The Waking Dream is the penultimate episode of The Mist. More than any other show that I've watched this season, I cannot wait to see the back of The Mist. It's been horribly homophobic as well as sexist. The characters have jumped from zero to world ending panic in a fashion that makes absolutely no sense. In short nothing the writers have come up with to expand the scope of King's novella are sensible or make The Mist even somewhat entertaining.
The Tunnel
When last we left Nathalie, she was leading Conner, Ursula and Trevor through The Mist in an effort to reach the mall. Having chased a few suspects through the sewers, Conner is confidant about them finding their way. Conner talks about a suspect finding himself covered in rats and being horrified. Thanks for telegraphing what the characters are going to face writers. At any rate, Trevor falls, breaking his leg badly and so calls out for help. Nathalie is insistent that there's nothing they can do because they cannot carry Trevor. Ursula argues to save her husband, suggesting that they could go and get help but still Nathalie will not relent. As Ursula pleads for Trevor, Nathalie and Connor keep exchanging looks.
Ursula begins to climb down some stairs to get to Trevor and after one last look at Nathalie, Connor approaches Ursula. Promising to help Ursula, Connor moves closer as he pulls out his knife. Connor promptly stabs Ursula and pushes her down the stairs, causing her to land on her husband with a thud. The two start to beg for help but Connor and Nathalie will not be moved. Rats approach Ursula and Trevor and start snacking on the couple like they've been presented with an all you can eat buffet. Nathalie explains to Connor that this is all part of the cycle of life and death. They've now provided nature with food which it will recognise as harm and allow them to pass by unscathed. Nathalie picks up a passing rat and then passing it to Connor, encouraging him to feel the love.
I don't feel any pity for Ursula and Trevor mainly because they existed only to be killed to cement Connor's loyalty to Nathalie. Furthermore, Ursula and Trevor participated in locking people in the church and burning them alive. Clearly the scene with the rats was to intended to meet The Mist's weekly quota of creep factor.
Adrian, Mia and Bryan
As we know, Adrian took a shot at Kevin and then took off to the car, claiming that his father killed Kevin. Bryan and Mia talk about going back to ensure that Kevin is indeed dead but decide to push forward, not wanting to take the risk and believing in Adrian's assurance. When they arrive at the mall, they agree to go their separate ways since Mia and Bryan are technically criminals. The moment he's by himself, Adrian practices what he is going to tell Alex and Eve about Kevin's supposed death. This is clearly meant to remind us of how calculating Adrian is.
The mall continues to be a cesspool of panic and nonsense. Having blamed Alex for Shelly's death, Gus is now in a corner. The residents of the mall want to hunt Alex down and make her pay for Shelly's death based solely on his lie about seeing Alex running away from Shelly's body. Jones tries to tell the mall cop that this is getting ridiculous but when the mall cop makes it clear that someone is going to have to pay for Shelly's death, Gus gets on side pretty quickly.
Mia and Bryan take shelter in an outdoors store and they talk about what might have happened if they hadn't gotten together because of The Mist. I don't care how hard they try to sell these two as a couple, I simply don't buy it. When Bryan closes his eyes to daydream about the whole white picket fence scene he has created, Mia opens up her duffle bag which contains a shit ton of money. Mia wants Brian to agree to run away with her. Bryan agrees to this and to look for supplies. Is anyone going to wonder how far the Mist extends cause if it involves more than their small town, that money is going to be useless to them?
Adrian finally finds Eve and Alex, who are trying to find a way to lay low thanks to the mall mob. Alex is happy to see Adrian and greets him with a hug. It's Eve who asks about Kevin, which sets off Adrian's rehearsed speech. Alex is heartbroken at the news that Kevin is dead. Adrian seems surprised that neither Eve or Alex reach out with love for him and instead become lost in their grief.
