What happens when you’ve just watched a group of teenage girls consume one of their own? If you’re Coach Ben, you start thinking about your life before the plane crash: you had a cute boyfriend who knows how to cook and loves you, you used the word “chillaxing” in a sentence and you were terrified to live your life as openly and honestly as you would have liked. Ben is tired, he’s starving, he’s missing a leg, and he’s not interested in the cannibal way of life. It would appear he is choosing to starve himself rather than continue on with his current situation. Through his memories, we get to see a more personal glimpse of who he was and it’s heartbreaking. When he imagines a scenario where he chose love over going to Nationals, it wasn’t just sad, but it also felt like a punishment: as though he felt he was being punished for not choosing correctly. In 1996, being out and proud was still pretty taboo and it’s sobering to see that if Ben had simply lived in a world where he felt loved and accepted no matter what, he wouldn’t have crash landed with a bunch of teenage cannibals on a possibly haunted mountain.
The girls are now rosy cheeked and looking healthy, but that doesn’t necessarily portray how they’re feeling inside now that Jackie is gone. As suspected, Tai had no idea what she was doing. She was in a fugue state, and now she has a serious case of regret. Van telling her that, “You ate her face,” wasn’t exactly super helpful, but it was humorous.
The overall mood of the group seems to be one of, ‘If we don’t talk about it, then it’s not that big of a deal’: Nat, however, is not having those same feelings. Nat seems to be the one person who is always genuinely in tune with her feelings, and she decides to take Jackie’s remains to the plane with the rest of the bodies. She has a nice moment with Jackie where she tells her that she’s lucky she’s dead because, “Shit is gonna get a whole lot worse out here,” and “Way to make everyone jealous of you one last time.”
Lottie is doing some Midsommar group therapy at her not-a-cult cult, but Nat is more interested in the building that has the antlers hung up on the outside of it. Unfortunately, Lisa is outside and she is not about to let Nat in, but she does do her best impression of a tough girl and try to intimidate Nat. If only she knew exactly who it is that she’s trying to intimidate: it’s going to take way more than cutting a chicken’s head off to even move the needle with our Nat.
Taissa is literally losing her mind while her wife is in a coma: a coma that fugue Tai caused. Tai’s alter ego confronting her in the mirror was very intriguing. What was she saying and was she mimicking the mask Van wore? If anyone can help Tai with her problem, it’s going to be Van because she is open to things beyond our world, as evidenced by her willingness to follow Lottie, and she has first hand experience with following whomever it is within Tai that follows The One With No Eyes.
Misty meets Walter at his boat to interrogate a potential witness, but she, understandably, freaks out because she didn’t know it was someone she went to elementary school with. Randy thinks he’s about to get caught for helping Jeff blackmail the girls, but when he realizes this is about Natalie, he’s all “bro” and “dude” and “a group of people drank all of the Fanta”. Ultimately, Misty realizes that this is a helpful lead, she lies to Walter about why she was downvoting his Adam Martin posts and then he tells her that maybe he’s just a bored Moriarty looking for his Sherlock. OK. Who the hell is Walter? He lied about Svetlana being his mom so he could tour Misty’s place of business and how did he know which Tupperware was hers? How does he know that it’s Misty who keeps downvoting him? Why is he so interested in Adam Martin? Had he said he was a Watson looking for his Sherlock, that would have been cute, but Moriarty? Moriary is nothing put a thorn in Sherlock’s side. I hope Misty has her basement ready for another potential hostage because Walter is up to no good.
Speaking of odd couples, Misty and Crystal talking about deviled eggs and consuming identical twins in utero was hilarious and the fact that it led to the bonkers idea of Misty doing a monologue from Steel Magnolias for Shauna is the kind of comedy that keeps this show perfectly left of center. Misty chose a scene about a mother losing her child to “gift” to the mother to be. What the what?! Also: how prophetic was this monologue choice?
Well, a baby shower ending with a blood offering to the mysterious symbol that is immediately followed by a mass of birds falling to their death over the cabin is certainly one way to end an unforgettable party even if there weren’t any snacks.
“It was the strawberry lube,” Jeff says as a way to blame Shauna for why he’s a “boring” suburban husband and father. He says that he could have gone strawberry (even though that’s for bisexuals and goths), but he didn’t. Shauna tries to explain that, mostly, the affair made her feel less like the current boring version of herself that she is. Ever the loving and dedicated husband, Jeff’s face absolutely lights up when he has an idea: Away to bring some spontaneity and fun into their relationship. A trip to Colonial Williamsburg where they can churn butter or blow glass or try blacksmithing! The fact that Jeff thought going to Colonial Williamsburg would make up for not choosing strawberry lube speaks to just how fucking sweet and delightfully dim he is. To further prove the giant divide between their basic personalities, Jeff and Shauna have very different reactions to the guy who carjacks them. Jeff is, well, a good suburban husband who doesn’t want any trouble, but Shauna misses that spark of being young and ruthless. She turns into suburban Rambo and truly does not understand why Jeff is upset and shocked by this. Watching Jeff’s face as his wife tries to say that she wants her shitass minivan because of quarters and a stuffed animal their daughter loved when she was six was really sad. He is really starting to see her and it scares him, but he still loves her. He proves it once again when he unnecessarily confronts Kevin at the gym and then willingly lies for Shauna and looks like the ultimate cuckold because he has no idea that the source Kevin is talking about is Callie.
Shauna seems to be reverting back to her survivalist self with an eerie ease. Proving that she is, indeed, Rambo, she holds a guy at gunpoint and tells him about the difficulties of peeling the skin off of a human corpse. Shauna is literally shaking with the excitement of being a homicidal badass and it’s delightful. Melanie Lynskey is a treasure. The way she went from truly terrifying to saying a chipper, “Thank you,” when she grabbed her car keys was amazing.
Lottie goes out of her way to show Nat her beehive and their conversation seems to be exceptionally important to their past.
Lottie: “In winter, they cluster around the queen and they vibrate to keep her warm.
Nat: “How thoughtful.”
Lottie: “When a new queen hatches, the first thing she does is sting all the other unborn queens to death.”
Nat: “I can see why you like them.”
Lottie: “It isn’t brutal, its natural, it’s simply what has to be done, otherwise they starve. We all do.”
A lot happened this episode and it a lot more began. Why is Nat still at Lottie’s place and will Lisa, ultimately, prove to be an ally for her? Does Tai have one other personality or are there more and just how connected is she to the supernatural happenings on the mountain? Will they eat Ben? When will Adam’s torso show up? He had a tattoo on his shoulder and that will be proof of his identity and then what? Misty is clever, but she’s a bit sloppy with some things and I think Walter has been watching her for a while now.
Sidenotes:
– “I guess no one wants breakfast.” Mari is hilarious.
– The antlers on Lottie’s home: does this make her the Antler Queen OR does she wish that she had been the Antler Queen??
– Walter’s boat is named Great Expectations. Does this matter? Not sure yet, but it seems everything matters on this show.
– I am always in awe whenever I can see someone becoming someone else.” This seems like a good explanation for why Misty easily follows certain people.
– What is the dripping sound that Mari hears?
– Misty is wearing the same cat sweatshirt she was wearing in high school.
– Travis is really nonplussed for a guy who just ate the girl that he lost his virginity to.
Music in Episode:
Popecoke: When I Go Walkin’
Veruca Salt: Seether
Sonica Disturbia: Take Me Down
10,000 Maniacs: These Are The Days
Tori Amos: Bells For Her
Lisa Fremont
haddonfieldhorror.com 
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