Aug 26, 2020
By Dray Barnes
Movin’ on up in Lovecraft Country
It’s episode two of Lovecraft Country and the chaos from Episode one is beginning to be explained. Directed by Daniel Sackheim, the episode begins with the trio, Atticus, Leti, and George in the mansion of the mysterious Swedish looking white man that possibly owns the silver car that saved them from the lynch mob in the previous episode. Dancing to the The Jeffersons theme song “Movin on up” the trio gloat in the wealth of the extravagant estate. After freshening up in their respective rooms, the group meets in the hallway of the estate. They are greeted by the blond hair, blue eyed gentlemen who so far has been the only person the audience has seen that lives on the property. He escorts them to the veranda, Tic brimming with suspicion at everything going on with this unusual situation. The man informs the group that Tic’s father had gone to Boston with the matriarch of the family and that he would be returning shortly. Tic consistently demands more information but the three pieced suit golden boy is evasive and smarmy. They continue a tour of the lodge where they learn it was built by a Titus Braithwaithe who is a distant ancestor, his name is important so don’t forget it!
It is hinted that Samuel and the Braithwaithe family made their wealth off of shipping, Leti once again has one of the best, snarkiest lines of the episode whispering, “thats code for slaves.” We learn that the current lodge is a replica, the original lodge burned down in 1833 due to an “accident”. Our Hitler youth cosplay tour guide, William played by Jordan Smith, informs the trio that he is a close personal friend of Christina Braithwaithe, the young woman that actually owns the silver car in the driveway and that Christina’s father, the patriarch of the family is having a gathering of other lodge members that evening. George and Tic are invited to that dinner. Major cult vibes all around.
The trio are left to their own devices and decide to eat breakfast together outside. Letitia begins to exhibit a very caviliar and non chalant attitude and Tic gets frustrated at her inability to focus on the danger of the situation. After probing how she can be so calm after the night before Leti confesses that she doesn’t remember the night before, George does the same. Somehow both Leti and George’s memory of the crazy events of the night before have been wiped. Tic tries to explain to the them that they had been attacked by monsters and of course they are highly incredulous of his recollection. However the writers perfectly nail the closeness of the group because while incredulous the trio know something is deeply off with whatever is going on and inherently trust that Tic is telling them the truth. Black folks during this time had to stick together to survive. George’s spidey senses tingle and he notes that they are being monitored. They agree to NEVER split up and be discreet until they can figure out whats going on.
Tic brings the group to their vehicle, hoping to show them the damage from plowing through a cabin the night before but somehow the vehicle has been fixed. This of course serve to further undermine his legitimacy to Leti and George but they still stand strong by his side as he confronts our silver stud William about the car.
Receiving no answer, the group storm off the the town’s small downtown village community. As the trio try to figure out the secrets behind the community, Tic hears the siren whistle that summoned the vampire monsters away from his group the night before.
Whistle while you work
The whistle belongs to the sheriff of the town, a woman with a country drawl and dark, nasty attitude. She refers to black people as “beasts that are clever enough to cause mischief”. I’m sure she’s great on Thanksgiving.
Retreat back to the estate
The sun is setting and the group start to walk back to the mansion, George slows his pace and remembers a story that Tic’s mother told him a long time ago. Tic’s mother told George about her great ancestor, a slave named Hannah who escaped her master’s house after a fire while pregnant.Hmm perhaps the same fire at the Titus Braithwaithe estate? Yup.
After that sudden reveal the group are sharply confronted by the monsters from the night before, these beasts erupt from the ground and surround the trio. A short whistle emanated from a character we only saw a glimpse of in the episode before, the owner of the silver car, Christina.
She is joined by the Sheriff, and they forcibly take Tic to her father. His character, Samuel, is played by the never aging Tony Goldwyn and Tic and the audience are first introduced to him as a brooding,calculating father while removing some type of organ from a unsedated, screaming man on an operating table. Tic is visibly uncomfortable and disturbed.
Before we can dive further in this scene we are yanked back to George who happens to find a secret library. He sees one book lying on a desk, it’s the laws and by laws for a group called Order of the Ancient Dawn. George immediately begins to read the book.
Lovecraft Magical Reveal
Now back to Tic who is having a very bizarre conversation with Christina and her father. Samuel tells a biblical story about Creation in which he is Adam and he wants to return to paradise, it is vague and largely allegorical and doesn’t answer any of Tic’s question. Samuel dismisses Tic and on the walk back to his room Tic begs Christina to help him find his father and explain what’s going on. She seems oddly sympathetic to his duress. During this conversation we discover that the Braithwaithe family is able to harness spells and magic. Tic demands that she allow Leti and George to remember the night before, which Christina permits. When the spell is released Leti and George and the audience hear Leti and George screaming from fright, Tic tries to escape his room but there is a new spell that has created an invisible forcefield, keeping him trapped in his room.
