4 Things I Like
4. Welcome Back, Mr. Smith
We haven’t seen much of John Smith this season. But whatever is really happening in the Visser, he’s part of it.
It was good to see him show up on the sixth floor to help Melody get away from the junkies — or maybe it was just to escort her from an area she’s not supposed to be. After all, he’s the one who told her the sixth floor is off limits.
3. “A Genetic Predisposition to Unusual Psychic Perception”
At last — a possible explanation for how and why Melody is seeing Dan in her dreams.
Even though Dr. Turner says the person he spoke with about Melody’s case said she’s not a match, it sure seems likely they’re lying. She’s got all the same markers as the other people supposedly being studied, right down to drawing the same freaky pictures.
2. The 6th Floor
“So this is the sixth floor…”
There’s a trope I love in horror, where there’s a place that’s forbidden, or ominously inaccessible, right under your nose.
In The Haunting of Hill House, it’s the room with the red door that they could never unlock. As a viewer, you knew it would be crucial eventually. But from the characters’ perspective, it had to be creepy, knowing there’s this one room in your house that you can’t enter.
The same thing applies here. As soon as John Smith tells Melody in the first episode to stay away from the sixth floor, you had to know it would be important.
But for Melody, as more and more weird stuff is happening with the cult, knowing there’s an entire floor in the building you’re staying in that’s off limits has to be disconcerting, at the least — if not downright scary.
It’s not what I was expecting — it’s basically a normal looking hallway with some apartments — including Annabelle’s new place — plus an ominous locked door.
That’s where the junkies are being kept. And Melody’s expedition into that space is harrowing, especially as she follows more of the humming.
Ultimately, I might be disappointed if this is the only payoff to the mystery of the sixth floor. But I suspect there’s more to learn about the people being kept there. Especially since what they’re drawn to — “stardust,” or “mold” — comes from kharonite, which is a funny word I’ve been typing more and more lately.
Like Chris Lee, the junkie who comes down to Melody’s apartment, tells her…
“Stardust… the mold. It grows here. It shimmers. Haven’t you seen it? Running through this building like deep, dark veins. The walls, the floors, the… the lungs. One hit? It’s like another world opens up. And there’s no going back.”
So I have to think there’s still more to come when it comes to these people and what’s keeping them here. Somehow I doubt it’s out of the goodness of Samuel’s heart.
1. Virgil’s True Motives?
As Melody finally confronts Samuel — about the cult, his aliases she discovered in Fr. Russo’s office, whether he murdered Fr. Russo, the sixth floor, and all the weird stuff about the building — Chris the “stardust” junkie swan dives right onto the sidewalk behind them.
And who shows up in the footage but Virgil himself.
Dan is NOT happy.
He wants answers.
About who Virgil is… and why he’s really restoring the tapes.
Virgil seems to arrive at the compound almost instantly after Dan starts screaming at him through one of the hidden cameras. Makes me wonder if Virgil’s surveillance HQ is hidden somewhere on the property.
Either way, Virgil is usually a little frightening because he knows everything, but he’s so calm, cool, and collected.
To see someone so powerful actually lose just a little bit of composure here makes him scarier than ever.
Of course, the big reveal in this scene is that Samuel was Virgil’s brother.
Virgil talks down about Samuel and his dabbling in the occult. He calls it silly. He says Samuel threw away so much potential.
But he also says none of it was real and that Samuel was harmless.
Either Virgil never took the true measure of his brother… or he knows a lot more than he’s letting on and is just trying to downplay what Samuel was into.
I’m going to bet it’s the latter.
Virgil also believes Melody started the fire. That she’s responsible for Samuel’s death. And that she probably burned down Dan’s house and killed his family, too.
I don’t know what to make of that. Virgil might be wrong. Or full of shit.
But Dan sounds silly when he claims to truly know Melody, and to say he knows she would never do that. Hauntings or not, I don’t think he really knows what she’s capable of, either. Or what darkness is truly inside of her.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Losing Her Grip
Annabelle’s descent into madness is another thing related to the kharonite. She’s been going downhill ever since Cassandra gave her that black paint. Now she believes she’s a spirit receiver, like Cassandra’s lover Eleanor was.
In fairness, her paintings actually turn out awesome.
But more importantly, Annabelle now seems hooked on the “stardust” Chris was talking about. Pretty soon she’ll be humming mindlessly.
I don’t know what the point of getting people hooked on that stuff is. Does that somehow feed the demon?
Either way, Cassandra is turning out to be quite the villain. She’s got her hooks deep in Annabelle and has turned her against Melody.
I’m not sure if this is the way to take her character, though.
Maybe it gives Melody a reason to stay at the Visser, if she was otherwise going to leave when she realizes how dangerous it is. But I want to wait and see how this plays out. Because I just don’t enjoy Annabelle as much this way. I like her when she’s totally uncaring and flippant, not as much when she’s obsessive.
1. Fr. Russo’s Secret Mission
Apparently Fr. Russo had been investigating the Visser, and Samuel, for quite some time.
Probably why he’s dead now.
When Melody breaks into his office, she discovers a treasure trove of information.
She learns what the demon is that the cult worships…
She sees that Samuel has multiple aliases…
She discovers that her ring has the same sigil as the cult — so maybe her mother was part of it…
Essentially, it’s not really even a cult. To be more accurate, it’s a coven. And they’re witches.
It’s all cool stuff. But I don’t like how she finds it all out in this one information dump. Or how easy it is for her to find what she’s looking for.
I’m anxious to see how it all plays out. But I would’ve liked it if we got these revelations little by little.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. Inconsistencies
A couple of small things bothered me in this episode…
Why doesn’t Melody hear the humming when Chris hears it in her apartment?
I mean, she hears it all the freakin’ time. She was just telling John Smith she hears it all over the building.
And also, if there’s one thing Melody has become known for besides having her camera on all the time, it’s that she’ll try to pick any lock you put in front of her. Doesn’t matter if there are 30 people in the room next door — this girl will still pick a lock.
But when it comes time to break into Fr. Russo’s office, instead of trying to pick the lock, she just barrels into the door with her shoulder a few times.
And it works!
She didn’t break the door down, either, so how did that magically unlock the door?
1. No Rest for the Weary?
The episode opens with Melody sitting in Beatriz’s hospital room while Beatriz sleeps — or is sedated — with her face bandaged.
When Beatriz stirs, Melody goes to her and immediately asks her about who the man was who had a message for her during the séance — and even worse, if she’d be willing to try to connect with him one more time.
Let’s face it — Melody is a bit awkward. She doesn’t have a ton of social grace.
She’s also desperate to find her mother, and to figure out what’s going on with her dreams.
But she just watched this woman practically lose her mind — and literally claw her own face off. And it was because of whatever happened while trying to help Melody during the séance.
I don’t buy that Melody is so cruel or thoughtless that she’d ask her to do it again. Especially not right then, when Beatrize can’t even see her because her whole face is wrapped.
Final Thoughts
Another pretty good episode. I just wish they would handle the unraveling of the mystery a little more delicately. I’m excited to learn more about what’s really going on. But I’m not such a fan of the big info dump.
Tim Matassa
