This episode really pulled the rug out from under me, as what I anticipated the show was going to be, going forward, was turned on its head during the second half. I'll come back to that.
Having arrived at Ardham Lodge, Atticus (Jonathan Majors) is destressed to discover that his companions, Leti (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) appear to have forgotten all about the events of the previous night. The group then begin to investigate the hunting lodge, and the wider surrounding village before Atticus meets the head of the Braithwhite clan, Samuel (Tony Goldwyn) and learns an interesting fact about his heritage.
So, I was anticipating that uncovering and defeating the secrets of the lodge would be the storyline for at least the remaining episodes of this season. The first half of the episode certainly seems to set us down that path as we discover the mystical powers of the building and meet a couple of the Braithwhite family. The episode even appears to present us with their internal conflicts to play with, over the course of the season - as well as establishing that there is danger in the woods and playing with the mystery of what happened to Atticus' father. Then, at around two thirds of the way through the episode, there appears to be some missing scenes and suddenly, the location of Montrose is revealed in a confusing scene and - without posting spoilers - all of what I assumed the rest of the season was going to be, is blown through in around twenty minutes. I'm not saying this inherently a bad thing, and I appreciate that the show's writers are pulling together a series of short stories into a bigger narrative - but I can't help but feel some regret that the secrets of Ardham Lodge aren't being slowly revealed to us. (I might be wrong, of course, and this was a dream/vision or whatever and we do end up back there - but at the moment it doesn't seem that way).
Aside from these plot issues. The episode was fine, performances were strong and the musical choices I enjoyed - particularly the totally idiosyncratic ones, like the Marilyn Manson song towards the end. What remains to be seen is whether the decisions of this episode are a masterstroke of plotting, or the beginning of the end for the show.
Having arrived at Ardham Lodge, Atticus (Jonathan Majors) is destressed to discover that his companions, Leti (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) appear to have forgotten all about the events of the previous night. The group then begin to investigate the hunting lodge, and the wider surrounding village before Atticus meets the head of the Braithwhite clan, Samuel (Tony Goldwyn) and learns an interesting fact about his heritage.
So, I was anticipating that uncovering and defeating the secrets of the lodge would be the storyline for at least the remaining episodes of this season. The first half of the episode certainly seems to set us down that path as we discover the mystical powers of the building and meet a couple of the Braithwhite family. The episode even appears to present us with their internal conflicts to play with, over the course of the season - as well as establishing that there is danger in the woods and playing with the mystery of what happened to Atticus' father. Then, at around two thirds of the way through the episode, there appears to be some missing scenes and suddenly, the location of Montrose is revealed in a confusing scene and - without posting spoilers - all of what I assumed the rest of the season was going to be, is blown through in around twenty minutes. I'm not saying this inherently a bad thing, and I appreciate that the show's writers are pulling together a series of short stories into a bigger narrative - but I can't help but feel some regret that the secrets of Ardham Lodge aren't being slowly revealed to us. (I might be wrong, of course, and this was a dream/vision or whatever and we do end up back there - but at the moment it doesn't seem that way).
Aside from these plot issues. The episode was fine, performances were strong and the musical choices I enjoyed - particularly the totally idiosyncratic ones, like the Marilyn Manson song towards the end. What remains to be seen is whether the decisions of this episode are a masterstroke of plotting, or the beginning of the end for the show.