First Things First…
Sweet Tooth is in our rearview… I think. I don’t actually know how much of the series he’s in. But for now, we’re picking up with John and Quiet having been nabbed by Mike and Stu.
This show isn’t overflowing with different character sets (at least, not yet), and we’re already converging most of the characters we know. It could be interesting. I just hope Stu lives to see another episode.
3 Things I Like
3. Quiet’s Revenge (The Beginning)
“I remember what your fuckhead boss said about how if someone tells your story, it lives on forever. You’ll be remembered as the guy who died with his dick in his hand.”
Quiet
Is there anything more humiliating than getting beaten to death with your pants down after getting caught jerking off?
For a moment there, I almost thought Quiet was going to let this asshole agent live.
I’m glad I was wrong.
Now that she’s gotten revenge for being branded, it’s time to avenge her brother by killing Stone. So, on to HQ at Topeka…
2. Stu and Mike Continue to Diverge
“What the fuck did you do, Stu?”
Mike
Bless his heart, Stu tries to do his job as a lawman. But he can’t stop being polite to the prisoners. And he certainly can’t bring himself to kill them, even as they resist his orders.
John and Quiet recognize that Stu isn’t like the others. I’d like to think they recognize it as kindness, not weakness. But either way, right now they realize he’s their ticket out of there.
Unfortunately, Evelyn’s faulty trunk prevents Stu from joining their getaway. And now he has to answer to the rest of the lawmen, including Mike, who seems more corrupted than ever by this little bit of power he’s been given.
1. Seeds of Friendship
My favorite moments in this episode are the little ones when you start to see the tiniest bit of affection form between John and Quiet.
When she snaps at him for trying to ask about her brother, only to realize he wasn’t being a dick but actually had some sympathy for her, she softens and tells him a little of what happened, and they finally connect.
Before that, she cracks the slightest bit of a smile when John talks back to Stu before the torture begins… and she cracks up between waterboarding sessions when John tells Stu, “That would’ve been a cool line, but you fucked it up, player.”
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. What Drives Agent Stone?
First of all, Agent Stone looks like he’s aged 40 years in the 20 years since the world fell.
But aside from that, I’m a little mixed on his story.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised he was a mall cop (even if he really was a member of the Topeka PD), and another mediocre man who was probably an incel, pushed too far by people disrespecting him.
I mean, it fits. A guy who’s taken it upon himself to bring law and order to the entire country outside the walled cities probably never felt he had control of anything before. This is a guy who got bamboozled by his pregnant neighbor and her suburban husband… who wasn’t taken seriously by teenage girls… and who finally snapped and killed a “terrorist” group of normal guys. He also accidentally killed a kid in the crossfire but, not surprisingly, refused to take responsibility for it.
As far as his plan now, building a blockade from southern Arizona to the Canadian wastes, funneling all cross-country traffic through one waystation he controls at the Hoover Dam—eh, it’s okay. I’m not sure yet if it hits for me or not.
Same goes for the sudden importance John’s mapmaker friend takes on. Stone tells John…
“I have spent decades building outposts and checkpoints, but this map manages to avoid damn near every one. I want the name of your cartographer.”
It just doesn’t seem overly exciting… yet.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. No Backup for Stu
I get why Stone and his guys would force Stu to handle the prisoners. They’re testing his competence and loyalty.
But they should’ve been covertly watching him every step of the way.
How do you trust he’s going to be able to kill them if it comes to it when he couldn’t bring himself to kill the people during his initiation?
In fact, how can you trust he won’t do something crazy, like free their hands and help them escape? By their measure, he hasn’t done anything right yet.
1. Trying Too Hard to Make Torture Funny
The torture scene brings me back to the same issue I had with Sweet Tooth last episode. It’s like they just threw a bunch of crazy stuff at the wall to see what would work and what wouldn’t.
In this case, they use real torture techniques like waterboarding, but they also try to pass off filling out endless forms—in triplicate—as torture. Same for blasting “Barbie Girl,” and forcing them to read Snellen charts.
The show is already funny because Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz have impeccable comedic timing. But this stuff just feels goofy.
Tim Matassa
