Since I’ve just started my second watch of this show, I thought it would be a good time to review it, which I’ll write as I get through it. I’ll review each episode individually, since it’s too much for one post to give a decent amount of perspective for all of the seven episodes. Then I’ll give my thoughts overall at the end, which will be hugely positive. I’ll start by saying that this might be my favourite Mike Flanagan show. Although I absolutely love The Haunting of Hill House, and have also watched it twice, something about this may have pulled it ahead slightly. That may change. Who knows?
The opening scene really sets the tone for the whole series. It’s a haunting moment that leaves a dark and bleak shadow over the course of the show that never leaves. That bit where Riley starts praying and the paramedic says “ask him why he always takes the kids, while the drunk fucks walk away with scratches” really hammers home the severity and stupidity of Riley’s actions. He’s just done something that he can never take back. The proceeding court scene where Riley accepts his sentencing without trial shows his painful remorse, as does seeing him in prison. You know he’s going to have to live with what he’s done, and will always see the girl every night before he goes to sleep until the day he dies.
After four years in prison, obviously due to good behaviour as he was sentenced to 4-10 years, he is set to return home to Crockett Island. It’s a very small community of 127 residents in what is clearly a dying town. Riley’s mother, Annie, states that people are just leaving without bothering to pointlessly try and sell their homes. The fishing is also a struggle due to a big oil spill three years prior which has had a devastating impact on the island. Buildings are falling apart, the whole town looks so depressing, and the main focus is the church. Religion is clearly the biggest part of their community.
We are introduced to a few of the residents before Riley returns home the following day. Mainly his parents, his teenage brother Warren, and Warren’s friends. That night, the three teen boys row to a nearby small island populated by stray cats, known as the uppers, to get high. While there, Warren glimpses something in the bushes which scares him. We ultimately see it’s presence again, without actually seeing it. What we do see, however, is really unpleasant.
Along with Riley’s return, a strange man appears with a large mystery trunk, which after dragging it into the Monsignor’s home, has knocking coming from the inside. At the next Sunday mass he introduces himself as Father Paul Hill, who has come to temporarily replace their regular priest – the elderly Monsignor Pruitt – who had gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and has become sick. Is he in the trunk? You have to wonder…
Flanagan doesn’t just impress at the beginning and end with poignant and meaningful imagery. Halfway through the episode we see small moments between characters as an a capella rendition of the hymn “Abide With Me” plays. It’s highly impactful, even without dialogue, and the scene ends with Riley’s usual bedtime vision of the young girl he killed four years before. And a small jump scare. And what seems to be premonitions. It’s a spectacle to say the least.
A lot of the dialogue, particularly that which follows this scene, is insanely well written. When Riley and Erin are walking back from church it’s presented as a long tracking shot that follows them and their conversation most of the way. When we go back to them a couple of minutes later, Riley has this amazing monologue about what his life is like now that he is out of prison and basically just existing. He can’t get a job on the island, probably because there isn’t anything available, plus his past is an issue for some people. He doesn’t have any money as he paid it to the family of the girl as restitution. He’s just eating, sleeping, and breathing in his parents’ house. Nothing more. It’s really sad that what started as a promising life has devolved into this. That can happen when you get behind the wheel of a car wasted. It can be taken away so quickly.
The episode ends with the storm that people have been talking about, during which Riley sees Monsignor Pruitt on the beach. He chases him, calling out to him through the intermittent thunder and wind noise, only for the figure to disappear. This can be seen as a hallucination on Riley’s part, just like the young girl he always sees. It could be from some deep part of his subconscious after revealing to Erin that he is now an atheist. Either way, it’s definitely not the Monsignor…
The town wakes up to the storm damage, which horrifyingly involves a beach covered in dead cats. What is it with Flanagan and dead cats? First The Haunting of Hill House, now this. Not my favourite part of either shows. As the credits roll, we hear the sound of seagulls.
This episode proves to be beyond a strong start to the seven episode series. It set up Riley as a broken character without prospects or purpose right from the beginning. It really feels like his episode as you learn most about him in it. It feels like you really know him before you even get to the second episode. It also set up intrigue about the others. Who’s the father of Erin’s baby? What happened to the Sheriff’s wife? Is that why he moved to Crockett Island? How did Joe become the town drunk? How did Leeza end up in the wheelchair? Who is Father Paul Hill? How did Michael Trucco become mayor? And what is Bev Keane’s problem? Luckily all of these questions are answered throughout the run.
Except the Michael Trucco question. That one’s still up in the air…
Linsey Loves Horror 