Bryan goes to look for supplies and runs into Wes. Wes and Byran are clearly suspicious of each other to the point that Bryan lies and claims to be alone. Unsurprisingly, Wes ends up confronting Bryan and uses a choke hold to render Bryan unconscious. When Bryan wakes, he is tied to a chair with duct tape. Wes questions if Bryan remembers him and when Bryan admits that he doesn't, Wes stands and salutes him. Here we go again not making any sense. If Wes recognised Bryan as his commanding officer, why did he attack him up and restrain him in the first damn place?
Okay, so it's hunt down Eve and Alex time. Alex pulls out her gun and shoots mall cop in the shoulder but Eve, Adrian and Alex quickly find themselves trapped. Eve stands in front of Alex trying to protect her and gets a bat to the stomach when she accuses Gus of being the one to kill Shelly. The mob wants to know what's happened to Jay because no one has seen him in days. When Alex is accused of killing Jay, she protests that she's been trying to find him. Not wanting to see Alex blamed for another murder she didn't commit, Eve fesses up to knowing where Jay is. Adrian, Eve, and Alex are taken to join Jay in his solitary little room. Adrian is not impressed to see Alex run and embrace Jay. If Adrian gets some alone time with Jay before Kevin arrives, you just know that he's going to try and kill him.
Vic and Kevin
Fortunately for Kevin, Vic decided to jump out of the car when he noticed an antenna on a roof. Vic wakes Kevin and together they make it to another house where Kevin promptly passes out. The moment Kevin awakes he expresses his desperation to get to the mall because Adrian is headed there and of course it's now been confirmed that Adrian raped Alex. Vic is doubtful that this can be accomplished even though the fact that he and Kevin are talking is proof that it can be accomplished.
Kevin and Vic agree to make their way through the mist running between houses. Once outside, Vic stops in dread when he sees a woman impaled upon a tree but Kevin keeps his eye on the prize and drags Vic forward. Kevin and Vic burst into a house and find two dead soldiers on the living room floor. They decide to gather as many supplies as they can. When Vic picks up one of the soldier's radios, the owner of the house makes an appearance carrying a shotgun. It seems the owner can no longer determine what is real and what is fake and is worried that Vic and Kevin will tell people where he is and that he killed the soldiers. Using his peripheral vision, Kevin sees a handgun on the ground behind him. Kevin makes a play for the gun and the owners pulls the trigger causing Vic to make himself scarce. Vic ends up in the kitchen where he picks up a frying pan before smashing the owner in the head.
With owner out of commission for now, Vic and Kevin go back to making plans. Vic finds a set of keys and decides to hunt down the vehicle figuring that since it belongs to the military it will probably work. Kevin approaches the homeowner who is slowly regaining consciousness. Kevin promises not to tell anyone where the homeowner is. The homeowner responds by setting off a grenade. Kevin rushes into the other room and hides behind the body of a dead soldier as the grenade goes off. The grenade lets in the mist and Kevin immediately starts seeing things. Kevin sees the cop who abandoned them at the church, as well as his dead brother. Finally, Kevin sees his doppelganger. Everyone Kevin sees accuses him of being evil and so Kevin responds by beating the shit out of his doppelganger and killing it.
A messed up Kevin makes his way outside and stops in the middle of the street as Vic approaches in the military jeep. Kevin hops in the jeep but refuses to talk about what he's been through.
So everyone is converging on the mall. It only took them all season to traverse what I suspect to be a few kilometers at most. In the previews for the next episode we see Kevin finally confronting Adrian and giving him a beating. Look I know that Adrian is mentally ill and a rapist but the gratuitous blood on his face didn't sit will with me, given that of all the reoccurring characters, Adrian has been subject to the most violence.
I know that Nathalie survived the Mist but this doesn't explain just how far gone Connor is, or his devotion to the point of being willing to lynch his own son, set people on fire, as well as stabbing Ursula before pushing her to her death. I know that Nathalie represents Mrs. Carmody from the book but the degree to which Connor has acted doesn't make sense to me whatsoever. I love Frances Conroy and she happens to be in my opinion the only respectable actress on The Mist but Conroy on her own is not enough to make this show watchable.
