First Things First…
Unfortunately, this season has been getting worse, not better. I don’t mind weirdness, but between Kalego coming out of the computer screen, and constantly wondering what is and isn’t real, it’s getting nonsensical. And as it gets more into the history of the cult — which seems like it should be awesome — it’s getting away from the cult in the Visser.
1 Thing I Like
1. Melody in the Otherworld
NOTHING interesting happens until the end of the episode, when Dan and Mark visit Annabelle in a psych ward.
Annabelle seems surprisingly lucid. And now, instead of painting the mystery woman — who turns out to be Iris Vos — in all her pictures, she’s painting Melody.
If the cult in the Visser performed the same ritual as happened in the snuff film, and it sent Melody into the Otherworld — if such a place really exists — it’s actually a cool development. Frankly, a lot cooler than either finding out Melody died in the fire OR that she somehow survived.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. A Lone Voice of Reason
In the flashback that takes up most of the episode, Iris’s brother Lucas turns out to be the lone voice of reason. He talks about all the death their cult has caused, while they’re also on the cusp of murdering an innocent girl who they’ve been treating like family . And he points out that opening a portal to another world so they can be with their family again isn’t natural — that death is part of life.
It’s nice to have one person close to the cult realize this. But it doesn’t amount to anything. He leaves the party before the ritual, and that’s the least we hear from him.
1. Snuff
It’s not enough to rescue this boring episode. And it probably would’ve been more impactful if we hadn’t seen the grainy film of Rose’s murder when Samuel showed it to Melody. But watching the colorized, “real” version of this event that’s been hinted at all season is at least something.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. Cop Out
They had the chance to start this episode with instant tension if we picked up where we left off last time, with Kalego coming out of the screen (I know, I thought that was incredibly silly. But I’d still be interested to see what they do with it.) and with Dan being knocked unconscious from behind.
Who hit him? Was it Kalego? Virgil? Groundskeeper Bobbi?
Instead, we start with Dan waking up in his own apartment.
The change of scenery is jarring, since he’s out of the compound. And maybe we’ll get more answers about what happened in the finale. But considering the dud we got, they missed an opportunity.
1. I Don’t Care About These People
To spend almost the entire second-to-last episode of the season in a flashback with characters we don’t know — and who we only discovered even exist in the previous episode — is a rough choice.
As soon as the Vos Society was introduced last time, it felt like one layer too many in trying to unravel this mystery. And I think this proves it.
There’s nothing wrong with the performances. The actresses playing Iris and Rose are good. But I have no investment in their characters.
Meanwhile I’m still dying to know more about Samuel, Cassandra, Virgil, Dan’s dad, and the rest.
Tim Matassa