Time to deliver a baby monster
The next scene Christina is rushed off to a cow in labor on her property. She helps delivers the baby calf which turns out to be a baby vampire monster, the first one she has ever delivered. A strange scene but we’re led to believe it has some significance.
Our focus returns back to the trio in the house. They are all trapped in their respective rooms but the Braithwaithe begin using some type of illusionary magic to mess with their minds. Leti begins a hot, steamy hookup with an imaginary Tic which ends violently. George has a romantic dance with a former lover and Tic has an intense and battle fight with Jamie Chung who we now know is the woman Tic called in South Korea in the previous episode. There is something that has happened between the two of them that Tic has not been able to heal from.
All White/Black Tie dinner
A bell rings and the group illusions are broken and the trio are allowed to leave their rooms. Leti and Tic are visibly shaken but George comforts them and convinces them not to let the Braithwaithe family get into their heads. George also says he has an idea to win the sick game that the Braithwaithes are playing.
The lodge dinner mentioned earlier begins, it is a black tie event, no women are invited and George and Tic are the only non white men there. The. white men are clearly uncomfortable with the presence of black people, but before they can truly express their discomfort, George makes a huge power move. In reading the bylaws of the order of Ancient Dawn he realizes that Tic is a direct descendant Titus Braithwaithe, the last remaining son in fact, and that gives him the power to command all the other men in the room. They tell everyone except Samuel to get the fuck out, after a few seconds of shocked silence the 1950’s freedom caucus follow his command.Tic once again tries to get Samuel to release his father but Samuel explains to him he’s not exactly a follower of the bylaws and he won’t release Tic’s father until he completes a special ceremony that involves Tic. Being a descendant of Titus, Tic has powerful magical blood that Samuel wants to harness. Samuel leaves Tic to dwell on that information.
Finding Montrose
The next scene features Tic, George and Leti returning to the silo where they encountered the sheriff earlier that day. They all have the suspicion that Tic’s father is being held somewhere on that property. Their suspicion were correct and they help free Tic’s father from a underground tomb.
The group of three is now a group of four and they attempt to make a quick escape after stealing a vehicle. As they head full speed off the property the vehicle collides with an invisible forcefield, totaling the car. The injured group slowly escape the totaled vehicle only to be greeted by Samuel and Christina. Samuel shoots Leti as soon as she exits the car. As she dies Samuel offers Tic an ultimatum, cooperate or watch everyone he loves die. Before he can decide Samuel shoots George as well.
The scene ends with Leti bleeding out on the road.
She’s not dead though and in the next scene we see that they have magically healed Leti and promises are made to Tic that they will heal George after the ceremony. As they prepare Tic for the ceremony Christina explains that her father is recreating a spell for immortality and she also remarks upon the deep sexism that she faces as a daughter. During their conversation the audience also hears a conversation between George and Montrose and we learn that Montrose isn’t Tic’s biological father, it could possibly be George.
Now we transition to the climax, the ceremony scene. It is set with to the voiceover of the poem “Whitey’s on the moon” which details the two different states of America, one state in which black people are impoverished and suffering and the other state, the white America which is prosperous and landing on the moon for the first time. This poem highlights the huge differences in realities for black and white people during this time in the 50’s.
The Ceremony
The ceremony itself involved Samuel and a few others chanting a foreign language while Tic stands in the middle of detailed hieroglyphics. Magical energy begins to envelop Tic causing a growing amount of physical pain and duress. As the chant builds a portal opens in front of Tic and he sees an apparition of his ancestor, we assume it is Tic’s ancestor Hannah, the slave who escaped from the first lodge fire carrying the child of Titus Braithwaithe.
The magic of the ceremony begins to rip through the house and Leti, Montrose, and a deeply injured George are forced to escape.
Tic’s connection with the apparition causes a huge explosion which rips through the house, turning Samuel and all the other members of the secret society into stone statues. The explosion causes the destruction of the entire estate but Tic escapes using the guidance of the apparition. After the close escape he runs into his father and Leti in the driveway but unfortunately George had bled out quickly after the trauma of the escape. The episode ends with the group sadly mourning George.
My thoughts
So now we have officially established this show is a supernatural horror. Every episode feels like a standalone project which is an incredible accomplishment on it’s own. All of the character choices so far make sense and I’m not seeing any major loopholes. This show continues to be impressive and tickle all the magical nerdy parts of my essence. Stay tuned for next week’s review on The Breeze.