nora, goes to the GR
headquarters and tells Laurie that Kevin is having sex with Nora. Laurie
responds with a large written “so?”
The next morning Kevin confesses to Nora he thinks he’s “going
crazy” she makes a joke that he’s come to the right place. Kevin goes home all
bright and happy – and finds the same copy of the National Geographic; Jill ordered
it for her grandfather. He bins it and starts swearing and stomping. Aimee and
Jill walk out.
And over to Tom who is not exactly masterchef, and Christine
who is both heavily pregnant now and not well. Wayne hasn’t called in 2 months,
despite that Christine has every faith in him. When Tom goes to get medicine
(trying to find something safe for an 8 month pregnant woman) he gets a call
from Wayne – only Wayne doesn’t sound all that coherent. He’s called to get
some of the money he gave Tom back, refuses to answer any questions, is rather
random and asks Tom if he had sex with Christine – which Tom denies.
Tom gets the money and follows Wayne’s drop off
instructions but then watches and follows Wayne’s minion who picks the money
up. When they won’t let him in he breaks his way in yelling for Wayne – who isn’t
there, just a White guy with a gun and a pregnant Asian woman – which looks
very similar to Tom on the run with Christine. They were also at the raid on
Wayne’s compound and it’s apparent Wayne told them everything he told Tom; word
for word. Tom falls into hysterical laughter at the whole idea that Wayne has a
plan – especially since the other guy still has faith. While the woman is
rather narked about the whole “she is everything and super special” just being
a line Wayne feeds to an apparent string of pregnant Asian women and starts
firing the gun at them – shooting Tom in the hand. She collapses in tears
talking about Wayne as “the bridge”.
Tom gets another call from Wayne – and he throws the
phone at a wall in rage. He goes back to Christine – and finds she has given
birth to a baby girl in the bathtub while he was gone.
Is this the turning point episode? With some more
elements addressing the woo-woo and some meta-plot with Wayne and Kevin’s
father? I really hope so because the show is rapidly losing my interest
We’re on episode 7 and we’ve had hints of woo-woo but it’s
mainly been personal dramas of people dealing with the Departure. Which is fine
– but we’ve followed Matt and Laurie and Meg and Kevin and Nora and seen all
their pain and it was very well done and I applaud and… now what? Because that’s
all we’ve been given, these character’s personal dramas which we’ve already
seen and don’t seem especially to be going anywhere or be meaty enough to
extend beyond what we’ve already had shown to us; while storylines that may
address any wider issues (Wayne, Tom & Christine, random supernatural
elements) just seem to be lurking around the outside and, again, not going
anywhere. Though that storyline has got a whole lot more creepily fetishistic –
and it was already rather racially dubious before – Asian women face a lot of
sexual fetishisation and this whole storyline feeds into that. It certainly
doesn’t present either woman as full people so much as burdens, duties, sex
objects and incubators.
We need more plot, more world building and good deal less dubious race tropes.
